These resources are presented as a five-part Scheme of work to show the historical development of Reading Abbey, ideally used as a precursor to a school visit to the site. Many of the activities can be revisited and developed during a visit to the Abbey itself, allowing a deeper level of musical and historical understanding.
All of the tracks used to support this scheme of work can be found in the The Music of Reading Abbey playlist on Soundcloud.
Overview planning
Lesson 1 Resources
Gregorian monastic chanting
Lesson 2 Resources
Reading Abbey Sound Track | 22K
Sumer is Icumen in (B flat) | 19K
Sumer is Icumen in - Information | 24K
Sumer is Icumen in - lyric and stave | 26K
Sumer is Icumen in - melody and lyric | 26K
Cuckoo, where are you?
Sumer is Icumen in
Sumer is Icumen in
Sumer is Icumen in - spoken 1
Sumer is Icumen in - spoken 2
Sumer is Icumen in - spoken 3
Sumer is Icumen in - spoken 4
Sumer is Icumen in - spoken 5
Lesson 3 Resources
Backing beat for rhythm cards
Lesson 4 Resources
Medieval court music
Video game, medieval music
Baroque music
Lucy Lockett
Lucy Locket
High, low, chica, low
High, low, chica, low
Cobbler, cobbler
Cobbler, cobbler
Bells in the steeple
The bells in the steeple
Reading Abbey Song
Reading Abbey practise track with singers
Reading Abbey Song accompaniment with score
Reading Abbey fast backing track
Reading Abbey steady backing track
Suggested activities for Lesson 1
Suggested plan for Lesson 1 | 33K
Pictures of Reading Abbey | 1094K
Historical Reading characters | 332K
Reading Abbey Sounds and Symbols | 22K
Making sequences of symbols | 166K