Balinese Interlocking Rhythms

Today in our Music lesson we learnt about the history of Balinese gamelan beleganjur music. We listened to some of this music that was being used in a funeral procession. We were very surprised that it was so upbeat and found out that it was once performed to accompany armies and was designed to inspire bravery. This music originates from the 'rice-pounding' music, which was a series of rhythms made by people trying to keep themselves entertained whilst removing the husk from the rice. We then had a go at clapping some 'rice-pounding' rhythms. We followed the grid notation and successfully played in four parts. Mrs Evans was most impressed with our ability to read grid notation.