Programme 1 Musical Mysteries Lough Neagh - BBC - Homepage

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In this first programme the children are asked to think about what music is, why we make music and where we usually hear it. Our starting point is familiar sounds and signature tunes. We introduce the idea of our magic Time Wave Radio and tune back to Stone Age times.

ListeningThe children listen actively, identifying familiar environmental sounds and well-known signature tunes. Welisten to the sounds of some instruments which could have been made and played in the Stone Age. Thechildren are encouraged to respond to short extracts of music which include L’Immersion de la Ville; Peter andthe Wolf (wolf theme); The Year of the French (The Chieftains).

ComposingThe improvisation of a sound story, preparing the ground for creative activities in the following programmes.

PerformingUsing body sounds.

Songs: Time Wave Radio

Mesolithic People and percussion accompaniment. (It is recommended that the words of the verses be displayed before the broadcast).

Programme 1

Lough Neagh

(Mesolithic)

* More suggestions . . .

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Follow Up Suggestions • Invite the children to sing signature tunes for the rest of the class to identify.

• Make a list of materials which Stone Age people could have used to make sound, e.g. wood, stone,bone, skin, shells, seeds etc.

• Find as many instruments as you can. Ask the children to identify those instruments which could havebeen made by Stone Age people.

• Ask the children to design a Stone Age instrument and describe how it would be made. Could theymake it? e.g. Make your own rhythm sticks. Use wooden spoons or sticks and tap one stick againstthe other in a rhythm. See if you can make different sounds with short and long sticks or thick andthin sticks.

• Cut some notches along one stick and run another stick up and down the notched stick to make adifferent sound.

* See music at end of notes

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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE


Lough Neagh (Mesolithic)

Programme 1


Cross-Curricular Links

Programme 1

Lough Neagh

(Mesolithic)

Historylife in Early Times - Mesolithictools, weapons, huntingmake a Time Wave Radio

Geographyformation of Lough Neagh.floodingancient forests

Art & Designpicture of mermaid

Cultural Heritagefolklore of Lough Neagh

Englishpoems and stories aboutmermaids.

. . . More Follow Up Suggestions

• Make up sound effects for the story in the programme or for a story of your own.

• Draw a picture of what you think our Time Wave Radio might look like.

• Find Lough Neagh on a map of Northern Ireland.

• Make a picture of Eochaid’s Well and Liban who was half salmon, half girl.

• Read the story of The Little Mermaid.



Programme 1


Mesolithic People



Programme 1


Time Wave Radio


Our Time Wave Radio is tuned back to Neolithic times. We piece together a picture of the Celtic world interpreting environmental sounds and responding to the mood of a range of musical extracts.

The children are asked to think about the difference between music and noise andencouraged to decide why they like or dislike a sound or piece of music.

ListeningAs well as everyday sounds of the time, such as animals, battle sounds, tree felling and a forge, the childrenwill be introduced to the sounds of the harp, the trumpet and various metal percussion instruments. Extractsof recorded music include – The Celts (Enya); The Oak Tree (Sibelius); Waltz of the Flowers, Nutcracker Suite(Tchaikovsky); Harp music (Derek Bell).

ComposingA group of children select and organise sounds to create their own ‘fire’ music.

A sound story is improvised on metal percussion instruments.

Performing

Songs Neolithic People same tune and accompaniment as Mesolithic People but replacing stick/stones with a metal sound! (It is recommended the words of the verses be displayed before the broadcast).

Brion’s Song

Programme 2


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Follow Up Suggestions • Make a list of your favourite sounds, then a list of all the sounds you find annoying. Compare with

your class mates.

• Create a piece of fire music to symbolise the burning of Emain Macha. Encourage the children toselect appropriate sounding instruments/sound makers and to decide how to use them to create theeffect of a fire growing from a smoulder to an inferno and then dying back down to a smoulder.


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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE The Celts(Neolithic)


The Celts (Neolithic)

Programme 2



• The children in the programme organised their sounds like this:

• Neolithic people worshipped the sun. Monuments such as Newgrange were built in such a way thatsunlight would enter the burial chamber at dawn on the 21st December, the shortest day of the year.Make a piece of music to describe this event.

How might light and darkness be represented in music?

• Explore the musical concepts of loud/quiet, fast/slow.

• Make a list of instruments made from metal or with metal parts. Collect or draw some pictures ofthem and make a collage.

• Make a list of things you use every day which are made out of metal.

• Find out the names of as many different metals as you can.

• Create a picture from the story Cian’s Cow.

• Make a coat hanger chime. You will need a metal coat hanger, some strong thread and a mixture oflong and short nails. Arrange the nails in order of size, then tie a loop around the head of each nailand attach them to the coat hanger. Use a metal needle to play your chimes.

• Find out the meanings of some of the old place names in your area e.g. the Celts built raths to live in(houses build of wood and thatch, usually surrounded by a fence). Rathcoole, Rathfriland, RathlinIsland.

