We are delighted to announce our brand new VocalWorks programme for primary schools – A fun musical adventure that is tailored to suit everyone regardless of their age or musical background.
Students will explore the world of music through the voice which will include learning various vocal techniques such as articulation, breathing exercises, voice projection, clarity and pronunciation as well as other useful performance and singing techniques including posture and the art of learning to sing in a group. Along with song singing other class activities will include:
Musical games
Listening and moving/responding to music
Have fun with body percussion
An opportunity to explore with class room percussion instruments
Learning to read and write music through staff notation and tonic solfa
An introduction to a variety of orchestral instruments
Instrument making
These activities will create awareness and teach children about basic concepts such as -
Pitch - High/Low
Tempo - Fast/Slow
Dynamics - Loud/soft
The above activities develop children musically and prepare them for instrumental tuition and/or joining a children’s choir which can be set up later on. The program will instill a love of music in the children while enabling them to listen and respond to a wide range of musical styles and genres of music. It will enable confidence building through performing, and musical games will enhance the rapport between students as well as allowing the students to express themselves creatively.
While the emphasis is on learning to enjoy and appreciate listening to all styles of music, these musical games can also help increase concentration, cognitive and memory skills.
The programme will be delivered by a specialist Music Generation Leitrim tutor, who will work with each group for 30 minutes on a weekly basis, in groups of up to 20 students. Classroom teacher participation is required for maximum benefits of the programme. Classes will be tailored to suit varying ages and stages to be grouped together. Progress and groupings will be reviewed as we go through each term.
The cost to each student is €1.50 per class. The recommended length of the programme is thirty weeks which is a total cost of €45 per child for the academic year. It is at the schools discretion as to whether this is paid by parents, fundraising, school funds or a combination of these.
The programme will commence in September 2018. For your school to take part, please fill in the attached application form and return by email to theresemccartin@msletb.ie or by post to Music Generation Leitrim, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education & Training Board, St. Georges Tce., Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim to arrive no later than Thursday 19th of April.
Once your application has been processed, to secure your place on the programme we will require a deposit of €100 by Friday 19th of May.
Please note that we plan to work with schools in clusters so smaller schools can avail of this price. So if you and your team are one of Leitrim’s smaller schools, it will be necessary for Music Generation Leitrim to work with more schools close by on the same day in order to keep this as cost effective as possible for you.
If you would like further information about VocalWorks or Music Generation in general, please feel free to contact me at 071 20024 ex 206 or by email at theresemccartin@msletb.ie