History of Music – JSS2 Cultural & Creative Arts Lesson Note (Second Term)

Music is the art of arranging sounds in a pleasant and organised way to create rhythm, melody and harmony.

Lesson details

• Subject: Cultural and Creative Arts
• Class: JSS2
• Duration: 40 minutes

Behavioural objectives

By the end of this lesson, pupils should be able to:

1. Define music in simple terms.
2. Explain how music started from natural sounds.
3. Give at least four examples of natural sounds that inspired music.
4. Demonstrate simple rhythms using clapping and body percussion.
5. Describe how simple instruments developed from natural sounds and the human body.

Materials needed

• Audio recordings: ocean waves, rain, birds and wind. A phone can be used.
• Pictures: ocean, waterfall, birds and thunder.
• Containers: bottles, tins and stones for making sounds.
• Chart: development of music from natural sounds to instruments.
• Instrument: a drum or any traditional instrument, if available.

What should pupils already know?

• Pupils enjoy music and have taken part in singing activities.
• They know some traditional songs.
• They can clap to a rhythm.

How do you introduce the lesson? (5 minutes)

The lesson starts with a clapping activity that leads pupils to the idea of music.

1. The teacher enters the class clapping a simple rhythm and asks pupils to join in.
2. After about 30 seconds, the teacher stops and asks: “What were we just doing?”
3. The teacher asks: “When we clap in a pattern, what are we creating?” Pupils may say “music” or “rhythm”.
4. The teacher says: “We made music with just our hands. Today we learn what music is and how it began.”

What is music? (8 minutes)

Music is the art of arranging sounds in a pleasant and organised way to create rhythm, melody and harmony.

• The teacher writes MUSIC on the board and asks pupils what they think it is.
• The teacher then gives the definition above and explains each key word.

What do the words in the definition mean?

• Sounds: things we hear with our ears.
• Pleasant: nice to listen to, enjoyable.
• Organised: arranged in a pattern, not random noise.
• Rhythm: the beat or pulse, like your heartbeat.
• Melody: the tune or main sound that you can sing.
• Harmony: different sounds working together well.

What are everyday examples of music?

• Singing: a birthday song.
• Choir: the church choir singing on Sunday.
• Drumming: drumming during festivals.
• Humming: a tune hummed while playing.

What is the difference between music and noise?

Music is organised, pleasant sound with a pattern. Noise is random, unpleasant sound with no pattern.

• Demonstration: the teacher bangs randomly on the desk (noise), then taps a steady pattern (music).

What are the elements of music?

There are five basic elements of music: sound, rhythm, pitch, melody and harmony.

1. Sound: something we can hear.
2. Rhythm: a repeating pattern or beat.
3. Pitch: how high or low a sound is. The teacher hums low, then high.
4. Melody: the tune we can remember and sing.
5. Harmony: different sounds working together, like voices in a choir.

How did music begin? (12 minutes)

Music is as old as human life, and no single person is known to have invented it.

• The teacher asks: “Who invented music? Your grandfather? A king? A president?”
• The teacher explains that music probably grew out of the sounds early people heard and made.
• Before drums, guitars or pianos, people used their voices and bodies.

Which natural sounds inspired music?

Eight sources of sound inspired early music: ocean waves, heartbeat, footsteps, clapping, rain and thunder, bird songs, wind and animal sounds.

How did natural sounds become musical instruments?

Musical instruments developed slowly from the human body, found objects and natural materials.

1. People first used natural sounds and their bodies: clapping, stamping and voices.
2. They made sounds with objects, such as knocking stones together or shaking seeds in gourds.
3. They stretched animal skin over hollow logs to make drums.
4. They blew into hollow bones or bamboo to make flutes.
5. They plucked dried vines and strings to make stringed instruments.
6. Over many centuries, simple instruments developed into the guitars, pianos and other instruments of today.

• Link to Nigeria: the teacher shows a talking drum or picture and explains that drums come from the idea of beating a hollow object.
• Flute link: flutes come from the idea of blowing across or through a hollow tube.

How can pupils make music from natural sounds? (10 minutes)

Pupils recreate natural sounds in groups to show that music can be made without instruments.

• Group 1, ocean waves: make whooshing sounds and sway like waves.
• Group 2, rain: tap fingers lightly and quickly on desks.
• Group 3, thunder: stamp feet loudly at intervals.
• Group 4, birds: whistle or chirp at different pitches.
• Group 5, heartbeat: tap a steady rhythm on the chest or desk.

1. The teacher divides the class into five groups and gives each a sound.
2. The teacher acts as conductor and brings in one group at a time.
3. All groups then play together to make a layered piece.
4. The teacher asks: “Did we use any instruments?” Pupils answer: “No.”
5. The teacher asks: “Did we make music?” Pupils answer: “Yes.”
6. The class ends with a simple song that uses clapping and body percussion.

Evaluation (3 minutes)

1. What is music?
2. Who invented music, and how did it probably begin?
3. Name four natural sounds that inspired early music.
4. State two differences between music and noise.
5. What was probably the first musical instrument used by humans?

Assignment

Choose two natural sounds you hear at home or on the way to school. For each, write one sentence on the rhythm or pitch it has and how you could copy it with your body or a simple object.