In this activity, you’re going to play some famous tunes from orchestral music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra! All you need is a set of chime bars, bells or an iPad/tablet, and you can play in a group or by yourself. For each tune, we will tell you which notes you need, and you can play along with our workshop leader John before having a go by yourself. Let’s get started!
Simple Gifts
This famous tune is an American Shaker hymn which was written in 1848. It became famous internationally when composer Aaron Copland used it in his 1944 ballet Appalachian Spring, which you can listen to below. You might also recognise this tune from ‘Lord of the Dance’!
To play along with this tune, you will need the notes C, D, E, F and G. If you’re playing on one of the OrchLab Soundmakers, or an iPad app like ThumbJam or GarageBand, set the key to C major. The notes you need to play will appear on screen as you play along. Watch out for the countdown so you know when to begin!
In this first play-along video, John will play with you:
Now, you’re the soloist! Have a go at playing along with the musicians on your own:
Ode to Joy
‘Ode to Joy’ is a well-known melody featured in the fourth movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, composed in 1824. This symphony is still one of the most frequently performed and admired works of orchestral music, and the ‘Ode to Joy’ tune is even used as the anthem of the European Union!
You can hear the LPO performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Movement IV here:
To play along with this tune, you will need the notes C, D, E, F and G. If you’re playing on one of the OrchLab Soundmakers, or an iPad app like ThumbJam or GarageBand, set the key to C major. The notes you need to play will appear on screen as you play along. Watch out for the countdown so you know when to begin!
In this first play-along video, John will play with you:
Now, you’re the soloist! Have a go at playing along with the musicians on your own:
Dvořák’s New World Symphony (Hovis advert!)
Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, composed in 1893, is also known as the New World Symphony, because it was composed and first performed in the USA, which was once known as the ‘new world.’ It is one of the most popular symphonies of all time, and Neil Armstrong even took a tape recording of it on the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969! This tune, from the second movement, is well-known because it was used in a 1970s TV advert for Hovis bread.
You can hear the LPO playing the second movement from the New World Symphony here:
To play along with this tune, you will need the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B. If you’re playing on one of the OrchLab Soundmakers, or an iPad app like ThumbJam or GarageBand, set the key to C major. The notes you need to play will appear on screen as you play along. Watch out for the countdown so you know when to begin!
In this first play-along video, John will play with you:
Now, you’re the soloist! Have a go at playing along with the musicians on your own:
Explore more:
- If you’d like to play tunes as a group, have a go at our Making Melodies activity
- To learn more about Dvořák’s New World Symphony, you can read our listening guide
- In 2022, our community partner centres made their own music inspired by Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, featuring the Simple Gifts melody. Have a listen here!