The Celts called their stone forts a dun. Dundonald, Donegal, Dungannon, Dungiven, Dunloy, Dunadryetc.



Programme 2



Programme 2

The Celts(Neolithic)

Historylife in Early Times

GeographyNavan

Cultural Heritageplace nameslegends of Emain MachaNavan

Sciencesun, metals



Programme 2


Neolithic People



Programme 2


Brion’s Song

verse 2 I wish I had the yellow cow,The yellow cow, the yellow cow,I wish I had the yellow cowAnd welcome from my darling.

chorus Iss O gur-rim gur-rim hooIss gra-ma-chree gon kel-lig hoo,Iss O gur-rim gur-rim hoo,Sthoo pat-tha beg dho wau-her.

verse 3 I wish I had a herd of kine,A herd of kine, a herd of kine,

I wish I had a herd of kine,And Katie from her father!

Chorus Iss O gurrim etc….

The Irish chorus is written phonetically above. Its translation is:

And Oh, I call to thee, I call to thee,And the love of my heart art thou,And Oh, I call to thee, I call to thee,And thou art the fair child of your mother.


The sound of a bell carries us back through time to early Christian Ireland, providing opportunities for a widening range of environmental sounds.

Through sounds and music the children discover a little about early monastic life. The storyof St Patrick is told and related themes of slavery and water are explored. The travels of StBrendan introduce the children to the music of Shaun Davey and some new instruments.

ListeningThe children listen to a range of environmental sounds. A variety of bells are featured and the uilleann pipes,bagpipes and organ are introduced. Extracts of recorded music include Requiem Aeternam (plain-chant); TheBrendan Voyage (Shaun Davey); Riverdance (Bill Whelan); Oh Freedom (A Negro Spiritual).

ComposingChildren in the classroom work in pairs to compose tunes in plain-chant styles.

PerformingSingle part-singing is introduced with the well known round Frere Jacques. Other songs which the childrenmight like to learn include:

Songs Chime Over the Village and percussion accompaniment

I Dream I Hear Bells Ring

Programme 3

Follow Up Suggestions • Plain-chant follows the natural rhythm of words and is therefore a very appropriate starting point for

making up tunes.

Set out the notes C D F G (chime bars or xylophone etc).

Let the children work in pairs to make up questions and answer phrases (playing and singing).

Get them to write down the words with the notes above them and perform for you or the class. (Thisis a good opportunity to talk about ‘syllables’) e.g. Christopher and Rachel made up the following:-


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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE The Christian

Bell


The Christian Bell

Programme 3



Question: F F F F G F D C DBro-ther, have you made the sup-per yet?

Answer: D D C D D D F D D C DNo, I have-n’t, for there isn’t a-ny milk.

• Listen to music made by the uilleann pipes, bagpipes, organ and other instruments which use bellowslike the accordion or concertina.

• Blow up a balloon. Hold it under one arm and grip the neck of the balloon with both hands. Loosenyour grip to let air escape from the balloon. As the air escapes the rubber of the balloon vibrates andmakes a sound. By pulling the rubber you can change the sounds.

• Make your own flowerpot bells. Tie a pole firmly across the backs of two chairs or other support. Findseveral old clay flowerpots of different sizes. Tie a piece of string to a small stick. Thread the freeend of the string through the hole in the bottom of a flowerpot. Pull the string tightly so that the stickis held against the hole inside the flowerpot. Tie the free end of string to the piece of wood. Do thesame with each flowerpot. Use a wooden spoon to play a tune on your bells.

• Find out more about life in an early Christian monastery.

• When the children can sing the Time Wave Radio song let them make up their own percussionaccompaniment. The class who sang it for the programme chose a double wood block, tambourine,triangle and a drum. They also chose to highlight the words Time Wave Radio by playing the rhythmof the words.

• Drama: The children might recreate Patrick’s story dramatically by working out their own soundeffects.

A smacked hot-water bottle sounds like a face being slapped.

Broken cups and plates tipped from one box to another make a great smashing sound.

The children could tape their story complete with sound effects - listen to the results and then try toimprove on it.


The Christian Bell

Programme 3



Programme 3

The Christian

Bell

Historyearly Christian Ireland

Sciencevibrationsound/pipes

Englishstory telling with sound effectswords to music - syllables

Art & Designflowerpot bells


The Christian Bell

Programme 3


Chime Over the Village


The Christian Bell

Programme 3


I Dream I Hear Bells Ring

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The Christian Bell

Programme 3


I Dream I Hear Bells Ring (continued)


This week we tune back to the year 974 AD and a particular event, the Viking attack on the monastery of Nendrum on the Island of Mahee in Strangford Lough.

We discover lots of interesting and colourful facts about the Vikings and the theme of theprogramme allows us to explore dramatic music communicating fear and suspense.

