African call and response song (Theme: Animals)

Children go on a musical safari; using instruments to represent animals, copying rhythms, learning a traditional African call and response song and to recognise simple notation, progressing to creating their own animal-based call and response rhythms

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Lesson 1: Going on safari

After hearing the sounds of some of Africa's most notorious animals, children use instruments to replicate the sounds, experimenting with the variations of timbre.

Lesson 2: Rhythmic safari

Using voices to imitate the sounds of the animals, learning to clap back animal rhythms in time to the music.

Lesson 3: The safari call

The rhythms from Lesson 2 are broken up into a 'call and response' structure, with pupils singing the 'response' and learning a traditional African call and response song called ‘Che Che Kule’.

Lesson 4: The safari response

Pupils are given examples of 'calls' to which they beat the 'response', using an instrument; they then work together to invent their own animal call and responses, recording their notations.

Lesson 5: The safari event

Using musical instruments to play their call and response songs from Lesson 4, pupils focus on improving the sounds they make by varying the dynamics, finishing the lesson by performing to their peers.

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Lesson 5: The safari event

Lesson 4: The safari response

Lesson 3: The safari call

Lesson 1: Going on safari

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