Secondary Music at Home 13

Enjoy these structured musical activities that we have prepared especially for you to continue your learning at home.

• Jump to your stage of learning:
  Years 7-9 | Years 10-11 | Years 12-13
• Can’t see the videos?
  If you're accessing this page from a school network, find out more here.

Years 7-9:
Performing with Spoons 

Spoon playing has been a folk tradition for as long as there's been spoons! Now it's your turn to try this out. Follow the video below by percussionist Jo May as she teaches you the basics. 

• What you'll need
  Two metal dessert spoons (and a bit of patience!)

Years 7-9:
Watch and listen – Ed Sheeran

Watch this cover of Ed Sheeran's Shape of You and consider these points as you go. You'll need a piece of paper and a pen to jot some notes down.

• Sounds
  The performers are able to make lots of different sounds using a mix of simple instruments and household items. How many can you identify?
• Unexpected moments
  There's a "wow moment" at some point in the video... where do you think it is? What makes it unexpected?
• Consider...
  Do you think Ed Sheeran would have liked this cover? Explain why...

Years 10-13:
The power of scales

Watch this 3-minute clip of musician Bobby McFerrin teaching the 5-notes of the pentatonic scale in just a few seconds and improvising over it. Think about the ways he builds this activity up with his audience as you watch it, then take a look at the tasks below.

• Practice the scale first
  Have a go at singing along with the video. This will help you practice singing the pentatonic scale first.
• Try it at home...
  See if you can do this at home with family and friends. See if they manage to sing as well as the audience in the video. Think about how Bobby McFerrin starts off with only a few notes, and slowly builds up the scale to a point where the audience understand which note comes next without having to have it sung at the same time.
• Improvise
  If you're feeling brave, have a go at singing a separate melody at the same time, like Bobby does. This might take a few attempts to be able to still jump and sing! You might want to have a quick practice on your own!
• Could this work for other scales?
  Do you think this could work for a blues scale, a major scale, or minor? Have a think how you might adapt this to work for a different scale and try that out too.