ListeningThe children listen to a combination of sea and battle sounds and are asked to respond to music whichcommunicates a sense of danger. Music of a contrasting mood is then played. Short extracts of recordedmusic include: Scandinavian folk music; Almost Every Circumstance (Colum Sands); Finlandia (Sibelius); ThePlanets (Holst); Morning Mood from Peer Gynt (Grieg); The Tempest (Sibelius); The Sea (Debussy); If I Had aHammer (Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes); William Tell Overture (Rossini); Brian Boru’s March (James Galway).

ComposingA group of children make up their own Viking Chant.

Performing

Song Viking Warriors Are We with percussion accompaniment

Programme 4

Follow Up Suggestions • Make mood music – (getting started).

Pass a tambourine or drum around the class and ask each child to play happy, sad or scary sounds.Ask the class to identify some of the most effective examples and talk about them in terms of speed,volume and rhythm e,g,

Question: What did Anne do to make happy sounds?Answer: She played fast and jerkily.

Question: How did John make sad sounds?Answer: He played slowly/quietly/smoothly etc.

Extend the activity to a tuned instrument and let the children discover, in the same way how high andlow sounds can effect the mood. You can add body sounds as well. Experiment with a variety ofsounds and speeds played separately and together.


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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE The Vikings


The Vikings

Programme 4



Use word rhythms to make a Viking ChantThe Vikings are approaching the coast of County Down in their long ships. The sight is enough to sendshivers down the spines of anyone unfortunate enough to see them, and what about the sounds? Theclass was divided into four groups. Group 1 was asked to chant the rhythm of the oars – heave ho,heave ho. Each of the other groups was asked to choose words/phrases associated with the Vikingsand to chant them rhythmically along with group 1. The children made minor adjustments to theirchoices before they were satisfied with the overall result.

Group 1 Heave Ho, Heave Ho

Group 2 We are Vi-king war-ri-ors, We are Vi-king war-ri-ors

Group 3 Thor, O – din, Thor, O- din

Group 4 Pil-lage and plun-der, Pil-lage and plun-der

To underline the rhythm, one child in each group was given a drum and asked to play along with thewords. Soon they had no difficulty in keeping their rhythms going when the chanters were silent. Theclass liked this instrumental effect and chose to include it in their final performance.

Suggestions for a sound picture of a storm blowing up

- Use voices for the wind, starting as a gentle breeze and gradually building up the noise.

- Bottle tops can be rattled to suggest rustling leaves.

- Use newspapers to suggest washing flapping on a line.

- Use a piece of pliable cardboard and shake it vigorously to create some thunder claps.

- Now comes the rain, gently at first then heavier and heavier. You could make your own rain-makerfrom a cardboard tube. Stick some pieces of wire through the tube here and there along its length.Seal one end and then put a selection of lentils and dried beans inside the tube. Now seal the otherend. If you tilt the tube gently first one way and then another you can create very convincing rainsounds.

- Once you have decided how to make all the sounds necessary for the storm, then work out how tostart the storm very gradually, build it to a peak and then let it die away.

- Record your effects and then try to improve on them.

• Mime the monks going about their daily tasks, someone spotting the approaching longships and thesubsequent Viking attack. Some of the children could make the sound effects for the scene.

• Read from The Bell of Nendrum by J S Andrews (Blackstaff Press).

• Make a list of words useful for describing music.

• Play two contrasting pieces of music to the class and ask the children to find words to describe each.

• Make a picture of a Viking longship with its red and white striped sail.

• Make a picture of a rainbow.


The Vikings

Programme 4



Programme 4

TheVikings

Historythe Vikings

Art & DesignrainbowViking longships

EnglishViking legendsthe Bell of Nendrum

PEmime Viking attack


The Vikings

Programme 4


Viking Warriors Are We

verse 2 We come to pillage and to plunder,We come to attack your monastery,We come to tear your lives asunder;Viking warriors are we!So ring out your Christian bells in warning.Pack up your families and fleeWe’ll have your possessions by the morning;Viking warriors are we!

chorus Heave, ho! etc….


An eighteenth century street fair provides an opportunity for the children to learn a great deal about rural life during that period. Information about hiring fairs, hedge schools and ballad singers is included and the work of eighteenth centurycomposer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is introduced.

ListeningThe children listen to all the sounds of the fair and interpret what they are hearing. Musical extracts from avariety of sources are played including Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear, (Alan Price); The CootehillRaces, (John McKeown); Inch Worm, (Danny Kaye); Canon & Gigue, (Pachelbel); Eine Kleine Nachtmusick,(Mozart).

ComposingChildren in the classroom experiment by making up tunes and then combining them in different ways.

PerformingA group of children play the clapping game ‘Have you ever ever ever in your long-legged life?’ and theskipping song, ‘Our Wee School’.

Our Wee School

Our wee school is a nice wee schoolIt’s made with bricks and mortarThe only thing that’s wrong with itIs the baldy headed master.

Mr Brown’s a very good manHe tried to teach us all he canReading, writing, arithmeticHe never forgets to use his stick.

Mr Brown’s a very good manHe goes to church on SundayAnd prays to God to give him strengthTo bash the kids on Monday.

(Trad)

Songs The Inch Worm

Programme 5

* Scroll down for the music

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Have You Ever, Ever, Ever?

