The resource content has been designed as teaching notes and activities for students in years 3 - 6

in preparation or as follow-up to attending a QSO Concert, viewing a live stream or as a stand-alone resource.

MOLLY ON THE SHORE – PERCY GRAINGER

Performed by Queensland Symphony Orchestra

Secondary Showcase Song to Symphony

5 March 2015

The Composer – Percy Grainger

Percy Grainger

• Percy Grainger was born in Victoria,

Australia in 1882 and died in 1961.

• He learnt piano and was so good he gave

concerts around the county when he was

12 years old.

• He lived in Germany, London and

America during his life.

• He gathered folksongs from many

countries and composed using these

melodies as inspiration.

Did you know…

• Percy Grainger has had a crater on the

planet Mercury named in his honour.

• Percy Grainger was also a very good artist,

painting in water colours. He had to decide

whether to make a career in art or in music.

Lucky for us he chose music.

The Composer – Famous Compositions

Percy Grainger

• Country Gardens. This composition was based on the old English Song English County

Gardens.

• Irish Tune from County Derry. Grainger uses the Irish melody also known as Danny

Boy or Londonderry Air. Performed by Melbourne String Ensemble.

• Children’s March (Over the Hills and Far Away). Vision of children from around the

world and though all eras.

• Shepherd’s Hey. Showcase traditional style performances with piano accordion, Violin

(fiddle), guitar and Irish bagpipes with orchestral accompaniment (traditional

instruments start at 2:40).

Listen and Watch

Percy Grainger

• Molly on the Shore performed on piano – follow the piano score.

• Molly on the Shore performed on violin and piano.

• Molly on the Shore performed by an orchestra.

• Molly on the Shore performed as a Celtic reel.

Molly on the Shore – The Melody

Presto

Molly on the Shore – The Melody

• Molly on the Shore is a very old, Irish folk tune and the Irish people used to dance to this music played on the violin and

accompanied by a drum. Play this melody or ask someone in your school to play it for you.

• Find the musical elements. Do you know what they mean? 1st and 2nd time endings

Repeat sign

Repeat sign

Anacrusis Key of G Major

(note F#)

Time

Signature 4/4

Treble Clef

4th beat of this

bar is the

anacrusis at

the beginning

of the melody

Triplet

Musical Elements in the Melody

Do you know what the musical elements mean?

G Major – is the scale in which the melody is written and all Fs are sharp (#)

Repeat signs tell you that a section of music has to be played again (repeated).

Anacrusis are notes taken from the last bar of the music and placed before the first beat to lead in

the music.

Triplet is a rhythm where 3 notes must be played evenly in the one beat. There are 6 triplets rhythms

in the music of Molly on the Shore (previous page). Did you find them all?

Time Signature for Molly on the Shore is 4/4 which means there are 4 beats in every bar.

1st and 2nd time endings gives two different endings when a melody is repeated.

Rhythms

Find these rhythms in Molly on the Shore. Different countries use different names for these

rhythms. Which name do you use?

Crotchet or ¼ note or ta

Quaver or 1/8 note or ti

Semi-quaver or 1/16 note

or tic-a Triplet or tuplet

Clap these patterns:

• With a friend

• In two groups in your class

• One pattern with your feet and one with your hands!

• On a signal swap parts

:II :

Instruments - VIOLA

Viola

• The viola and clarinet have the melody at the beginning of Molly on the Shore.

• The viola is a member of the string family.

• It is slightly bigger than the violin and smaller than the cello.

• It is played in the same way as a violin but the sounds are lower and richer than the violin

because the instrument is bigger.

• The strings are tuned to C, G, D and A.

The violin does not have a low C string like the viola.

and the viola does not have a high E string like the violin.

Listen and Watch

• Nicholas Bootiman talks about the viola and demonstrates

how to play.

• Frozen Medley played on viola with piano and violin accompaniment.

Listen for the difference in sound between the violin and viola.

Instruments - CLARINET

Clarinet

• The viola and clarinet have the melody at the beginning of Molly on the Shore.

• The clarinet is a member of the woodwind Family.

• The mouthpiece has a single reed which vibrates to create the sound.

Listen and Watch

• Clarinet Carrot – How to make a clarinet out of a carrot!

• The famous Artie Shaw playing clarinet with a Big Band in 1940

• George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue features the clarinet at the beginning.

The Beat and Tempo

• Percy Grainger wrote at the beginning of the piece “Keep 4 beats (l l l l) hammering

away in every bar throughout the piece, even in the soft bits.”

• The strings, when they do not have the melody, use pizzicato – plucking the strings with

the fingers to play the notes on the beat.

• The tempo (or speed) of Molly on the Shore is Presto – Lively and fast.

• Listen to Molly on the Shore and keep the following beat patterns:

• The first beat of every bar II: l Z Z Z :II

• Beats 1 and 3 of each bar II: l Z l Z :II

• Every beat in the bar II: l l l l :II

Australian Curriculum – Music Molly on the Shore – Percy Grainger

Elements of Music

Foundation to Year 2

Years 3 and 4

Years 5 and 6

Years 7 and 8

Years 9 and 10

Rhythm Beat Crotchet, quaver Fast Presto

Quaver, semi-quaver Beat sub-divisions

Time signature

Triplet chromaticism

Pitch Pitch direction Melodic shape Treble clef Staff

G major scale Bass clef

Alto clef

Dynamics & Expression

Forte, piano (de) crescendo Fortissimo, pianissimo and gradations

Accent Articulation Pizzicato Aco

Form and Structure

Introduction Same/different patterns

Repeat sign 1st & 2nd time bars

Theme, motif phrase Folk Song (Reel)

Anacrusis

Timbre How sound is made Recognise orchestral instruments by sound

Viola Clarinet

Recognise instrumental groups

Identify instruments by name and sound production.

Texture Melody accompaniment

Patterns 2 or more voices

Contrast of texture Orchestration

Creating beat and rhythmic patterns

Performing Keep beat Rhythmic patterns

Playing melody

. Awareness of ensemble

Responding Australian composer

Historical context Celtic music