Music education is an outlet for creativity and expression and is a form of art used to communicate moods, emotions and ideas. In this series of lessons and activities, the underlying theme links with how music can convey responsive expressions. This experience was developed to facilitate children’s capacity to identify their own and others emotions through music.

Students will see how music can convey emotion and mood through the tone, beat, tempo, rhyme and pitch. The use of props through the ‘Emotions Tree’ and selected text ‘I See a Song’ can provide a powerful metaphor for children to engage with their senses, their memories and explore their emotions. Students can question each piece of music played with the accompanying text to ask ‘Why was each note chosen?’ ‘Why does it sound the way it does?’ ‘What emotions are evoked in the piece?’

They can read a descriptive emotion written on the tree and attempt to replicate the emotion through the instruments provided. The instruments contained in the play space are aimed at encouraging children to experiment with producing sounds that evoke particular emotions such as anger, jealousy, being shy, sadness or excitement. A wide range of instruments can be linked to particular feelings for instance anger with the crashing sound of a drum kit or the shyness of a pan flute.

Music is of importance as it helps support many areas of development such as 

Mental development:  Increases attention spans as it provides a portal to focus and concentrate. Music develops active listening skills and memorisation. Children acquire extensive vocabulary through the use of musical terms, developing fluency, learning pronunciation of words and enunciation (speaking with clarity). Students can develop correspondence skills and develop spatial temporal intelligence. Students use their critical thinking skills to understand sound sequences, respond to visual materials (images) and develop melody discrimination. Reading and responding to music are transferrable to other key areas of learning such as maths and literacy.

Social: Music provides opportunities for students to be exposed to the greater world, exploring various musical styles and cultures through what they hear. Socialisation is promoted as music is a natural outlet for self-expression and may assist quieter personalities to externalise their thoughts and feelings and support lively personalities to find a sense of calm. Music provides a sense of belonging for all. They engage and interact to create music together and learn to share, compromise, face new challenges and form friendships.

Physical: Students are able to improve their fine motor skills, coordination and encourages gross motor movement skills such as flexibility and self-awareness. It creates balance within the body.

Emotional: Music increases emotional awareness. It provides a place for students to understand what they are feeling and why. It changes the mood of the learning environment as music soothes, calms and motivates students. Understanding emotions through music assists children to understand the emotional states of others, develop empathy and emotional intelligence

Creativity and imagination: Everybody has an innate ability to be creative. Children have opportunities to construct their own music and turn the images in their minds into something that is tangible. Through active experimentation, children can learn to create something brand new and to see that they can invent something that is greater than the sum of its parts.