Have you ever ever ever in your long-legged lifeSeen a long-legged man with a long-legged wife?No I never never never in my long-legged lifeSeen a long-legged man with a long-legged wife.

Have you ever ever ever in your knock-kneed lifeSeen a knock-kneed man with a knock-kneed wife?No I never never never in my knock-kneed lifeSeen a knock-kneed man with a knock-kneed wife.

Have you ever ever ever in your bow-legged lifeSeen a bow-legged man with a bow-legged wife?No I never never never in my bow-legged lifeSeen a bow-legged man with a bow-legged wife.

(Trad)

The Fair(Eighteenth Century)


The Fair (Eighteenth Century)

Programme 5


Follow Up Suggestions • Make up tunes. Children in the classroom were asked to make up their own tunes using the notes B,

A, G and E. (These were the notes they had learned on recorder). Half of the class used the rhythm ofthe days of the week as their basis, the other half made up simpler tunes using one note per day,based on the things they do on those days – ‘school, school, school, school, school, play, church.’ Itwas made clear that they did not have to use all four notes in their composition and that even onenote repeated seven times would be acceptable, as it would be different. This allows all the children inthe class to participate at their own level of ability.

Experiment with harmony

Having made up their tunes, the children then worked in pairs and tried playing their tunes together.Some were happy with the results, others changed a note here and there to make them ‘fit’ e.g.

B A G A E E G B ALaura’s tune: Mon-day Tues-day Wed-nes-day Thurs-day

G E A A G B GFri-day Sat-ur-day Sun-day

E E E AKathryn’s tune: School School School School

B A ESchool Play Church

• Find an old ballad which mentions your own town or townland. A good source is Sam. Henry’s ‘Songsof The People’ edited by John Moulden (Blackstaff Press).

• Read a good ballad like ‘The Highway Man’ by Alfred Noyes. The children could then create their ownsound effects and mood music to accompany a reading of a poem.

• Create a fair scene with the children miming all the different activities; farmers selling livestock,tradesmen with their stalls, street entertainers, young people being hired out to farmers etc.

• Find an old photo of a fair day scene long ago in your area.

• Make up your own ballad about your school or an important local event and sing it to a tune youalready know well (e.g. Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush; Fair Rosa; Skip to My Lou; Cockles andMussels).

• Read some extracts from Patrick MacGill’s ‘Children of the Dead End’ (Caliban) where he describesbeing hired out at Strabane Fair at the age of twelve.

• Collect some skipping and clapping songs and rhymes and try them out. Ask the children to learnsome old ones from their parents and grandparents.

• Find out more about the childhood prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and listen to more of his music.



Programme 5



Programme 5

The Fair(Eighteenth Century)

Englishballadsstories of rural life

Cultural Heritageclapping/skippingtraditional gameslocal fair days/entertainment

Dramafair sceneanimal movements

Historyeighteenth century rural lifehedge schoolshiring fairs



Programme 5


The Inch Worm

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Programme 5


The Inch Worm (continued)


Our title is borrowed from a local traditional song on the theme of emigration. The programme recreates the sounds and atmosphere of an emigration scene and through sound, music and anecdote, explores the lives of nineteenth centuryemigrants from these shores.

We met the ballad form in programme five and it’s to local and American ballads we nowturn to find clues about the experiences of emigrants.

ListeningAn emigration scene is recreated through sound and music and the children are encouraged to interpret andrespond to what they hear. Extracts of music include; Slieve Gallon Braes; Thousands are Sailing (Deanta);Poor Paddy Works on the Railway; Sixteen Tons; Kilkelly; Funk the Cajun Blues (Gerry ‘Banjo’ O’Connor);Theme from Spartacus (Onedin Line).

ComposingA group of children create their own music to describe the emigrants voyage to the New World.

PerformingThe children are invited to join in with the following catchy songs – Casey Jones; Came to Court Jenny Jo;Pick a Bale O’Cotton;

Kilkelly

Kilkelly, Ireland eighteen and sixtyMy dear and loving son JohnYour good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNameeIs so good as to write these words down.Your brothers have all gone to find work in EnglandThe house is so empty and sadThe crop of potatoes is sorely afflictedA third to a half of them bad.Your sister Bridget and Patrick O’DonnellAre going to be married in JuneYour mother says not to work on the railroadAnd to be sure to come on home soon.

(Peter Jones)

Songs Jenny Jo

Programme 6


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Pick A Bail O’Cotton

Jump down, turn around,Pick a bale o’cotton,Jump down, turn around,Pick a bale o’cotton

O- Lawdy, Pick a bale o’cotton,O- Lawdy, Pick a bale a day.

Thousands are Sailing(Emigration 19th Century)


Thousands are Sailing (Emigration 19th Century)

Programme 6



Programme 5

Emigration(19th Century)

Englishemigration ballads and storiesletters

Dramapotato famineemigration scene

Geographymap voyageAmerican cities

Historypotato famineemigration


Thousands are Sailing (Emigration 19th Century)

Programme 6


Jenny Jo

verse 2 Jenny Jo’s washing clothesWashing clothes, washing clothes.Jenny Jo’s washing clothesCan’t see her today.


