Garden orchestra

Learning objectives:

Natural | Gourds | Reeds | Seed pods | Dynamics | Pitch | Timbre

• Examples of instruments made from plant materials (e.g. panpipes, guitar, gourds)
• A range of natural materials that could be used to make different sounds (e.g. pine cones, bamboo canes, stones, dried leaves, sticks)

• Establish that across the world and throughout history, people have always created musical instruments from a range of natural materials that were readily available to them
• Although these varied widely, they played an integral part in human communities, with artistic functions in everyday life
• Materials used for music-making and the basis of musical instruments included: animal bones, horns and skins, shells, stones, hollowed out gourds, clay and plant materials such as bamboo, wood, reeds, grasses, leaves and seed pods

• Take pupils outside to discover some ‘found sounds’ that they can make using natural materials. Sounds will be primarily percussive but could involve striking or scraping with a stick, stones, pine cones or rustling leaves
• When each pupil has found a sound, sit in a circle and explore whether they can vary the dynamics, pitch or timbre of their sound
• Show how to ‘conduct’ the group, inviting individual pupils to start and stop playing at different times and directing changes to the dynamics (volume)
• Divide pupils into smaller groups so they can take it in turns to conduct their group and perhaps create a small improvisation

Differentiation

• Support: Visual prompts to remind pupils of terms relating to the elements of music; focus on varying the dynamics
• Extension: keep a steady pulse whilst performing on their instrument; compose a group composition using their materials; explore how they could use natural materials to create graphic score to notate their composition

Plenary

Invite some of the group to perform an improvised piece with one of their members conducting. Evaluate each performance.

Assessment questions

• How might the sounds you found be similar or different in another season?
• What type of music might you use natural materials for in the future?

• You may wish to source a range of natural materials prior to the lesson, depending on what is available in your setting
• Develop this activity further by asking pupils to create a composition or soundscape on a particular theme or use natural materials to create a graphic score of a composition. Record pupil performances for evaluation purposes and repeat at different times of year in order to compare whether the sounds and soundscapes vary with the seasons