It's a beautiful day to be outdoors with the children - and experiencing music in the open air or having an alfresco performance adds a different dimension to a variety of lessons.  So exit stage left to your outdoor musical play area!

Freenotes outdoor musical instruments make wonderful playground equipment for schools and nurseries as well as outdoor learning and music resources.  At an early age children are learning to enjoy and appreciate music and therefore don't need a formal learning environment.  Children often feel less inhibited outdoors and Freenotes playground equipment will help you introduce basic musical concepts whilst being sure that the focus is on fun.  Due to their clever design and use of the pentatonic scale, Freenotes are so easy to play that children are able to develop musical skills without having to manage any technical demands of an instrument, showing children what can be expressed and achieved through music.

Freenotes ensure they have genuine freedom of expression. Behind this is the notion of experimentation, of flexibility, of having a go.  Most important of all, they come to understand the pleasure of enjoying music.

Using Freenotes alongside musical games and movement, the children are introduced to the elements needed to become confident, rounded musicians.

Pulse:  The steady beat that keeps going at the same speed for the length of a piece of music
Rhythm:   How the beat is subdivided into longer or shorter notes
Pitch:  Notes moving higher and lower
Improvisation:  The ability to invent your own music
Co-ordination:  Pulling together the physical, technical and musical aspects
Expression:  The ability to identify and convey emotional content.

Social interaction is a key ingredient to music and movement. Activities work better when everyone works together! You can think of these activities as not only an opportunity for children to express themselves creatively but also as a way to practice pro-social skills. Collaboration is needed to create a new melody or rhythm together.  An important part of working together is listening, and children are required to listen to each other as well as to the sounds of music, sharing each other's ideas and expressing their own.

Ever since humans have existed on this planet we have been entranced with the rhythms of nature and natural sounds. Thus when music happens outdoors in whatever form, it seems bigger, brighter and just a bit different from inside. The acoustics are different of course but so is the feel of playing music outside.

Freenotes present schools with an excellent way of incorporating outdoor education into the day-to-day curriculum.  In this age of computer games, the internet and digital TV, it is perhaps no surprise that more and more children are missing out on an outdoor education. However, watching a class of children playing Freenotes instruments prove that when presented with the opportunity, life outdoors is still something children benefit greatly from and, more importantly, enjoy.