Motown Classics Library (Themes and Musical Concepts)
MOTOWN CLASSICS LIBRARY
(to be used alongside our Listening to Music post with key listening questions.
What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye)
– Themes
- Inspired by police brutality incident, riots and the Vietnam War
- Questioning
- Fine line between a ‘protest song’ and a ‘love song’
Continue reading “Motown Classics Library (Themes and Musical Concepts)”
Listening to Music (encouraging critical and enjoyable listening)
Here are some questions designed to get KS2 children listening critically to a style that they may not have delved into much before.
LISTENING QUESTIONS: Continue reading “Listening to Music (encouraging critical and enjoyable listening)”
Motown Songwriting Project
We are excited to be delivering workshops in Merton and Sutton schools this term as part of a broader Motown KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) project. Concert date for your diaries: 21st March 2018 (St Andrew’s Church, Cheam)
The workshops will result in some brand new original songs written by KS2 pupils (we’ll post the recordings on the ‘Get Involved’ page at the end of the project). In the workshops we’ll be taking a classic Motown song as a starting point for inspiration.
Shostakovich Composition Workshops
We have just completed a project in 7 Merton schools working with KS2 children to explore the music and life of composer Dmitri Shostakovich. The children learned about the political and social pressures that Shostakovich was under and how he was able to express himself and his ideas through music, Continue reading “Shostakovich Composition Workshops”
‘The Dark Garden’ – a new song from our recent holiday workshop!
We created ‘The Dark Garden’ on the 15th February 2017, at Crown Lane Studio, Morden, as part of the BeCreative Music holiday workshop series with Merton Active Plus. We had an absolutely fantastic day exploring Crown Lane studio, making music together and writing this song from scratch, before recording all the separate parts ourselves! We had the following talented young musicians with us: Continue reading “‘The Dark Garden’ – a new song from our recent holiday workshop!”
‘Time Travel Forwards’ – RGS Be Creative Workshop Song
This song was made with very talented and musical local year 6 children in Guildford on 19th November 2016 – a group of 18 co-wrote the lyrics and music with Be Creative’s Raph Clarkson, who led the workshop. We decided to write a song about looking to the future, Continue reading “‘Time Travel Forwards’ – RGS Be Creative Workshop Song”
Autumn Half Term Workshops with Merton Active Plus 25.10.16
Well done to today’s songwriting team!
Here is their creative remix of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sir Duke’
Continue reading “Autumn Half Term Workshops with Merton Active Plus 25.10.16”
St Teresa’s – One Day Songwriting Workshop
We arrived at St Teresa’s Primary School to meet two lively, bright year 6 classes – both having already gathered ideas for songs which will be passed on and taught to the rest of the school as these children progress to secondary school. Continue reading “St Teresa’s – One Day Songwriting Workshop”
May/June Half-Term Workshops
Two fantastic new songs written this half-term holiday! Have a listen below… Continue reading “May/June Half-Term Workshops”
Summer Half-Term Songwriting Workshops
31st May or 1st June 2016
8-14 year olds.
Create, record and perform your own pop song under the expert guidance of a Be Creative workshop leader. Improve your technique, learn to sing harmonies in a group and take part in a performance at the end. A must for all budding singers/pop stars! Continue reading “Summer Half-Term Songwriting Workshops”