The Brassketeers

Turn your pupils into musical math-e-magicians!

This fun, interdisciplinary project introduces children to the joy of brass instruments and the rich sound world they create, while also supporting delivery of the Early and First Level numeracy curriculum.

On this page, you'll find a short introductory film, Meet the Brassketeers, which introduces the project to your pupils, as well as all the resources you'll need to bring it all to life.

The Brassketeers is made up of two elements:

• An animated musical story introducing the trumpet, trombone and French horn
• A set of comprehensive, curriculum-based teaching resources to use with your pupils

Teaching resources include lesson plans, slide shows, worksheets and games, exploring the relationship between music and maths, as wells as introducing pupils to the basics of music theory and musical notation.

Resources offer a variety of challenges for learners at different stages and are written flexibly – one or both can be used, with lessons sequenced as appropriate for pupils and curriculum priorities.

The Brassketeers is free for schools to use.

Here are some websites and online resources you may find useful in consolidating learning and exploring the topics in The Brassketeers further.

• Musical notes revision (YouTube)
• All about brass – Dallas Symphony Orchestra: A range of excellent web pages giving more information and ideas for additional activities on the trumpet, trombone and French horn
• Introducing the brass family – BBC Bitesize
• All about sound – BBC House of Sound: A more complex explanation of how brass instruments produce sound. Suggested for older classes only.
• Learn how to build a plastic bottle trumpet or a cardboard trumpet
  
  

We are hoping that The Brassketeers will become a live schools tour in the future. If you would like to be kept up to date with any plans, please Contact us.

In the meantime, we’d love to know if you use these resources, and we’d love to see pictures of your pupils’ work. Drop us an email!