Snow and ice
Snow and ice
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4
Moving pictures
Moving pictures
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5
African drumming
African drumming
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6
1 Read the text quickly and match the titles to paragraphs 1 4.
a Making drums
The platypus
The platypus
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7
b Exploring different kinds of music and different rhythms
c Learning to play real African drums
d Making rhythms and composing music with instruments
Earth facts
Earth facts
8
Rhythm and music are important parts of lots of cultures, in all
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continents. Different cultures use different instruments, but most
cultures have drums. Thousands of years ago in Africa, Asia, North America and South America,
people were making drums. They used them for celebrations, and to communicate. When
A design project
A design project
African slaves were taken to the USA in the 18th and 19th centuries, they took lots of different
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musical styles with them. African music and drumming had a big influence on the development
of jazz music at the beginning of the 20th century.
Today, African drumming is popular all around the world. Mark is 11. He goes to school in
Term 1 Guess what it is?
Term 1 Guess what it is?
London, and his class did a project about African drumming. Here he explains what they did
and what they learned.
2
1
Term 2 Tall stories
Term 2 Tall stories Next we experimented
First we listened to some different kinds
with percussion instruments, like
of music: pop music, classical music, and Indian
drums, tambourines and maracas.
and African drumming. Pop songs and classical
We played loudly and quietly, and
pieces of music have a beginning and an end.
Term 3 Problem pages
Term 3 Problem pages
we made long and short sounds. We
Indian and African drumming are different 
invented some more rhythms, and
they usually have repeated patterns. We listened
played them together. We composed
to more African drumming music, and tried to
two pieces of music! The first piece
copy the rhythms by clapping. Then we invented
of music sounded scary. The second
our own rhythms, and played them in different
piece of music was fast and energetic
ways  for example, clapping, stamping, clicking
 it made everyone laugh!
our fingers, and hitting our desks with pencils.
3 4
The next part of the project Finally, we made our own
was the best part. Some African drums. We used boxes
drummers came to visit the school and tins and lots of other
for one morning. They showed us things, and put pieces
different kinds of African drums, and of plastic or rubber on
showed us how to play them. They the top. We decorated
taught us some new rhythms. We the drums to make them
played the drums for three hours! look like African drums.
Everyone had a drum, and we all Now we can make
played them together. It was very African-style music in
exciting and very noisy! our music lessons!
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10 Unit 1 Test
African drumming
PHOTOCOPIABLE
© Oxford University Press | Incredible English 6
Reading
2 Find these words in the text. Write.
1 a big piece of work (e.g. at school) = p __ __ __ __ __ __
2 make a sound by hitting your hands together (verb) = c __ __ __
3 make a sound by hitting your feet on the floor (verb) = s __ __ __ __
4 write or invent music (verb) = c __ __ __ __ __ __
5 t __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
6 m __ __ __ __ __ __
3 Read the text again and write T (true) or F (false).
1 Thousands of years ago, people in Africa used drums to communicate.
2 Mark s class made rhythms by hitting desks with pencils.
3 Mark s class experimented with wind instruments.
4 Mark didn t enjoy playing the African drums.
4 Complete the crossword.
Clues:
Across
)
2 Drums and tambourines are instruments.
3 The African drummers taught Mark s class some new .
4 Mark s class used
1
rubber and to make
2
the tops of their drums.
P
6 Jazz is a kind of music
that developed at the
3
of the 20th century
in the USA.
4
Down
º
5
1 Mark s class composed
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two of music.
2 Indian and African
drumming usually
have repeated .
5 A pop song has a beginning and an .
Unit 1 Test
African drumming 11
11
PHOTOCOPIABLE
© Oxford University Press | Incredible English 6