Playing the gamelan
Year 4 at Kingston University School of Music, March 2004
During the Spring Term, Year 4 made use of the school's tuned percussion instruments (wooden xylophones and metal glockenspiels), and also used the internet to research the instruments of another culture. Gamelan is the name for an orchestra of percussion instruments which is traditional to Indonesia. They were lucky to have the chance to visit the gamelan beonging to Kingston University, and to be taught by Mr Malcolm Milner, who has studied gamelan in Java. He gave an excellent lesson, keeping the children busy and interested for two hours. Here are some photos of the session, with comments by some of the children:
"All of Class 4 learnt how to play the gamelan. I liked the big gongs, and the rhythm of the drums and smaller gongs." Emma
"I enjoyed all the different types of instruments and playing a new type of music." Nicole
"I enjoyed playing notes on the gongs. It was quite easy to play them." Sugania
"The gongs and drums were interesting and the whole orchestra was great." Becky
"I enjoyed the experience of playing the gamelan and learning about the puppets and other things." Bre
"It was interesting to experience playing different musical instruments." Christopher