Computing in Year 2

In our computing lessons this half term, we have been beginning to learn how to use a computer to create music. We have been listening to different music by Gustav Holst and have discussed how his music makes us feel. We listened to Mars, which sounded quite scary and aggressive. We noticed that the music was loud throughout, whereas when we listened to Venus, it was much more gentle and soft.

We used Chrome Music Lab to experiment with rhythm. We used the bottom section of the screen to click and tap on a dot that removed or added a shape. We then made patterns using these shapes and could hear what it sounded like! We even got to try this with a different range of instruments too. Once we had time to experiment, we were asked which of these were our favourite and why.

This week though, we listened to Neptune by Holst. This sounded more like a wave. It sounded slow and quiet with some higher notes too. As we were listening we thought about the shapes that we picture or imagine as we listen to the music. We discussed what we saw when we closed our eyes, we thought of triangles mainly, as we were reminded of waves crashing.

We then had a go at making music by drawing. We opened up Chrome Music Lab again, on the Kandinsky page. We were able to experiment and make our own sounds. We then learned more about pitch by drawing lines at the top of the screen (to create a high pitch) and near the bottom (for a low pitch). We also drew circles and triangles and described the type of sounds that we could hear. Then, we changed the instruments and spoke about the way that the sound had changed.

Later on, we thought about space. We thought about objects and planets and created our own notes using different pitches with lines and shapes. We played them to our friends and then shared what we liked about our music.

We had a great time! We have loved using Chrome Music Lab. If you would like to have a go, here is a handy link!

What have you learned about creating music on a computer?