Download Molly on the Shore for Primary or less experienced music students

MOLLY ON THE SHORE – PERCY GRAINGER
Performed by Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Secondary Showcase Song to Symphony
5 March 2015
The resource content has been designed as teaching notes and activities for students in years 3 - 6
in preparation or as follow-up to attending a QSO Concert, viewing a live stream or as a stand-alone resource.
The Composer – Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
Did you know…
•
•
Percy Grainger has had a crater on the
planet Mercury named in his honour.
•
Percy Grainger was also a very good artist,
painting in water colours. He had to decide
whether to make a career in art or in music.
Lucky for us he chose music.
Percy Grainger was born in Victoria,
Australia in 1882 and died in 1961.
•
He learnt piano and was so good he gave
concerts around the county when he was
12 years old.
•
He lived in Germany, London and
America during his life.
•
He gathered folksongs from many
countries and composed using these
melodies as inspiration.
The Composer – Famous Compositions
Percy Grainger
•
Country Gardens. This composition was based on the old English Song English County
Gardens.
•
Irish Tune from County Derry. Grainger uses the Irish melody also known as Danny
Boy or Londonderry Air. Performed by Melbourne String Ensemble.
•
Children’s March (Over the Hills and Far Away). Vision of children from around the
world and though all eras.
•
Shepherd’s Hey. Showcase traditional style performances with piano accordion, Violin
(fiddle), guitar and Irish bagpipes with orchestral accompaniment (traditional
instruments start at 2:40).
Listen and Watch
Percy Grainger
•
Molly on the Shore performed on piano – follow the piano score.
•
Molly on the Shore performed on violin and piano.
•
Molly on the Shore performed by an orchestra.
•
Molly on the Shore performed as a Celtic reel.
Molly on the Shore – The Melody
Presto
Molly on the Shore – The Melody
•
Molly on the Shore is a very old, Irish folk tune and the Irish people used to dance to this music played on the violin and
accompanied by a drum. Play this melody or ask someone in your school to play it for you.
•
Find the musical elements. Do you know what they mean?
Key of G Major
1st and 2nd time endings
Anacrusis
(note F#)
Repeat sign
Treble Clef
Time
Repeat sign
Signature 4/4
Triplet
4th beat of this
bar is the
anacrusis at
the beginning
of the melody
Musical Elements in the Melody
Do you know what the musical elements mean?
G Major – is the scale in which the melody is written and all Fs are sharp (#)
Repeat signs tell you that a section of music has to be played again (repeated).
Anacrusis are notes taken from the last bar of the music and placed before the first beat to lead in
the music.
Triplet is a rhythm where 3 notes must be played evenly in the one beat. There are 6 triplets rhythms
in the music of Molly on the Shore (previous page). Did you find them all?
Time Signature for Molly on the Shore is 4/4 which means there are 4 beats in every bar.
1st and 2nd time endings gives two different endings when a melody is repeated.
Rhythms
Find these rhythms in Molly on the Shore. Different countries use different names for these
rhythms. Which name do you use?
Quaver or 1/8 note or ti
Semi-quaver or 1/16 note
or tic-a
Crotchet or ¼ note or ta
Triplet or tuplet
Clap these patterns:
•
With a friend
•
In two groups in your class
•
One pattern with your feet and one with your hands!
•
On a signal swap parts
:
:II
Instruments - VIOLA
Viola
•
The viola and clarinet have the melody at the beginning of Molly on the Shore.
•
The viola is a member of the string family.
•
It is slightly bigger than the violin and smaller than the cello.
•
It is played in the same way as a violin but the sounds are lower and richer than the violin
because the instrument is bigger.
•
The strings are tuned to C, G, D and A.
The violin does not have a low C string like the viola.
and the viola does not have a high E string like the violin.
Listen and Watch
•
Nicholas Bootiman talks about the viola and demonstrates
how to play.
•
Frozen Medley played on viola with piano and violin accompaniment.
Listen for the difference in sound between the violin and viola.
Instruments - CLARINET
Clarinet
•
The viola and clarinet have the melody at the beginning of Molly on the Shore.
•
The clarinet is a member of the woodwind Family.
•
The mouthpiece has a single reed which vibrates to create the sound.
Listen and Watch
•
Clarinet Carrot – How to make a clarinet out of a carrot!
•
The famous Artie Shaw playing clarinet with a Big Band in 1940
•
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue features the clarinet at the beginning.
The Beat and Tempo
•
Percy Grainger wrote at the beginning of the piece “Keep 4 beats (l l l l) hammering
away in every bar throughout the piece, even in the soft bits.”
•
The strings, when they do not have the melody, use pizzicato – plucking the strings with
the fingers to play the notes on the beat.
•
The tempo (or speed) of Molly on the Shore is Presto – Lively and fast.
•
Listen to Molly on the Shore and keep the following beat patterns:
•
The first beat of every bar
II:
l
Z
Z
Z
:II
•
Beats 1 and 3 of each bar
II:
l
Z
l
Z
:II
•
Every beat in the bar
II:
l
l
l
l
:II
Australian Curriculum – Music
Molly on the Shore – Percy Grainger
Elements of
Music
Foundation
to Year 2
Rhythm
Beat
Crotchet, quaver
Fast Presto
Pitch
Pitch direction
Dynamics &
Expression
Years
3 and 4
Years
5 and 6
Years
7 and 8
Time signature
Triplet
chromaticism
Quaver, semi-quaver
Beat sub-divisions
Melodic shape
Treble clef
Staff
G major scale
Bass clef
Forte, piano
(de) crescendo
Fortissimo, pianissimo
and gradations
Accent
Articulation
Pizzicato
Aco
Form and
Structure
Introduction
Same/different
patterns
Repeat sign
1st & 2nd time bars
Theme, motif
phrase
Folk Song (Reel)
Anacrusis
Timbre
How sound is made
Recognise orchestral
instruments by sound
Viola
Clarinet
Recognise
instrumental groups
Texture
Melody
accompaniment
Patterns
2 or more voices
Contrast of texture
Responding
Alto clef
Identify instruments
by name and sound
production.
Orchestration
beat and rhythmic
patterns
Creating
Performing
Years
9 and 10
Keep beat
Rhythmic patterns
Playing melody
Australian composer
Historical context
Celtic music
.
Awareness of
ensemble