What to expect from a child functioning primarily at Sounds of Intent Level 4
Assess the child’s level of musical engagement through careful observation
Children functioning at SoI Level 4 are shape-detectors. They hear groups of notes as forming perceptual wholes (motifs, licks or riffs).
They intentionally create shapes in sound through combining small numbers of notes to create short bursts of rhythm or little melodic phrases. They start to join motifs together in chains, that don’t yet have an overall structure or sense of tonality or metre.
They copy the motifs that other people make and enjoy having their own motifs copied.
Choosing musical activities for the child
Children functioning at Level 4 are likely to benefit from musical activities that use short groups of notes.
However, they are still likely to enjoy purely sensory activities in sound (Level 2), activities that utilise simple patterns or repetition and regularity (Level 3) and they may get pleasure from attending to parts of whole songs to which they are exposed (Level 5).
Listening and responding to sounds and music
Amber Plus Card 33Play short bursts of rhythm to the child on percussion instruments
Short rhythmic figures may be the first musical elements that the child is able to grasp.
Play ‘rat-a-tat-tat’, ‘rat-a-tat-tat’, ‘rat-a-tat-tat’ on the drum; ‘shake-shake-bang’, ‘shake-shake-bang’, ‘shake-shake-bang’ on the maracas, ‘ting-a-ling-a-ling’, ‘ting-a-ling-a-ling’ on a triangle.
Stop a pattern in mid-flow and see if the child expects it to continue.
Make ‘daisy chains in sound’ on different instruments: ‘tap-tap-tap’ on the drum and then on the tambourine, for example.
Connect different bursts of rhythm together – ‘rat-a-tat-tat, shake-shake-bang, ting-a-ling-a-ling’, for example.
Play the ‘hooks’ from songs that are made up of just three or four notes.
For example, the notes of ‘I’m still standing’ (A flat, G flat, F, B flat).
Try the notes of ‘Every little thing gonna be alright’ (F sharp x5, F sharp x2, G, F sharp, E).
The notes of ‘I am the one’ (B, A, G sharp, F sharp), ‘Isn’t she lovely’ by Stevie Wonder (G sharp, A, G sharp, F sharp, E) and ‘Just the way you are’ (D, F sharp, B, C sharp, D).
Amber Plus Card 36Show the child where ringtones, doorbells and other bursts of electronic sound come from
Teach the child about the little fragments of music that are used to identify phones, computers and other equipment.
Let them hold different phones as they ring.
Let them watch or feel the microwave as it beeps.
Show them how a doorbell works.
Make recordings of the sounds so that the child can listen to them afterwards.
Play or sing motifs
Amber Plus Card 37Help the child to play short bursts of rhythm on percussion instruments or by using other sound-makers or technology
Give the child a range of sound-makers to play rhythms on: drums of different kinds, tambourines (large and small), wooden blocks.
Encourage the child to play the same rhythm on different instruments, and different rhythms on the same instrument.
Try metallic sound-makers and instruments, such as saucepans and cymbals.
Try using digital percussion.
Use beam or gesture-recognition technology.
Amber Plus Card 38Encourage the child to sing or hum short phrases from familiar songs
Encourage the child’s vocal efforts by amplifying them.
Show the child where the speaker is, then try putting it in different places.
Show them how the controls on the amplifier work and, if the equipment has the facility, try introducing different effects such as echo and reverberation.
Use looping software to build up the child’s short bursts of music into longer sequences.
Record the child’s efforts so they can hear what they have been doing without needing to concentrate on making sounds.
Help the child to play motifs that they have heard before and encourage them to make other motifs up.
Stick a marker (tactile and visual) on ‘middle C’ on a keyboard and show the child where it is.
Show the child, hand under hand, how to play simple patterns of three or four notes that start on C.
Help the child to do this using one finger to start with – show them how to find the notes next to each other by touching or looking (or both). Then encourage the child to use their thumb and other fingers too. Can they use either hand to play?
Show the child how to play jingles, ringtones and other bursts of melody that they hear.
Amber Plus Card 40Make the child a game that uses switches or other technology that uses recordings of ringtones and other electronic sounds
Help the child to appreciate that everyday bursts of rhythm and melodic motifs can be put together to make longer segments of music.
Attach some doorbells to a sheet of wood and show the child how they make similar (or different) patterns of notes.
Encourage the child to sing the ‘doorbell’ music.
Then see if they can play any of the motifs on a keyboard or other instrument.
Make recordings of the child in action for them to enjoy listening to later.
Interacting through copying motifs
Amber Plus Card 41Play ‘call and response’ games with the child using your voices
Use a range of songs from all over the world: army marching songs, African American work songs and sea shanties.
Try using folksongs from different countries that have a ‘call and response’ element.
Try using pop songs (such as ‘My Sweet Lord’ by George Harrison).