Teacher's Notes

• Site Overview

• This site allows pupils to explore modern Scottish music in a novel and interactive way. It offers enjoyable and motivating learning experiences for pupils which develop knowledge and understanding and enquiry skills through ICT. Pupils can access information which contributes to their knowledge of their culture and musical heritage and may also help them develop more informed attitudes towards these aspects of their national identity. Although the site is primarily focused on music, it has the potential to support cross-curricular learning in various other subjects, and target all four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence.

• With this in mind, the Forward Plan shows these links but also makes reference to the out-going 5 – 14 curriculum. The site is designed for use by primary 6 and 7 pupils working within the ACfE or at level C/D of 5 -14.

• This site can be used in conjunction with the 3 Around Scotland music programmes “New Old Songs”, “Doing it our Way”, and “Showtime”.

• The site is divided into 5 areas of exploration:

• The Mixer Desk - What does it do?

• Demonstrates how a range of instruments work together to create the unique sound of a piece of music.

• Highlights the contribution of each instrument to this overall sound within the mix by allowing experimentation with the addition, removal or alteration of each instrument

• Introduces pupils to three traditional Scottish songs: “Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda”, “Fareweel Tae Tarwathie” & “Ciad Turas Mhic Dhòmhnaill A Ghlaschu (When I Came to Glasgow First)”

• Explains why and how the mix was made this way

• Enables pupils to explore and alter this mix using the simple controls

• Provides a track which children can record onto and play back

• How could I use this?

• Following exploration of this area, pupils could be asked to represent their mix of one song in the form of a graph or diagram. Their visual representation should clearly show how much of each instrument they think gives the best mix. This could be compared with those of the producer’s mix and of other pupils in the class

• Encourage the children to role play being the “master mixer” while using this feature. Allow them time to do this in pairs – observe from afar if you can and only intervene if absolutely necessary or if the work you see develops to a stage where it could be shown to others – pupils may demonstrate “media, hip, cool, laid-back techno-type” personas, or take on a less stereotypical persona showing good quality role play and character development. This activity offers pupils an informal and creative way to present their knowledge, and teachers an opportunity to observe and evaluate

• The most obvious way to use this is to allow the children to share their mixes and discuss what they did, why they did it and how they think this impacts on the listener. Peer evaluation/assessment should be used to allow children to share their opinions of the choices made

• The Story Behind the Song - What does it do?

• Allows children to see images of 6 Scottish musicians

• Uses audio clips to allow children to hear these musicians talk about their music

• Explains the influences and the story behind each song

• How could I use this?

• Ask children to select their favourite clip or musician and write a short report. Learning objectives and success criteria will ensure pupils have a language structure to work with and can select and organise their report content. Follow this activity by getting pupils to mark each other's reports using the given criteria and a simple grading system

• Ask the children to bring in a piece of their favourite Scottish music from home. Listen to as many of these as you have time for (or feel will be useful/appropriate) and discuss pupils’ ideas about “Scottish” music. Engage with the pupils to devise criteria for this to enable discussion about national identity, stereotypical ideas about Scottish traditional music, etc. Alternatively, set a small group listening/language task where pupils discuss and decide upon the story or themes behind each piece of music. The groups could all present their ideas about each piece of music and then compare ideas, OR each group could focus on one piece of music and then present a more detailed response to this piece only. You may prefer to make your own selection of a range of Scottish music for these activities

• Clips and Tips - What does it do?

• Contains a selection of video and audio clips as well as still images

• Matches audio and images creatively

• Provides some quiz materials

• How could I use this?

• 1. As a stimulus to allow pupils to explore the influences and ideas communicated by the audio clips. Would their visual representation of the sound look like the photos/video shown – or not? Offer a range of art materials for pupils to use to represent the image they think matches the audio - watercolour paints and oil pastels and black sugar/ white cartridge paper would be suitable for this, as would cut and torn paper collage

• 2. Ask pupils to create a little “audio/visual file” of their own favourite music and collect images they think are a good match. This could simply be a collection of CDs with an index of selected tracks to ease quick sharing with others, or it could take the form of a short compilation on a tape/MP3 player or computer file/CD. The pupils could include actual or digital photos or create their own art work as part of an audio visual presentation to class or to their group/peer. This activity could simply be a sharing of favourites, or could be an ongoing activity with changing themes or classifications which pupils have to link to. For example, you could ask the class to collect one piece of music and one image which they think is truly Scottish. Individual show and tell could develop into a class presentation for others, an exhibition, or recording the collections using power point and storing these in digital format for others to access – perhaps you have a screen in the foyer of your school which could run this presentation on a loop?

• Musical Instruments - What does it do?

• Shows photos of instruments used in traditional Scottish music.

• Plays sample audio clips of each instrument

• Provides quiz materials linking the physical appearance of instruments to their sounds.

• How could I use this?

• 1. In IT suite or classroom – some pupils work with this section of the site, while others make observed pencil drawings of real examples of the instruments or simply handle and experiment with their sounds. Musical skills could be developed by trying to emulate some of the sounds heard.

• 2. In the classroom, following the use of this area of the site, pupils could research these instruments more fully and then be given the task of constructing a model of one using only card, scissors, string and PVA glue.

• The Interactive Musical Map - What does it do?

• Contains audio clips of 15 pieces of modern Scottish music.

• Highlights the variety of music and songs produced throughout Scotland.

• Demonstrates thematic differences between clips of music.

• Shows the range of instruments used in Scottish music.

• Demonstrates stylistic differences between pieces of Scottish music.

• How could I use this?

• 1. Whole class lesson or mix of group task then whole class sharing – using interactive white board to listen to clips and discuss the music subjectively. Who likes? Who dislikes? Why?

• 2. As above but focusing on instruments- questions - What instrument? Type of sound made? Why choose this instrument for this tune?

• 3. Set up an individual or paired task to be done after exploring this map – Ask pupils to select one piece of music, listen then respond to the music through drawing with pastels on black sugar paper or through poetry.

• 4. Most of the music in this section is also suitable for exploration through dance and movement. If you have an interactive white board in class, you may want to clear a large open space for pupils to move around in. Your IT suite may be large enough (with a bit of furniture moving) for actual dancing. Alternatively, ask the pupils to discuss their ideas for suitable dance moves/types/moods as they listen, then ask them to plan/script/choreograph a “matching” dance using Microsoft Word/Talking First Word/other text programme or perhaps Colour Magic or another drawing programme where they could use shapes, line, colour and text to express and record their ideas. Put pupils into pairs or trios and ask them to move the way the music suggests. Try to present the activity in a light-hearted and fun way and encourage personal responses and creativity. The groups could all work on a dance for the same piece of music at the same time (using the site as described or using a CD/download of the same piece of music), or you could set up an activity where each group visits the site at some point and uses it to inspire and rehearse their dance – a sharing of music and dances would have to be scheduled later in the week.

• Forward Plan and Curriculum Links

• Useful Links

• Lyrics Poems Songs

  Scottish Folk Music

  siliconglen.com/Scotland/music.html

  Accordion Links

  Scottish Arts

  Scotland's Music

• Musicians featured on the site:

• Dougie MacLean

  Julie Fowlis

  John Carmichael

  Anne Lorne Gillies

  Finlay MacDonald

  Eddi Reader

Credits