Year 2 listened to different styles of music from Leeds. These included rock, opera, pop, jazz, blues and steel pans. We learnt how diverse the Leeds music scene is. They said which music they preferred and gave reasons for it. 

Much has been attributed to The Beatles and their enormous popularity over the years. It is thought that they stopped the dominance of American artists and brought a new wave of British music into the charts.

They also helped make the ‘album’ rather than the ‘single’ more popular. They set trends for musical styles, fashions and the constant changing of their style and music allowed other musicians to do the same. In 2009, it was noted that they had sold 600 million records worldwide and were the best-selling musicians of all time.

Year 6, looked at our musician of the month, Stevie Wonder. They learnt that Wonder is an incredibly gifted musician who despite his disability showed musical promise from a very early age. They also learnt that he has consistently campaigned and spoken out against racial inequality in many different countries across the globe. They used this learning to create video presentations on adobe spark that highlighted his achievements and his musical successes.

Over the last couple of weeks, it has been great to hear the booming sounds of samba coming from the hall. The children have been working really hard on keeping rhythm and playing as an ensemble. The club meets every Friday after school and is led by Mr Mercer. There are still some places available for children in Year 5 to join the group. In order to join parents or carers will need to sign their child up using parentpay.

This year, we have started a school wide musician of the month. The intention is to expose children to a wide variety of music and allow them to appreciate music from different periods and cultures. This month’s featured artist is Stevie Wonder.

Stevie Wonder has been one of the most successful musicians of all time. He wrote, played and recorded most of the instruments on his songs himself. He has influenced other musicians in the fields of pop, rhythm and blues, soul, funk and rock, selling over 100 million records all over the world.

The list currently only contains three artists as we want it to become a people’s playlist where children, staff and parents alike contribute suggestions. If you would like to recommend a musician, please email rob.ash@allertonceprimary.com with three suitable songs.