Play Percussion – Ripples
Water ripples, ocean swells, rainstorms, rivers flow… water gives us great inspiration for music making. The piece Ripples uses ascending arpeggios to create the idea of rippling water. Drops and bubbles form by playing scales running up and down the keys. Colours shift as the chord shapes move between major and minor. A soft tune appears in the midst, perhaps a fish rising to the surface, or a bird flying overhead, slowly, and gracefully. A steady flowing rhythm carries the piece to its end as the ripples disperse, and the bubbles rise to the top.
This piece allows for practice and exploration of shapes (skips and steps) on tuned percussion and the development of hand-to-hand playing with more dynamic control. The melody encourages players to listen and feel the space between notes whilst narrating the journey of the piece.
This piece will be used for all of the following:
- To develop and extend xylophone playing skills – hand-to-hand ‘sticking’, scales and arpeggios, moving in thirds (two notes with a gap of one note between).
- As an exploration of phrasing and colour in music.
- To develop rhythm and timing through body percussion.
- To support learning and practise of notes in the major scale (C) and minor scale (D).
- To support note reading on a stave.
- As an ensemble performance piece.
- As a springboard for creative composition of sound pictures relating to water.
For more information, please view our Year 4 – Sing Up – Ripples – Knowledge Organisers