CONTENTS

SINGING

Sing Up songs

Links 

PLAYTIME

Ideas for playing instruments at home

Ukulele tuner

YUMU

Introduction to YUMU

How to use YUMU

SINGING

Just keep singing, just keep singing!

Children at Eastover love singing, so here are some ideas to help them keep singing at home. 

Sing Up Songs: 

https://www.singup.org/singupathome

Out of the Ark:  Many of the songs from our Out of the Ark collection of songs can be found on Youtube. They are not necessarily complete, but they will remind children of the tune.

BBC: There are lots of resources on the BBC, for example:

Nursery rhymes:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-a-to-z-index/z4ddgwx

REMEMBER: 

• Listen - to the pitch (high or low) and the rhythm (the pattern - long and short sounds plus the spaces in between) 
• Listen again - to the way the lyrics (words) fit into the rhythm.
• Sit or stand tall and have a go!

You don't have to like every song, but give them a chance - sometimes a good song takes a while to 'grow' on you!

PLAYTIME

UKULELE, GUITAR, KEYBOARD: 

In school all children have played percussion instruments including xylophone and glockenspiel. Some have begun to learn ukulele, keyboard and guitar.  Many of them have already discovered videos on Youtube that teach you how to play an instrument. There are some that show how to play keyboard as well as chords on ukulele and guitar.  Children have started learning these instruments in school and YUMU has courses which they could follow at home (please see below for details).

Children may have other instruments at home, or be able to use a phone/tablet app which allows them to play a virtual keyboard, xylophone, drum etc.  Again there are videos which can help them to learn.  There will be opportunities in the future to perform what they have learned . 

STAY SAFE ONLINE: Please remember to ask an adult to help you find these videos

Tuning your ukulele

A ukulele has 4 strings, usually tuned to G, C, E, A, going from top to bottom. 

There are a number of useful website to help you tune your ukulele, for example: 

ukutuner.com

To tune the ukulele, turn the peg to tighten or loosen the string.  The tighter the string, the higher the pitch.  Turn a peg a little and check to hear whether the pitch went higher or lower.  If you are going in the right direction, keep going, a little at a time, until it matches the required pitch.  If not, or if you go too far, turn the peg in the other direction. 

Introduction to Yumu 

Yumu is Charanga’s home learning package for children.  Children at Eastover are already familiar with Charanga, because it is now used in many of their Music lessons.  Once logged in they will be able to choose an avatar, access some of the games, songs and activities they know from class, earn badges and coins to spend on their avatar, and even learn an instrument.   

Getting started: 

Go to:  https://charanga.com/yumu 

or search for Yumu or Charanga Musical School.  

Enter your username and password in the boxes on the screen (Pupil/student login):  

Your username is the code starting    p……….   

Your password is a musical word, lower case   

Click on the LogIn button.  

Using Yumu 

On your Yumu home page you will find Assignments, Charanga Music Word and songs.  

Some of these will be units we have used in class.  You can find the Follow the Bear games, listening music and songs. 

Assignments 

These are lesson units with the listening music, songs and games.  You don’t have to do everything or every lesson, just explore!   

Remember: Your voice is an instrument.  If you don’t have an instrument to play or an app with keyboard or glockenspiel, use your voice to match the pitch. 

Charanga Music World 

If you have an instrument at home, you can use Music World to learn how to play.  You can choose an avatar, play games and watch videos about music. 

> Click on Charanga Music World  

Click Editor to choose an avatar 

> Save and Exit 

You will earn tokens for choosing an avatar.  To change your avatar press EDITOR 

> Start             

> Choose a world          

> + Select world 

If you have an instrument at home you can choose that instrument to work on.  For example a recorder, xylophone, ukulele, guitar or keyboard.  If not, there are lots of free apps which allow you to play keyboard, drums or xylophone on a phone or tablet.  

If you don’t have an instrument you could choose Drum Kit World.  You could set up a drum kit using empty boxes, tins or buckets!  Don’t forget to ask an adult first! 

You can add more than one instrument.  Go to ‘Change World’ to add another one or change between them. 

TROUBLESHOOTING: 

If you press the BACK button and it takes you back to the login page, just login again.  This problem only seems to happen if you are using a tablet or phone.  Your progress will still have been recorded. 

Eastover Choir - Carol Singing at Sydenham House

Well done to the children who sang Christmas carols at Sydenham House, a care home in Frederick Road, Bridgwater.  They did a fantastic job .

A big well done to everyone in the Choir.  Their performance at the MacMillan Theatre was great and I am very proud of them all.