Schools: Beats & Rhythms From Around the World 29 May - 15 Jun 2018
On our whistle stop world tour we will discover and explore West African drumming and how it has influenced much of the music we hear today. We will also visit the music of South America, the Caribbean and India before spending some time closer to home with a look at Irish traditional music dance rhythms. Contemporary percussion styles such as funk, body percussion and beatboxing will also be our itinerary.
Your musical day at The Ark will be a 2-part workshop led by a team of outstanding percussionists who will guide your classes through a combination of demonstration, listening and responding to a range of video and audio examples, as well as hands-on drumming. The practical music playing elements will teach your students the basics of musical timing, how to play a drum or simple percussion instrument, how to play one rhythmic part against another and how to work together as a band.
By the end of the workshop, your class will be able to play energetic percussion music together and will better understand the history and culture of many different rhythmic music styles and the huge range of this type of music found throughout the world.
Please note: There will be a short break during the session. Please ensure children bring a small snack.
Curricular Links...
This workshop is an ideal opportunity to explore all three strands of the music curriculum with a particular emphasis on Listening and Responding through the talk and demonstration parts of the workshop as well as Performing through the participation elements.
Children will be engaged to listen and respond to musical examples from around the world and will be invited to reflect on and discuss what they have heard which will enhance and deepen their music learning and understanding.
By the end of the workshop children will have explored many ways in which rhythmic sounds are made and through hands-on music participation will have played a range of such sounds themselves with percussion instruments. This development of their music performance skills is combined throughout with communicating key musical concepts such as pulse, tempo and dynamics as well as team work. In this way, children and teachers will discover how accessible a percussion based approach to music in the classroom can be in supporting music-making for all levels of ability.
The emphasis of music from around the world also provides opportunities for linkage to other curricula subjects: Geography, History, Physical Education (especially the Dance strand) and SPHE.