The final lesson
During this lesson, the pupils were asked to listen carefully, not only for instrument recognition, but also for dynamic changes. They agreed that dynamics are important in a piece and that it would be good to include them in their composition.
We listened to the end of ‘Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ where the contrasting sounds of helter skelter strings play against the bold brass melody. The children thought that this made the music exciting.
The pupils then researched orchestral instruments by finding pictures in old catalogues, looking at prices, cutting them out and sticking them in their music books. The wrote the name of the instrument and also the family to which it belonged.
Some of the children who finished this task then played a chromatic scale on the keyboard. They were good at this, and were keen to include a chromatic scale in the composition.
Finally, the title ‘Fantastic Classic’ was chosen for their composition.