We explore a nineteenth century cityscape through sound comparing it with last week’s rural setting. With the sound of a mill horn we follow the ‘half-timers’ into the linen mill and learn a little about their lives. We listen to and perform a variety ofsongs related to the linen industry and hear an extract from Benjamin Britten’s lovelypiece The Little Sweep, written for children.

ListeningThe children listen to and interpret a selection of 19th century city sounds and horns in different contexts.Extracts of recorded music include Beethoven’s Pastorale; Carnival (Dvorak); Horn Concerto (Mozart); TheLittle Sweep (Britten); The New Tramway (Maurice Leyden).

ComposingA group of children tell the story of the processes involved in the making of linen in their own way.

Performing• Five O’Clock the Horn Does Blow• Neolithic People (2nd verse)

Babies in the Mill

verse 1 I used to be a fact’ry handwhen things were moving slow,When children worked in linen millseach mornin’ had to go.Every mornin’ just at fivethe whistle blew on timeTo get those children out of bedat the age of eight or nine.

chorus Get out of bed little sleepy head and get your bite to eat.The fact’ry whistle’s callin’ you, there’s no more time to sleep.

verse 2 The children all grew up unlearned,they never went to school.They never learned to read or write,they learned to spin and spool.Every time I close my eyesI see before me still.What textile work was carried outby babies in the mill.

chorus Get out of bed little sleepy head and get your bite to eat.The fact’ry whistle’s callin’ you, there’s no more time to sleep.

Programme 7

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• Reap the Flax• You Would Easy Know a Doffer

Musical MysteriesMOREMORE Babies in the Mill

(19th Century Industry)


Babies in the Mill (19th Century Industry)

Programme 7


Babies in the Mill (continue)

verse 3 Old-timer, can’t you see that scenein the years gone by.When children worked in linen millsthe same as you and II know you’re glad that times have changedand kids can have some fun.Now grown ups go and do the workthat babies use to run.

(Dorsey Dixon)

Songs: Neolithic People (2nd verse)

Reap the Flax

The New Tramway


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Follow Up Suggestions • Make a list of sounds you might hear in a busy city street and then another list of sounds you might

hear out in the country. Find words and phrases to describe some of these sounds e.g. the squeal ofbrakes, the rumble of buses, the roar of motor cars, the click of walking feet, the chirping of birds,the sighing of the breeze, the murmur of a brook etc.

• Think about silence. Do we ever really hear complete silence? Ask the children to sit very still andlisten. Then write down all the sounds they heard.

• Learn the chorus of the song ‘Riding on the Tranway’. Beat out the rhythm of the horses’ hooves onthe cobbles in time to the song by banging together the open ends of two empty yoghurt cartons.

• Find out more about the lives of children back in the nineteenth century who had to work in the millsor as chimney sweeps. e.g. Picking Up the Linen Threads, Betty Messinter (Blackstaff); Other DaysAround Me Florence Mary McDowell (Blackstaff); An Ulster Childhood, Lynn Doyle (Blackstaff).

• Act out the early morning street scene. One child can be the rapper-upper coming along rapping ondoors and windows. Then one by one the children wake up, get up and dress sleepily.

• Find some pictures of an old linen mill and the people who worked in it. Is there an old mill in yourarea? If there is, you might talk to some older people who worked there and remember what it waslike. There might be a mill still working near you. Visit it and find out all you can about whatconditions are like today for the mill workers.

• The class might enjoy listening to the rest of Benjamin Britten’s lovely work The Little Sweep writtenfor children.

• Imagine you are Sammy, the little chimney sweep. Write about how it might have felt to climb up anarrow, dark, sooty chimney.

• Find out more about the processes of turning flax into linen cloth.

• Visit the restored linen mill at Benburb or the Linen Centre at Lisburn.


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Programme 7



• Make your own music to describe some of the processes involved in the transformation of flax intolinen. This project would require a number of lessons. To help you, here is the script used by the classin the programme, along with suggestions.

“When our grandmothers were young the fields in Northern Ireland were covered with the beautifulsight of flax blowing in the wind.”

Run beaters lightly along glockenspiel/wind chimes

“Grandma said it was lovely to see but granddad said it was very hard work. The night before the flaxwas to be pulled the farmer went to bed early. At about six o’clock the next morning he got up andsoon you could see the sight of all the different farmers coming from all the different directionsmarching to the flax field.”

Chime six o’clock – (chime bar/glockenspiel).March – use drums, tambourines etc., to make a rhythmic march. Children may like to makeup words on which to base their rhythm e.g. “Off to work we go, we go!” or “Flax, flax,flax, flax, nothing but flax!” Some children may be able to make up a simple tune onrecorder/tin whistle/tuned percussion, based on the rhythm.

