Music and Languages

 

Thanks to my Google news alert, I've come across today this study by the University of Helsinki.  Previous research has shown that having a music-related hobby can boost language skills and can positively affect the processing of speech in the brain.  This new study by the University of Helsinki shows that the reverse is also true: learning another language can positively affect the processing of music in the brain.  

In one of my schools I share the PPA coverage with a specialist music teacher, and we often talk about what we are teaching the classes.  She told me towards the end of last term about the new Model Music Curriculum (MMC) for Key Stages 1-3 (March 2021).

This document is "non-statuory guidance for the national curriculum [in music] in England", "a practical framework through which the statutory requirements of the [music] curriculum can be met".  It's designed for specialist and non-specialist teachers in the primary sector, and specialist teachers in Key Stage 3.  I've been having a look at it today to see if there is anything that we as language teachers can contribute, or indeed if it offers any useful advice for us in the languages classroom.

My first thought when reading the document was "I wish we had a document like this for Key Stage 2 Languages!"  It is in fact one of the recommendations of the White Paper that we should have some non-statutory guidance for core curriculum content.  This is something that came up during the many and varied discussions at the weekend about the DfE's plans for teaching Latin in secondary schools.  Those £4 million would be a huge boost to the primary languages community and to ensuring that all children in Key Stage 2 receive a quality languages education.  But I digress....

Secondly, it was interesting to note the time recommendation for music in primary schools: "pupils should receive a minimum of one hour a week...may be short sessions across the week."  This is the same as the widely accepted recommended time for languages, so we can understand how difficult it can be for primary schools to fit everything into the timetable.

Music, particularly song, features prominently in the Key Stage 2 programme of study for Languages, and I have written before about using songs.  Children should be taught to:

• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words

Music from the country or countries where the language is spoken is a facet of cultural understanding, and can also contribute to other aspects of the curriculum, such as expressing opinions.

The MMC covers the key areas of singing, listening, composing and performing, and I think it's the areas of singing and listening that are of the most use to us as language teachers in choosing songs and music for our lessons.  Here are the recommendations for the six year groups that I think will help us:

Year 1 (age 5-6)

• simple chants and rhymes
• simple songs with a very small range (mi - so) (3 notes)
• pentatonic songs (songs with a 5 note or 5 tone scale)
• call and response songs

I found this very interesting.  Quite often I find what I think would be a great song for Year 1, only to discover that they find it difficult.  I can see now that that the reason is often that the melody is too complex.  I'm going to look into chants and call-and-response for Year 1 as I think these would work well with them.  (If you know any, it would be great if you could put them in the comments!)

Year 2 (age 6-7)

• songs with the pitch range do-so (5 notes)
• songs with a small pitch range

Year 3 (age 7-8)

• unison songs, do-so range (5 notes)
• perform actions confidently and in time

Year 4 (age 8-9)

• unison songs, do-do range (8 notes, 1 octave)
• rounds and partner songs

Year 5 (age 9-10)

• broad range of songs
• 3 part rounds and partner songs

Year 6 (age 10-11)

• broad range of songs, involving syncopated rhythms
• 3 or 4 part rounds and partner songs

I think that seeing this progression in singing will help us to choose appropriate songs for our lessons, and therefore songs that children will be able to sing easily.

The MMC has a long list of suggestions of music for children to listen to.  Some of it links to the languages that we teach.  As I said before, children can listen to music and express their opinions of it, or you can play the music softly in the background while they are working.  Pieces of music can also be used for timing: "This piece of music lasts 5 minutes, so that's how long you have to complete this task."

Here are some suggestions of composers you could choose, in order to complement the music curriculum:

German

JS Bach

Beethoven

Weber

Schubert

Mozart

Mendelssohn

Strauss

French

Rameau

Chopin

Berlioz

Delibes

Saint-Saëns

Debussy

Fauré

Ravel

Spanish

de Falla

Rodrigo

Piazzolla

The Spanish list is very short compared to the others, so I've made a wider list (here as much for my own reference as anything else!)

Manuel de Falla	1876-1946	El amor brujo Cuatro piezas españolas Noches en los jardines de España
Isaac Albéniz	1860-1909	Suite Española no.1 and no.2 for piano
Enrique Granados	1867-1916	12 danzas españolas
Joaquín Rodrigo	1907-1999	Concierto de Aranjuez
Francisco Tárrega	1852-1909	Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Antón García Abril	1933-2021	film and TV composer
Paco de Lucía	1947-2014	virtuoso guitarist and composer
Tomás Luis de Victoria	c.1548-1611	choral music
Juan del Encina	1468-1529/30	choral music

If we are thinking culturally, then the 20 countries where Spanish is spoken each have their own styles of music:

Argentina	Tango, Chacarera, Chamamé
Bolivia	Kullawada, Morenada, Caporales
Chile	Torada, Cumbia
Colombia	Cumbia, Vallenato, Currulao
Costa Rica	Calypso, Chiqui Chiqui
Cuba	Rumba, Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha Chá
Ecuador	Yarabi, Pasacalle, Bomba
El Salvador	Cumbia, Hiphop, Xuc
Guatemala	Garifuna, Marimba music
Guinea Ecuatorial	Soukous, Makossa
Honduras	Punta, Reggaetón
México	Mariachi, Cumbia, Danzón
Nicaragua	Soca, Punta, Chicheros
Panamá	Salsa, Calypso, Saloma
Paraguay	Guarania, Paraguayan Polka
Perú	Zamacueca, Festejo, Cueca
Puerto Rico	Guaracha, Bomba
República Dominicana	Merengue, Bachata, Salsa
Uruguay	Tango, Milonga, Candombe
Venezuela	Jarapo, Salsa, Calypso

Music and language learning have been shown to be mutually beneficial, so let's harness those links in the classroom!