Music Key stage 1 & 2 – Schemes of Work – Unit 3

Music at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 1/2)

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration (5

Lessons)

About this unit

This unit develops children's ability to discriminate between longer and
shorter sounds, and to use them to create interesting sequences of sound.

During the unit children explore the duration of vocal and instrumental
sounds. They play percussion instruments with control and sensitivity,
paying attention to dynamics, tempo and pitch. Towards the end of the unit
the children begin to organise their sounds within a steady pulse. They
record their sound sequences using symbols.

Sections in this unit

This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. Introduction: How can we use our voices to make a range of long and
short sounds?
2. Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and short
sounds? (1)
3. Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and short
sounds? (2)
4. Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and short
sounds? (3)
5. Bringing it all together: Can we work together to make extended
sequences combining long and short sounds?

Prior learning
It is helpful if children and teachers have:

 sung a range of songs at different speeds

 used a range of percussion instruments
Future learning
In addition to the examples given in the 'Points to note' section, children
could go on to:

 play and compose sequences of long and short sounds using

combinations of instruments
 refine the scoring of long and short sound sequences, devising
symbols to represent the sounds
 listen to recorded music and identify which instruments can make
long and short sounds
 learn about Morse code, which uses long and short sounds

Where the unit fits in

This unit links with the ongoing skills unit ( unit 1). It leads to unit 4,
moving from an open exploration of longer and shorter sounds to rhythmic
patterns controlled by a steady pulse. The children's experience of handling
instruments, introduced in unit 2, is extended in this unit, and taken further
in unit 6 and unit 7. There are connections with science as the children
explore ways of making and stopping sounds. It links to PSHE through
developing children's ability to listen carefully and become aware of others
in the class/group. They learn about appropriate behaviour.

Expectations
at the end of this unit

most children will: make and control long and short sounds using voices
and instruments; work in partnership with another child to create a
sequence of long and short sounds

some children will not have made so much progress and will: make and
control long and short sounds using voices and instruments; create a
sequence of long and short sounds with help

some children will have progressed further and will: make and control
long and short sounds using voices and instruments; work in a small group
of children to compose, perform and record extended sequences involving
sounds of varying duration

Enrichment
 The children could listen to instrumental ensembles and focus on
one or two instruments and their use of long and short notes. What
has to be done by the players to produce long and short notes?
  Listen to visiting singers, solo or in a group. Be aware of the long
notes. How do the singers make them last for a long time and sound
pleasant? How do singers ensure that the words that go with short,
fast notes are clear?

Vocabulary
In this unit children will have an opportunity to use words and phrases
related to:

 duration, eg long/short, longer/shorter, sustained, staccato, start,

stop
 pitch, eg high/low, higher/lower
 dynamics, eg loud/quiet, louder/quieter
 timbre, eg smooth, scratchy, chiming, clicking

Resources
Stimulus:

 everyday situations and events

 stories and poems

Sound sources:

 sounds in the environment

 voices
 tuned and untuned classroom instruments

Objectives
Section 1: Introduction: How can we use our voices to make a range of
long and short sounds?
Children should learn:

 how to use their voices to make a variety of long and short sounds

View related activities and outcomes

Section 2: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (1)
Children should learn:

 how to make sounds of different duration on pitched and unpitched

 percussion instruments

View related activities and outcomes

Section 3: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (2)
Children should learn:

 that music is made up of long and short sounds

View related activities and outcomes

Section 4: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (3)
Children should learn:

 how to combine long and short sounds to fit in with a steady pulse

View related activities and outcomes

Section 5: Bringing it all together: Can we work together to make

extended sequences combining long and short sounds?
Children should learn:

 how to use instruments to make sequences of long and short sounds

View related activities and outcomes

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Activities
Section 1: Introduction: How can we use our voices to make a range of
long and short sounds?

