We recently shared a blog post Introduction to the Irish Primary School Music Curriculum. In this blog we outlined that the curriculum contains three strands. These strands include Listening & Responding, Performing and Composition. Each of these strands are explained in detail below
Irish Primary School Music Curriculum Strands
Listening & Responding
This strands encourages active learning that encourages pupils to responds to the sounds and music they are listening to through physical movement, verbal responses and cognitive thought.
The Listening & Responding stand aims to introduce every pupil to a range of musical styles and genres that they may not hear outside of the classroom.
The Listening & Responding constantly aims to develop the musical knowledge, awareness and response to the music and sounds the students hear.
Performing
The performing strand focuses on the voice through chants, rhythms and song singing.
The teaching and learning style deployed to teach chants, rhythms and songs is through listening and imitating.
As the ability of each child develops, the children should progress onto learning songs with a wider range, songs through Irish, or songs from different cultures. Other ways to increase the complexity of songs is to introduce two part song singing whereby one group focuses on an ostinato/ drone pattern while another group focuses on signing the melody line.
Music literacy is encouraged in the performing strands through pitch and rhythm.
Each pupils musical confidence is encouraged through playing instruments.
Composing
Composing is often considered to be the most daunting of the three strands to teach. Upon reflection the composition strand should have been called the creative music strand.
The composition strand gives pupils a platform to develop their creativity and self-expression.
Within the strand units that fall under the composing strand, pupils are encouraged to make their own music by using the sound sources available to them and are given the opportunity to record and analyze their own compositions.
The Mobile Music School have developed a range of music programmes that integrate all three strands. Find out more about our primary school music programmes.
To discuss how we can make our programmes work in your school please contact The Mobile Music School
