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What is Music?: What makes the music of Star Wars so iconic?

Star Wars begins with the biggest B-flat chord you’ve ever heard! John Williams’s fanfare is so iconic that people usually recognise what they’re watching without even looking at the screen. So, what informs the music and makes it so powerful? What techniques can you apply in your own compositions?

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What is Music?: What makes an effective AFL club song?

AFL songs are among the most widely recognised and popular pieces of music in Australia, sung proudly year after year. Would it surprise you to find out they’re rarely original? Discover the early 20th-century origins of most of Australia’s football chants and the stylistic features that make them so effective in energising ...

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BTN: Tiwi music: Keeping an ancient culture alive

Discover how music and dance are helping to keep the traditions of the Tiwi people alive. The customs and stories of the Tiwi people have been passed on to new generations through storytelling, song and dance. Many of the remaining languages of Australia's ancient Indigenous cultures are being lost. Today there is a race ...

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Can you hear the famous rhythm?

Beethoven was a composer who lived about 200 years ago. Have a listen as the orchestra plays one of his most well known pieces of music. Do you recognise it? Can you hear Beethoven's famous rhythm being repeated in the music?

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Listen to music inspired by paintings

This piece of music is called ""Pictures at an Exhibition"". It was written by a Russian composer called Mussorgsky. He was inspired to write this piece of music when he went to see his friend's paintings in an exhibition. As you listen to the orchestra playing the music, perhaps you can imagine you are walking through ...

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Introducing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's woodwind section

What do the instruments in the woodwind section of the orchestra have in common? Can you make a list of all the instruments in this section? Some of them might be familiar, but some of them might be new to you. Choose one of the instruments that's new to you and do some research to find out more about it.

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What is a vibraphone?

Have you heard of the vibraphone? Learn all about this percussion instrument in this animation. What is it made of? How is it similar to other percussion instruments?

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Who's that cheeky gnome?

Listen as host Paul Rissmann tells a story about Mussorgsky and a gnome called Harry. How does the orchestra's music help to tell the story?

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Musical fractions

Break down a song by counting how long the notes are in action! Learn about patterns in rhythms and musical notes, and discover the role of fractions in denoting whole, half and quarter notes and creating distinct sounds.

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Lights out!

Host Paul Rissmann describes a scene where Mussorgsky finds himself all of a sudden in the dark. How does the music add to the scariness of this story?

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Jogja hip-hop reaches birthplace of hip-hop

This is an article about the impact and influence of hip-hop music on the youth of Yogyakarta in Java, Indonesia. The author highlights the strengths of a globalised hip-hop culture to nurture young Indonesian artists who incorporate Javanese colloquial language into their lyrics. There is also a video clip of performance ...

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Chequerboard: Twinkle, twinkle, little ducks

A class of children join in a singing lesson on their first day of school in 1974. Watch and see how school has changed, and stayed the same, over time.

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World rhythms: tabla

This is a teaching and learning activity to construct and play a tabla or tube-la (double drum). The activity provides a brief history of the tabla, information about the materials needed to make it, time required, assessment strategies, the construction process, how to play the instrument and extension ideas. Tabla artefacts ...

Interactive

ME3PO – creative arts with aliens

An alien-themed creative arts resource exploring music, visual arts and drama. Students discover futuristic sounds, create art and act like an alien.

Interactive

Vivid Sydney – 77 Million Paintings

A series of video interviews with Nick Robertson about Brian Eno's '77 Million Paintings' installation, which was part of an exhibition in Vivid Sydney 2009. The resource includes clips of the installation.

Interactive

The Whitlams meet the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

The Whitlams meet the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was produced through a partnership between the Sydney Opera House and the NSW Department of Education (then the NSW Department of Education and Training). It consists of an interview (divided into eight video clips) with Tim Freedman from The Whitlams and conductor Ben Northey ...

Interactive

Vocal Ease MORE (Module 1)

Vocal Ease MORE (Module 1) is an updated sequel to the original Vocal Ease resource which was created around 20 years ago to support classroom music education. This new version focuses on building knowledge and skills in vocal music in the K-6 classroom. It features five original pieces, additional audio tracks and curriculum ...

Interactive

Big battles!

Students explore music and dance through body percussion and singing as they learn the story of the unicorn and lion's big battle. They create a collage artwork using images of lions and unicorns that they can find.

Interactive

Meeting the Sun

An interactive music lesson where students will meet renowned Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin and learn about her inspirations for composing and creating new works. Students will explore various stories and poems written by some of our incredible Anzac heroes and experience a performance of Elena’s Anzac inspired ...

Online

Composing as inspired by Gordon Hamilton SNAP

This set of resources focuses on composition. Students listen to and analyse the orchestral work, SNAP, by Australian composer Gordon Hamilton. They develop their own skills in composition and perform and record their own piece. A video features conductor Richard Gill AO exploring the work SNAP with musicians from the ...