“Now the flax had to be rotted in a dam at the side of the field. It was put into the water and leftthere for eighteen days, slowly dying, rotting, the smell was awful!”

Slow, slow drumbeat.

“Then it was taken out and scutched, broken by the farmers using big sticks or taken to a scutch millwhich did the job faster. The broken fibres were then made into thread by spinning on a spinningwheel and made into cloth on a weaving machine.”

Choose suitable sounds and play a steady 1 2 3 4 pattern.

Experiment with:-

some playing on 1 and 3 and the others on 2 and 4some playing on 1 and 2 and the others on 3 and 4some playing on 1 and 4 and the others on 2 and 3

“The final job was to make the cloth very shiny by putting it in a beetling mill where heavy hammersfell on the cloth again and again and again.

Use this word pattern:

Flax, lint, dam, beat, scutching, spinning, doffing, weaving.Recite the words in rhythm several times.Give untuned instruments, such as castanets, scrapers, woodblocks, drums, tambourinesetc., to eight of the children.Ask the player of each instrument to choose one of the words on which to play (oneinstrument sound to each word.Recite and play. This requires concentration on the part of all the players. It also leads toan interesting machinery effect.Some children will choose to play just once the two syllable words, in keeping with thepulse, which the others will play twice, in keeping with the rhythm.

“The whole process was finished. The cloth was now linen.”

Run beaters lightly along glockenspiel/wind chimes.



Programme 7



Programme 7

Babies in the Mill(Late 19th Century)

HistoryVictorian timeslate nineteenth children’s liveslinen mills

Sciencelinen processes

Dramamime rapper-upper and street scene

Englishlife in Victorian timesliterature for children



Programme 7


Neolithic People



Programme 7


Reap the Flax

* Continued

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Programme 7


verse 2 Come, now the flax we’re carding today,Card, card it well and spin, spin away.Soon we will weave our clothes bright and gay,Then off we go a-dancing.

chorus Doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk,Spools whirl a-round,Spools whirl a-round,Doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk, doonk,Then off we go a dancing.

verse 3 Come, now the flax we’re spinning today,Carded so well, we spin, spin away.Soon we will weave our clothes bright and gay,Then off we go a-dancing.

chorus Doonk, doonk, doonk etc…

verse 4 Now finest cloth we’re weaving today,Spinning is done, we weave, weave away.Soon we will weave our clothes bright and gay,And lightly swing in dancing.

chorus Doonk, doonk, doonk etc….

Reap the Flax (continued)



Programme 7


The New Tramway

* Continued

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Programme 7


chorus Riding on the Tramway that’s the game for me,Riding on the Tramway, happy, gay and free.The sum is only two pence that you have to payTo do the hurdy gurdy on the New Tramway.

verse 2 I held up my finger and the car did quickly stop,I had not long been standing there when inside I did pop;I hardly had got seated when I heard a lady say,It’s folly to be riding on the New Tramway.

chorus Riding on the Tramway etc….

verse 3 I asked her would she marry me upon next Sunday morn,I could no longer tarry as I felt quite forlorn;Oh, yes, says she, I’ll marry thee, and be happy all the day,I kissed her, and I hugged her on the New Tramway.

chorus Riding on the Tramway etc….

The New Tramway (continued)


The sounds of heavy industry welcome us into the twentieth century and we eavesdrop on the construction on the Titanic in the Belfast shipyard. The story of the Titanic’s fatal voyage is told providing opportunities for dramatic and atmosphericmusic to be performed. We hear marching tunes and songs from the period of the FirstWorld War and then discover jazz music.

ListeningToday’s environmental sounds are those of the shipyard and heavy industry. Extracts of recorded musicinclude Pack Up Your Troubles; a brass band; jazz from Louis Armstrong; sounds of the trumpet and tuba.

ComposingA group of children provide some background music as the story of the sinking of the Titanic is told.

Performing• The Shipyard Quay• Hammering out rhythm with the song The Shipyard Quay• The Titanic

Songs: The Titanic

Programme 8

• Beating out march time• Comparing march and jazz rhythms• Time Wave Radio song


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Follow Up Suggestions • Make up background music for the story of the Titanic.

How can we create a feeling of danger when the crew realises that there are icebergs around?

Experiment with different instruments, loud and quiet, high and low, fast and slow. How docomposers do it? Think of ‘Jaws’ for example.

You may like to use one or both of these morse code calls for help.

. . . _ _ _ . . . _ . _ . _ _ . _ _ . .

S 0 S C Q D(Save our souls) (Come quickly danger)

• Find out more about the Titanic story. ‘Titanic’, Peter Thresh (Magna Books); ‘Polar the Titanic Bear’,A True Story by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden (Little Brown)


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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE Pack Up Your Troubles

(Early 20th Century


Pack Up Your Troubles (Early 20th Century)

Programme 8



• Read Thomas Hardy’s poem ‘The Convergence of the Twain’ in which he describes with greatatmosphere and drama how the iceberg and the Titanic grew little by little and then drew nearer andnearer to each other until the awful collision.

