School Workshops
Using drums and percussion, wind and stringed instruments, and classical and folk singing styles, pupils in our workshops are part of a dialogue between two great musical traditions. The workshops explore the common musical language that unites the other-worldly ragas of classical Indian music with the sounds of the rain forest, the complex rhythms of the tabla with the haunting melodies of panpipes. Suitable for pupils in all Key Stages, including GCSE students and post-16.
Our workshops cross-reference the National Curriculum for Music to respond to specific expectations for each Key Stage.
The curricular links below are for KS2. If you require the links for KS1 or KS3 we shall be happy to provide them.
AIMS
- ‘Hand-on’ workshops covering all aspects of Indian and South American music through creativity and exploring fundamental musical elements of each tradition.
- Pupils learn and share in other cultures and traditions.
- Improve concentration, alertness and co-ordination.
- Boost self-esteem, confidence and social skills.
Workshop: World Drum Orchestra
Developing basic rhythm patterns using tablas, bongo drums, bombo drums (bass drums), dhol, dhad, manjira, Peruvian cajones, pakhavaj and dholak with a variety of hand percussion.
Controlling sounds through singing and playing – performing skills
Play tuned and untuned instruments with control and rhythmic accuracy.
Practise, rehearse and present performances with awareness of the audience.
Listening, and applying knowledge and understanding
How the combined musical elements of pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and silence can be organised within musical structures and used to communicate different moods and effects.
Workshop: Ragas and panpipes
Performing a melody based on a South American pentatonic scale played on panpipes, then developed as an Indian classical raga scale. This will lead to singing a raga composition using Indian notation with accompaniment of panpipes and percussion.
Listening, and applying knowledge and understanding
Listening with attention to detail and internalising and recalling sounds with increasing aural memory.
Controlling sounds through singing and playing – performing skills
Play tuned and untuned instruments with control and rhythmic accuracy.
Practise, rehearse and present performances with awareness of the audience.
Workshop: Taals and Latin beats
Latin rhythm patterns meet talas (Indian rhythmic cycles). The sequences are played on a variety of percussion instruments such as tabla, dholak, dhols, bongos and Peruvian cajones.
Creating and developing musical ideas – composing skills
Improvise, developing rhythmic and melodic materials when performing.
Explore, choose, combine and organise musical ideas within musical structures.
Workshop: Exploring textures and sounds - A Rainforest Soundscape
Creating sounds of the rainforest using a variety of untuned percussion instruments such as rainmakers, bean pods, wooden agogos and whistle, creating new sounds through imagination.
Responding and reviewing – appraising skills
Analyse and compare sounds.
Improve their own and others’ work in relation to its intended effect.
Workshop: Beats of the forests
Layering rhythms using bamboo slit drums, working as a class or in composition groups (older pupils). Lead musicians will accompany using drums (tabla) and flutes.
Creating and developing musical ideas – composing skills
Improvise, developing rhythmic and melodic materials when performing.
Explore, choose, combine and organise musical ideas within musical structures.