Somerset Primary School
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30a Beaufort Street
Somerset TAS 7322
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Email: somerset.primary@education.tas.gov.au
Phone: 03 6435 1114

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From the Music Room

It has been nice to have been able to spend the past full two terms engaging in making and exploring music with our Somerset Primary Students. As our Grade 6 students prepare to leave us to continue on their journey to high school, I would like to thank them all for their perseverance, enthusiasm and willingness to have a go during Music lessons over their years at Somerset Primary School.

Mrs Kathleen Matthews, Music Teacher

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Grade 1 and 2 Music – What have we been learning?

This term in Music our Grade 1 and 2 students continued exploring rhythm reading and writing using the time names Ta, ti-ti and Zaa. This included putting rhythm patterns onto percussion instruments and playing along to the 2020 Music Count Us In song “You Won’t Bring Us Down”. Students continued developing their solo and group singing skills and confidence when performing with and for others. They demonstrated their ability to identify dynamics and tempo in music using puppets to show if the music they were listening to was forte/piano (loud/soft) and presto/largo (fast/slow). Students learnt a folk dance called Kangaroos and Emus which allowed them to practise safe movements, working with a partner and following instructions in a set dance. Aside from musical skills students have been practising their patience when waiting for a turn, respect for others and equipment, giving their best effort and attentive listening.

Our Learning Goals and Success Criteria this term were: I can sing my name solo, I can keep a steady beat, I can listen attentively and join in when asked, I can recognise and demonstrate the difference between forte/piano and presto/largo, I can read and play rhythm patterns using Ta, ti-ti and Zaa, I can follow and perform a simple movement sequence to music.

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Grade 3 and 4 Music – What have we been learning?

This term in Music our Grade 3 and 4 students have developing their solo and group singing skills. Grade 3 students learnt the folk rhyme Down to the Baker Shop and sung in three-part canon, working hard to maintain their parts while listening to other groups singing the same rhyme but at a slightly different time to them. Grade 3 students practised their four-part canon singing to the rhyme Queen, Queen Caroline. They explored demonstrating song structure through movement and as part of this working cooperatively with others in a group. Students are finishing the term using ukuleles, learning to play A minor and F chords and practising a range of strumming patterns.

Learning Goals/Success Criteria this term: I can keep a steady beat, I can listen attentively and join in when asked, I can play instruments carefully and use them respectfully, I can sing in a three/four part canon, I can demonstrate song structure through movement, I can analyse music to identify musical elements, I can play Am and F chords on ukulele.

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Music Count Us In 2020

Earlier this term you may have heard “..Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah…” being sung around the house by your child/ren…

Every year students at Somerset Primary School engage with the Music Count Us In song. A new song is released each year written by a group of students selected from across Australia. This song is then sung simultaneously around Australia by over 500,000 students. The 2020 program song You Won’t Bring Us Down gave our students a lot to think about and discuss when analysing the song lyrics.

Somerset Primary School participated during our Week 6 Assembly with students singing and Mrs McIlfatrick’s Signing Choir singing in Auslan. It is always lovely to hear and see our school community united together in simultaneous song.

Below are links to the various versions of the Music Count Us In song released by Music Australia this year:

Grade 5 and 6 Music – What have we been learning?

This term in Music our Grade 5 and 6 students continued working on their ukulele skills, focusing on Am, F and C chords, strumming patterns and preparing their own songs in groups or solo for presentation. In weeks three and four students shared the ukulele songs they had been working on during terms 3 and 4 with Mrs Matthews. All students should be proud of their efforts and determination when building or expanding their ukulele playing skills. Grade 5s used movement to demonstrate structure of the 2020 Music Count Us In song with some fabulous movement ideas coming from groups. Grade 6 students are finishing the term working collaboratively to develop one of their end of year performance items during music lessons. 

Learning Goals/Success Criteria this term: I can keep a steady beat, I can listen attentively and join in when asked, I can play Am, F and C chords on ukulele, I can change fluently between two/three chords, I can accompany my singing, I can use instruments respectfully, I can analyse music to identify musical elements.

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NAIDOC Week 2020

To celebrate NAIDOC Week in Music (Sunday 8 November – Saturday 14 November 2020) students across all grades read the story Our Home, Our Heartbeat. This book is by Yorta Yorta man, rapper, hip-hop artist, lyricist, writer and actor Adam Briggs (aka Briggs). The book was written by Briggs as a “…celebration of past and present Indigenous legends …” (booktopia) and sparked discussion around the musicians, athletes, actors and advocates highlighted in the story.

Students in Grades 1/2 also explored the Indigenous language version of the 2020 Music Count Us In which is sung in language from the Yamatji Nation in Western Australia.

Students in Grades 3-6 listened to and compared three versions of Solid Rock performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They identified instruments played, languages used and the genre/style of the music in each version. The first version was performed by musician Scott Darlow (a Yorta Yorta man); the second was a collaboration recorded in 2012 but released in 2019 featuring Shane Howard, Dan Sultan, Emma Donovan, Natalie Pa’apa’a, Archie Roach, Bart Willoughby, Amy Saunders, Myra Howard and the APY (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) Lands Choir from South Australia; and the final version was recorded by Jessica Mauboy. Students made connections back to the Our Home, Our Heartbeat text as some of the performers we listened to were featured in the story.  

Earlier this year during Term 2 students also explored the Yabbo Band version of I Am Australian sung in Wongatha language (WA) and the ABC We Are Australian advertisements sung in Yawuru language (WA).