• Find out more about the Belfast shipyard. ‘Steel Chest Nail In The Boot and The Barking Dog’ by DavidHammond.

• Set up a simple experiment to discover if ice floats. Talk about how bubbles of air are trapped as thewater freezes. Fill a beaker to the brim with water and then place it in the freezer. Once it has frozennotice how the ice is now sticking up above the brim so the ice is taking up more room than the water.

• Ships used to send radio messages using Morse Code which was simply long and short sounds.

Make up your own sound code giving each letter of the alphabet a different sound or series of sounds.Split the children into two groups. Ask the children to send a short message using the code. Theymight record it on a tape. Then the other group have to decode the message.

• Learn one of the wartime marching songs like ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’.

• Find out the name of as many brass instruments as possible. Collect pictures of them and make acollage with them.

• Visit the Titanic Exhibition at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra.


Programme 8

Pack Up Your Troubles

(Early 20th Century)

Historyearly twentieth centuryFirst World Warsinking of the Titanic

ScienceProperties of iceradio

Mathscodes

Englishliterature from the First World Warthe Titanic story



Programme 8


The Titanic

* Continued

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Programme 8


verse 2 The Titanic left the harbour at a rapid speedShe was carrying everything that people needShe sailed 600 miles away, met an iceberg on the wayIt was sad when that great ship went down.

chorus It was sad, it was sadIt was sad when that great ship went downHusbands and wives, little children lost their livesIt was sad when that great ship went down.

verse 3 It was on a Monday morning just about two o’clockWhen the ship Titanic felt that terrible shockPeople began to scream and cry saying Lord am I going to dieIt was sad when that great ship went down.

chorus It was sad etc….

verse 4 Now the ship began to settle and they all tried to fleeAnd the band it struck up Nearer My God To TheeAnd death came ridin’ by, fifteen hundred had to dieIt was sad when that great ship went down.

chorus It was sad etc….

The Titanic (continued)


We’ve arrived at the 1950’s and ‘60’s and the advent of multimedia. We discover what happened to popular music when people all had radios and then televisions in their homes. We hear about skiffle, rock ‘n’ roll and the birth of the pop industry as weknow it today. Local showbands are given their due place in musical history and thechildren are introduced to the guitar and the drum kit.

ListeningRecorded extracts include the music of Lonnie Donnegan (skiffle); Bill Haley and the Comets; The Beatles;Elvis Presley; Brendan Boyer; The Clipper Carlton Showband; The Freshmen; The Beach Boys; U2.

ComposingA group of children have made a piece of music called Moon Walk using a keyboard and chimes.

Performing• Body drum kit

• Skyscraper Wean

• Urban Spaceman (adapted)

Songs Urban Spaceman

Programme 9

Follow Up Suggestions • Make your own ‘Moonwalk’ music

Let the children work in pairs on chime bars or glockenspiel. Each child selects four notes andchooses the order in which they will be played to represent the footsteps of an astronaut on themoon. Encourage children to play slowly by counting 123, 123, 123, 123, 123, and playing only onthe first counts. Let them play separately and then together. Try playing only on the second counts,then only on the third counts. Point out that the two astronauts would not always be in step with eachother. To achieve this effect the children could play on different counts e.g. child A plays on firstcounts, child B on second or third counts. Let them perform for the class. A keyboard playingcontinuous sound in the background can create a cosmic atmosphere. Find a voice and note (s) whichsuit best. Ask them to write down their composition.

For example: G E F D

1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3

B A E C


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Musical MysteriesMOREMORE Rock‘n’ Rolling

(The 1950’s & ‘60’s)


Rock ‘n’ Rolling (The 1950’s & ‘60’s)

Programme 9



• Make up your own skiffle band. (Think up a name for yourselves). Use a guitar if there’s one availableand make you own kazoo, bass, and if you can’t find a washboard use a scraper or a kitchen grater toget the same sort of sound.

• Kazoo – stretch a strip of tissue paper over the end of a short cardboard tube and secure it with arubber band. Use a pencil to make a hole near the covered end of the tube. You could have a kazooband.

• Double Bass – using a hammer and a nail make a hole in the centre of the bottom of a bucket. Turnthe bucket upside down and thread a length of thick string through the hole. Tie a knot in the end ofthe string inside the bucket. Tie the free end of the string to the end of an old broom handle. Put onefoot on the upturned bucket and hold the stick in one hand, resting its bottom on the bucket. Pushthe stick slightly away from your foot until the string is fairly tight. Now pluck the string andexperiment finding different notes on your bass.

• Have a game of ‘Juke Box Jury’. Collect a selection of different kinds of music and ask the children tobring in some of their favourite tapes and CDs. Play a selection of music and songs and ask thechildren to hold up cards saying HIT or MISS and count their votes. Develop this into a discussion asto why they like one piece or music rather than another. Encourage them to find ways of describingwhy they like or dislike a piece of music.

