Musical Music Theory

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What is Mussila Music School and what has it got to do with Musical Futures?

Mussila Music School is a tool to learn the basics of music theory and link the musical ear to the written language of music. As well as teaching the basics of music in a fun and creative way, the Mussila Music School app and approach reinforces some of the core skills that also appear in Musical Futures: Everyone Can Play, our entry level offer for younger children.

Everyone Can Play incorporates activities that include I play, you play, listen then copy, take your turn, find, hear and keep a pulse and basic instrumental skills all of which are also nurtured in the Mussila Music School games through interactive exploration of the basics of music theory, especially through the use of rhythm, melody and timbres. 

We asked Musical Futures International Champion Felicity O'Halloran, teacher at Hamlyn Banks PS in Geelong, Victoria to explore how her students in grades 3-6 responded to being able to use Mussila Musical School and huge thanks to Felicity for providing some useful feedback on how they all got on!

Read more about Mussila Music School

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What did the students make of it?

My kids have just loved using this app. We start each lesson with Mussila Music School to help tune in and settle into learning  The children have very much enjoyed using Mussila Music School, working through the Islands, gaining enough diamonds to buy extra instruments to use in Mussila DJ and Mussila Jam. The app is challenging but not so much that students lose interest, become discouraged and no longer want to use it. The incentives such as gaining and earning diamonds is a great motivator.

Mussila is a good introduction to basic music theory, recognising different instrument sounds and learning to recognise rhythms and melodies. In the 6 weeks we have been using Mussila I have noticed the growth in their understanding of all these three of these areas.

Students have in particular enjoyed using Mussila DJ; this is pretty much every student’s favourite aspect of the app. They have enjoyed playing with the turntable, creating their own sounds and experimenting with sound, adding the effects and sourcing instruments/sounds that they might need to make the performance more interesting.

Click for free MF International taster resources

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How did students feel they benefited from using Mussila Music School?

• Understanding melody and how it works.
• Being about to recognise rhythms and use rhythm values better
  
• The Highs and lows in music
• Understanding rhythm values better
• To understand the different tones that the different instruments make.
• I can recognise instruments better and understand what they sound like
• Nothing because I knew about all of them anyway. But Mussila has made me better at recognising instruments and reading and writing rhythms and melody.
• I learnt, rhythm, melody and now I know what it is and I can recognise instruments and I’m really confident.
• I learnt more about rhythms and melodies and how instruments sound
• I learnt to notice and hear what the instrument is without looking at it
• Listening to the melodies, rhythms and instruments has improved with my learning a lot.
• Music is all about practice
• I learnt how to tell what instrument was being played without seeing the instrument
• I can read a rhythm from hearing it
• I have learnt it is important to stay focused and practice in my learning to get better and something.
• Learnt how to recognise instrument sounds and put them with the right instruments. I have learn to recognise rhythms and melodies by hearing  them
• Practicing is important
• New instruments, sounds understand rhythm values a lot better. I understand the highs and lows in melody.
• I have learnt that it is ok to make mistakes, you learn from your mistakes and get better at what you are learning.
• How to read the notes

Read more from Felicity O'Halloran