Raindrips

School Radio > Music > Join in with Music

This short piece provides a background framework for pupils to improvise sounds and patterns inspired by rain, wet weather and the changing climate.

The video

Raindrips

This short piece provides a background framework for pupils to improvise sounds and patterns inspired by rain, wet weather and the changing climate.

Voices and mouth sounds can play a great part - especially quiet lip smacks, pitter-patters, and ‘t’ and ‘s’ sounds. Body percussion can contribute finger clicks, gentle taps on the head, cheeks, chest, thighs and knees, as well as gentle, clapping patterns and rhythms.

Among instruments, metal sounds are particularly suitable - eg you could get ready triangles, bells, cymbals, tambourines and glockenspiels. Xylophones, woodblocks, castanets and claves can offer convincing drips, while keyboards, piano, guitar and ukulele can all provide tickly textures, as well as a bluesy, boogie-woogie rainstorm in the middle section. Violins and cellos might add some interesting pizzicato plinks and plonks.

Organise the class into a small number of groups around the classroom. Here’s a plan of the piece as shown by graphic shapes on the video, which the children can interpret freely to stimulate their own ideas:

• Part A: After a sprinkle from bells sounds to start (using notes C, G and a high C), wooden instruments play a few random drips.
• Part B: Glockenspiels, triangles and high metal sounds join in some patterns of regular beats at different speeds.
• Part C: High pizzicato strings (violins and cellos), ukuleles and guitars join in with drips and drops at their own speeds, while xylophone and glockenspiel play some lower notes and ostinato repeating patterns.
• Part D: Everything gets very busy!
• Part E: The boogie-woogie storm shower begins, playing these notes and chords, quite loud:
  C / / / / / / / | D / / / / / / / | F / / / / / / / | G / / / / / / / |
  Voices can improvise bluesy phrases over the top.
• Part F: Things calm down and, over a chord of G7, everyone plays a part but all getting quieter and quieter…and quieter! Shhhhhh! We end with a low G and a high tinkle from triangle and cymbal.

Resources

School Radio > Music > Join in with Music