• Find out more about local show bands by asking parents or grandparents. Have they any of theirfavourite records from the ‘50s’, ‘60s’ or ‘70s’ around at home. What about clothes and jewellery fromthat era?

• Ask the children to suggest good names for a new pop group. Make a list on the board. Compare theirsuggestions and contemporary group names with band names from the past and notice how fashionsin names change as well as music and clothes.

• Discuss the difference in living in a house with a garden and living in a high-rise flat.

• Draw a picture of a UFO.

• Ask the children to mime a moon walk.



Programme 9



Programme 9

Rock ‘n’Rolling

(The 1950’s & ‘60’s)

Historylife in the 1950’s - ‘60’s

Cultural Heritageadvent of televisionshow bandsballrooms

Sciencetelevisionradiofirst man on the moon

Englishbrand nameslanguage to describe music



Programme 9


Urban Spaceman

* Continued

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Programme 9


Urban Spaceman (continued)


After our journey right from Stone Age times through the centuries we have finally arrived in the present. Today we present different styles of music. The children discover some of the secrets of a modern recording studio and how music is arranged andrecorded. We recap on some of the composing and performing work done by the childrenduring the series to encourage the listeners to make some music of their own.

ListeningExtracts of recorded music include a selection of contemporary pop song and Lady on the Mountain, (MauriceLeyden).

ComposingA reprise of a selection of the children’s creative music from programmes 1 to 9.

PerformingReprise of a selection of the music and songs the children performed during the series.

Song Lady on the Mountain

Programme 10

Follow Up Suggestions • Make a list of all the places we hear music in our day-to-day lives. At home, on radio, TV, leisure

centres, supermarkets, church.

• Ask the children to collect advertisements from local newspapers which show the range of live musicon offer in their area.

• Collect pictures and make a collage of the children’s favourite pop singers and bands

• Pick out a selection of music of different styles e.g. country, traditional, classical, jazz, pop. Play thesefor the children and talk about the style of the music and the name of that style. Now play a similarselection of music, perhaps in a different order and ask the children to try and identify some of thedifferent styles.

• Use a slinky or a row of dominoes to demonstrate how a sound wave works.

• Making sounds louder. Form a sheet of thin cardboard into a large cone with a hole for themouthpiece at the narrow end of the cone. Use sticky tape to fix the cone and stop it unrolling. Askanother child to stand 15 metres away. Talk to your friend in a normal voice and then through themegaphone. You have channelled all the sound waves from your voice in one direction so your voicesounds louder through the megaphone.


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Up-to-Date


Up-to-Date

Programme 10



• Switch on the radio. Tune it into some music with a heavy beat. Turn up the volume as this increasesthe energy in the sound. If you place your hand against the loudspeakers, you will feel themvibrating. Hold an inflated balloon against the speakers. Can you feel the balloon picking up thevibrations from the radio?


Programme 10

Up-to-Date

Historylife today

Englishmodern lifedescribing style of music

Scienceexperiments with soundrecording studiomusic


Up-to-Date

Programme 10


Lady On The Mountain

There stands a lady on the mountain,Who she is I cannot tell.All she wants is gold and silver,All she wants is a nice young man.Madam, will you walk it?Madam, will you talk it?Madam, will you marry me?

No!

Not if I buy you the keys of Heaven?Not if I buy you a coach and chair?Not if I buy you a comb of silverTo place in your bonny, bonny hair?

No!


Acknowledgements & Credits

Series

AcknowledgementsPhonographic Performance Ltd for I Dream I Hear Bells Ring by Fr. Liam Vaughan from the record Patrick andthe Bells (Outlet Recording Ltd).

Macmillan Publishing for Inch Worm by Frank Loesser from book Hulla Balloo Balay.

Appletree Press for Jenny Jo and Lady On the Mountain from the book Boys and Girls Come Out to Playcompiled by Maurice Leyden.

Brandon Book Publishers for The New Tramway from the book Belfast City of Song edited by Maurice Leyden.

Penguin for Pick a Bale of Cotton and The Titanic from American Folk Songs compiled by Alan Lomax.

Follett Publishing Co for Swedish tune Reap the Flax translated by B Krone.

Blandford Press for Babies in the Mill by Dorsey Dixon from book Carry It On by Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser.

Cambridge Educational for Chime Over the Village by Veronica Clark.

A & C Black for The Urban Spaceman from the book The Jolly Herring.

Oxford University Press for The Complete Horn compiled by Heather Graham Crump.

Kilkelly compiled by Peter Jones from the series Bringing It All Back Home.

CreditsPresenter: Jane Cassidy

Programmes and Teacher’s Notes written by: Jane CassidyKate Murphy

Schools taking part: Dollingstown Primary School

St Colman’s Primary School, Annaclone

St Patrick’s Primary School, Armagh

Children rehearsed by: Kate Murphy

Assisted by: the late Peter Murphy

Producer: Bernagh Brims


Programme 1 Musical Mysteries Lough Neagh - BBC - Homepage

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Transcript of Programme 1 Musical Mysteries Lough Neagh - BBC - Homepage