 Talk about long sounds, eg the noise made by a spinning washing

machine, a hair dryer, running water, and ask the children to
imitate them with their voices. Ask the children to imitate some
short sounds, eg hammering, radio alarm, knocking, footsteps,
ticking clock, dripping water.
 Ask the children, in pairs, to create short vocal sequences
 combining long and short sounds, eg hammering and sawing, ticks
and chimes. Sometimes the sounds will be heard one after the other,
sometimes they will be heard together, eg ticks keep going when the
clock chimes.
 Use voices to provide long and short sound effects for stories and
poems, eg ticking and chiming in Hickory dickory dock.
 Listen for long and short notes in songs. Make a list of words that
are sung with long notes. Highlight that long notes often come at the
end of the song or each phrase. They also often match with words
with long vowel sounds.
 Ask the children to make movements in response to long and short
sounds played on a variety of classroom instruments.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 2: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (1)

 'Long or short?': Sit in a circle and give each child in the class a
percussion instrument. Ask each child in turn to produce either a
long or a short sound. Allow the children a little time to practise.
Concentrate on producing a good quality sound. Some instruments
can produce both long and short sounds, eg tambourine - shaken or
tapped. Can a long sound be shortened (eg by touching the
vibrating surface)?
 'Pass it round': Ask the children to play their instruments again - just
one tap/shake/scrape - but this time they should make their sound as
soon as the instrumental sound of the previous player has died
away, eg children following wood blocks would have to come in
very quickly. Play this game several times as it requires considerable
skill.
 Group the instruments into three sets: long sound, short sound, both.
Make two flash cards, one indicating a long sound, the other a short
sound. Hold them up one at a time. The children play (quietly) when
their sign shows. Some children (those with tambourines, maracas),
can play when either sign is showing.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 3: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (2)

 Long and short sounds in music are usually controlled by a pulse or

beat. Listen to a selection of music, and listen for short and long
 sounds, eg Serenade for Wind 3rd movement IC361 Mozart. Is the
music fast or slow? Can you identify the instruments?

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 4: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (3)

 'Count four': Ask half the children in the class to choose an

instrument. Divide them into two groups - long and short sounds.
Tell the children that you would like them to play their instruments,
one group at a time, to fit in with a steady pulse: 1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4, etc.
The short duration instruments should be played on the beat. The
children playing instruments with a long duration should make their
sounds last for a full four beats. Play quietly. The listening children
can tap a quiet beat on their thighs. Swap over.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 5: Bringing it all together: Can we work together to make

extended sequences combining long and short sounds?

 Ask the children, in pairs, to think of two sounds, one long, the
other short, that might be heard either at the same time or one after
each other (see 'Introduction' above). Talk about the two sounds.
Should they be loud or quiet, high or low, regular or now and then,
with long or short silences between them? The children, in pairs,
should then select instruments to match their sound and make up a
sequence to perform for the rest of the class. Can the listeners guess
what they are describing? Can they improve on their performance?

View related objectives and outcomes

Outcomes
Section 1: Introduction: How can we use our voices to make a range of
long and short sounds?
Children:

 recognise long and short sounds and make longer and shorter
sounds with their voices
  respond to long and short sounds through movement

View related objectives and activities

Section 2: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (1)
Children:

 explore long and short sounds on classroom instruments

 perform long and short sounds in response to symbols

View related objectives and activities

Section 3: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (2)
Children:

 identify long and short sounds in music

View related objectives and activities

Section 4: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long and

short sounds? (3)
Children:

 create long and short sounds on instruments

View related objectives and activities

Section 5: Bringing it all together: Can we work together to make

extended sequences combining long and short sounds?
Children:

 create a sequence of long and short sounds

View related objectives and activities

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Section 1: Introduction: How can we use our voices to make a range
of long and short sounds?

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to use their voices to make a variety of long and short sounds

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Talk about long sounds, eg the noise  recognise long
made by a spinning washing machine, a and short sounds
hair dryer, running water, and ask the and make longer
children to imitate them with their voices. and shorter sounds
Ask the children to imitate some short with their voices
sounds, eg hammering, radio alarm,  respond to long
knocking, footsteps, ticking clock, and short sounds
dripping water. through
 Ask the children, in pairs, to create short movement
vocal sequences combining long and
short sounds, eg hammering and sawing,
ticks and chimes. Sometimes the sounds
will be heard one after the other,
sometimes they will be heard together, eg

ticks keep going when the clock chimes.
 Use voices to provide long and short
sound effects for stories and poems, eg
ticking and chiming in Hickory dickory
dock.
 Listen for long and short notes in songs.
Make a list of words that are sung with
long notes. Highlight that long notes
often come at the end of the song or each
phrase. They also often match with words
with long vowel sounds.
 Ask the children to make movements in
response to long and short sounds played
on a variety of classroom instruments.

