Primary Music Starter Pack
Resource Guide
The Resource Guide below includes ideas and background information to support Early Years educators to lead six different musical games.
This course is a grab bag of musical activities for specialist and generalist primary school teachers. Each activity can be taught individually or in any combination to deepen students musical confidence, skills and understandings.These activities can be used by teachers who have limited musical background. Each activity includes variations to extend students across the primary years.
Resource Guide
The Resource Guide below contains all the activities associated with this course as a single downloadable document. Individual sections can be downloaded through the drop-menus below
Musical games and warm ups can be used as energisers throughout the day or at the start of music class. This section includes the following activities:
Voice Warm Ups
Bananas in the Sky
Hidden Dynamics
Pass the Beat A-Round the Room
Dynamics Circle
Paper Decrescendo
To view an example of the Bananas in Sky game click here
To view an example of the Pass the Beat A-Round the Room click here
For more games on ARTS:LIVE see:
Musical Games for Early Years (Adaptable for Years F-2)
Improvisation Starters (Years 3-6)
This section presents simple ways to introduce and consolidate students understanding of rhythm. Incorporating percussion instruments is optional. It includes the following activities:
Rhythm in a Name
Call and Response Rhythm
Stepping the Rhythm
Rhythmic Composition
Rhythm Clock/Pyramid
Rhythmic Layers
For further extension of these concepts, check out the following ARTS:LIVE courses
Tree and the Key (Adaptable for Years F-1)
Learn the Alphabet Dance (Years 2-4)
Flexing with Girl Zone (Years 5-6)
This section presents simple ways to introduce and consolidate students understanding of dynamics. Incorporating percussion instruments is optional. This section includes the following activities:
Conducting the Class
Dynamic Canons
Making a Rainstorm
Peter and the Wolf
Dynamic Call and Response
Dynamics Quiz
For further extension of these concepts, check out the following ARTS:LIVE courses
Tree and the Key (Adaptable for Years F-1)
Learn the Alphabet Dance (Years 2-4)
Flexing with Girl Zone (Years 5-6)
This section presents simple ways to introduce and consolidate students understanding of pitch. Incorporating percussion instruments is optional. It includes the following activities:
Rain, Rain Go Away
Pitch Mapping
Circle of Pitch
Canons
Pitch Statues
Listening for Pitch
For further extension of these concepts, check out the following ARTS:LIVE courses
Transition Songs (Years F-2)
Harmonic Shift: Songs of Resilience (Years 3-6)
This section includes three activities that integrate muliple elements and music skills and knowledge. They include assessment examples. It includes the following activities:
Graphic Notation
Listening Diary
Digital Playground
To view the Incrediblox program click here. Please note that this can be used for free on a computer (rather than a smartphone)
Some other digital music programs that have some free access and an interface that is user friendly for primary students are listed below:
Chrome Music Lab
Ableton Live
For further extension of these concepts, check out the following ARTS:LIVE courses
Painting the Music (Years F-2)
Visual Songwriting with Olympia (Years 3-6)
Relevant Links
Music Education Guide - Produced by the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA)
The Quality Music Education Framework - Victorian Department of Education
The Victorian Music Curriculum
Many of the Activities in this course have been adapted from the ARTS:LIVE Elements of Music Courses. View these in full here - F-2, 3-4 & 5-6)
This Resource has been produced with the support of the Victorian Department of Education and Training.
Content from this course has been adapted from the Elements of Music Course which was produced in collaboration between The Song Room, Clickview and Katie Hull Brown.
With special thanks to
Sacred Heart Primary School Fitzroy
Tim Webb
Marianna Doherty
Kimba Wong
Monica Lamperd
Chris Riordan - 2 Degrees of Separation