Music to Our Ears

World Music Day is on 21 June 2024

by Philippa Rae

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To celebrate the significance of music around the world.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Music to Our Ears) and the means to display them.
• Have available the following YouTube videos and the means to show them during the assembly:
  
  - ‘William Barton didgeridoo solo’, available at: https://youtu.be/ex7yNsaIT8s (1.34 minutes long)
  - ‘How to blow a conch’, available at: https://youtu.be/O_lyDVBGAVM (0.55 minutes long)
  - ‘Playing spoons with Abby the Spoon Lady’, available at: https://youtu.be/GhggIC0D--4 (0.53 minutes long)
• Optional: you may wish to use clips of tunes that evoke different emotions on the Let’s Play Music website, available at: https://tinyurl.com/sauyssab (scroll down for a range of excerpts in YouTube videos)
• Further resources are available on the World Music Day website at: https://worldmusicday.co.uk/
  and on the Make Music Day UK website at: https://makemusicday.co.uk/

Assembly

1. Show Slide 1.
   
   Welcome the children to the assembly.
   
   
2. Show Slide 2.
   
   Explain that today [adapt as needed] is 21 June, and it is World Music Day!
   
   This special day is held every year to mark the part that music plays in the lives of people all over the world.
   
   World Music Day first took place in France in 1982. Nowadays, World Music Day is celebrated in more than 120 countries in various ways. There are free public concerts and events for everyone to enjoy in many towns and cities, including in public spaces such as parks and museums.
   
   
3. Ask the children, ‘Can anyone guess when music first started?’
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
4. Explain that archaeologists have discovered objects like bone flutes, which were used by ancient people to make music thousands of years ago. However, no one knows when this amazing creative invention began.
   
   
5. As time has progressed, many musical styles have developed, including hip-hop, blues, country, pop, rock and jazz.
   
   
6. The theme for World Music Day 2024 is to bring people in peace and joy to appreciate music’s importance in our lives. Although musical sounds vary, the universal appeal of music is its power to heal, delight, inspire and entertain all of us, whoever we are, wherever we live and whatever our memories, beliefs and hopes.
   
   
7. Ask the children, ‘What does music mean to you?’
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
8. We can use various types of instruments to make music.
   
   Show Slides 3 to 7.
   
   Ask the children if they recognize the instruments in these pictures.
   
   - Slide 3 shows a cymbal.
   - Slide 4 shows a guitar.
   - Slide 5 shows a trumpet.
   - Slide 6 shows a piano.
   - Slide 7 shows a violin.
   
   
9. Ask the children if they can think of any other instruments.
   
   Point out that in other parts of the world, there are some popular instruments that we may be less familiar with.
   
   
10. Show Slide 8.
    
    Ask the children if they know what this instrument is called.
    
    Explain that it is a type of drum called a djembe, and it originates from West Africa.
    
    
11. Ask the children, ‘Do you know where a didgeridoo originally comes from?’
    
    Show an extract from the YouTube video ‘William Barton didgeridoo solo’ (1.34 minutes long).
    
    Didgeridoos were developed by Australian Aboriginal people at least 1,000 years ago.
    
    
12. Point out that it is amazing how creative people can be in how they make music. For example, conch shell trumpets have been played in many Pacific Island countries, as well as South America and Southern Asia.
    
    Show the YouTube video ‘How to blow a conch’ (0.55 minutes long).
    
    
13. Even if we don’t have our own musical instrument, there are many objects at home that create sounds. We can pour rice into containers to make maracas to shake, and we can bang out a rhythm with a spoon on some pans. With a bit of practice, we might even be able to play the spoons themselves!
    
    Show an extract from the YouTube video ‘Playing spoons with Abby the Spoon Lady’ (0.53 minutes long).

Time for reflection

Music affects us in many ways. It can make us feel happy or sad, and it can help us to express our emotions.

Ask the children if they have any favourite pieces of music, or any songs that make them feel a particular way.

Optional: you may wish to play some of the classical music clips that evoke different emotions on the Let’s Play Music website.

Ask the children, ‘How does the music make you feel? Why do you think it makes you feel this way?’

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the gift of music and the many benefits that it brings us.
Thank you for all the composers, singers and musicians who share their gift with us.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Music’ by John Miles, available at: https://youtu.be/lAsvjVx-Mg4 (5.52 minutes long)