Points to note
 Children may define a succession of short sounds, eg a series of
rapid, short blasts of a car horn, as a long sound. Make sure they
understand the difference between a sound that continues without a
break (sustained), and a succession of short sounds that follow on
from each other so quickly that they give the impression of one long
sound.
 Establish that both long and short sounds can follow on from each
 other very quickly, or may have long periods of silence between
them. They can be regular, eg a ticking clock, or irregular, eg
hammering.
 Encourage the children to constantly use the words 'long' and 'short'
to describe a wide range of sounds and to use these terms correctly.

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Section 2: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long
and short sounds? (1)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to make sounds of different duration on pitched and unpitched
percussion instruments

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 'Long or short?': Sit in a circle and give each  explore long
child in the class a percussion instrument. and short
Ask each child in turn to produce either a sounds on
long or a short sound. Allow the children a classroom
little time to practise. Concentrate on instruments
producing a good quality sound. Some  perform long
instruments can produce both long and short and short
sounds, eg tambourine - shaken or tapped. sounds in
Can a long sound be shortened (eg by response to
touching the vibrating surface)? symbols
 'Pass it round': Ask the children to play their
instruments again - just one tap/shake/scrape
- but this time they should make their sound

as soon as the instrumental sound of the
previous player has died away, eg children
following wood blocks would have to come
in very quickly. Play this game several times
as it requires considerable skill.
 Group the instruments into three sets: long
sound, short sound, both. Make two flash
cards, one indicating a long sound, the other
a short sound. Hold them up one at a time.
The children play (quietly) when their sign
shows. Some children (those with
tambourines, maracas), can play when either
sign is showing.
Points to note
 Children will need to be reminded how to hold instruments so that
they can vibrate freely. Remind them to have a loose wrist when
using beaters, and to let the head of the beater bounce off the
vibrating surface. Triangles are notoriously hard to play - pinch the
holder close to the apex of the triangle, but not actually touching it.
 When using pitched instruments, it is recommended that notes are
put out in one chord, eg Cs, Es and Gs. This is easy on the ear if all
the instruments are playing together.

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Section 3: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long
and short sounds? (2)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 that music is made up of long and short sounds

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Long and short sounds in music are usually  identify
controlled by a pulse or beat. Listen to a long and
selection of music, and listen for short and long short

sounds, eg Serenade for Wind 3rd movement sounds in
IC361 Mozart. Is the music fast or slow? Can music
you identify the instruments?

Points to note
 Some children will be able to understand that the sounds are
controlled by a pulse or beat. Some of the musical sounds will be
the same as the pulse, others will be shorter (and usually quicker)
than others, some will be longer. Listen out for the longest note.

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Section 4: Exploration: How can we use instruments to make long
and short sounds? (3)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to combine long and short sounds to fit in with a steady pulse
Activities Outcomes
Children:
 'Count four': Ask half the children in the class  create long
to choose an instrument. Divide them into and short
two groups - long and short sounds. Tell the sounds on
children that you would like them to play instruments
their instruments, one group at a time, to fit in
with a steady pulse: 1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4, etc. The

short duration instruments should be played
on the beat. The children playing instruments
with a long duration should make their
sounds last for a full four beats. Play quietly.
The listening children can tap a quiet beat on
their thighs. Swap over.

Points to note
 Try counting in twos/threes/sixes. Vary the tempo. Combine long
and short sounds, eg

Unit 3: The long and the short of it - Exploring duration

Section 5: Bringing it all together: Can we work together to make
extended sequences combining long and short sounds?

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to use instruments to make sequences of long and short sounds

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Ask the children, in pairs, to think of two   create a
sounds, one long, the other short, that might be sequence of
heard either at the same time or one after each long and
other (see 'Introduction' above). Talk about the short sounds
two sounds. Should they be loud or quiet, high
or low, regular or now and then, with long or
short silences between them? The children, in
pairs, should then select instruments to match
their sound and make up a sequence to perform
 for the rest of the class. Can the listeners guess
what they are describing? Can they improve on
their performance?

Points to note
 Some ideas: Sawing and hammering; ticking and chimes; running
water and drops; lawn mower and garden shears; bee and
cricket/woodpecker, fire alarm and running footsteps, barking and
growling.
 Extension activity: The children could work in threes, two to play
instruments, the third to lead or conduct. They should change over
so that each child has the chance to do everything.
 Extension activity: Some children may be able to record their
sound sequences on paper so that others can try them. Their scores
should clearly show the two sounds and indicate how they should be
made.