The Ear Academy

STAMP. CLAP. CLICK. 👣👏🫰

Three beats, three movements and a rhythm pupils might already recognise without even knowing its name.

This simple body percussion activity is an easy way to introduce 3/4 time - a rhythm found in dance music including the bolero and fandango 🎶💃

Count it together:
1 - stamp
2 - clap
3 - click

Then repeat, move and feel the rhythm as a class.

Sometimes the easiest way to understand music is to get it out of the textbook and into the body! 🎵

No matter your ingredients, find your flavour 🌶️
🎶 The Chakalaka Challenge is officially OPEN!

Everyone has a song in them and this is your school's chance to prove it. Take our track, Boom Chakalaka, and make it completely your own. Sing it, play it, dance it, or remix it from scratch. However your class brings the heat, we want to see it.

Gather your crew. Bring your flavour. One winning school walks away with R15,000 in instruments.

🔥 Entries open now
🎶 Any format welcome - sing it, play it, dance it, remix it
🥕 Original flavour essential
📅 Closes 19 September

Head to the link in our bio to register and enter. Let's turn up the heat, raise the roof, and let the Chakalaka Challenge begin!

Chopped tomatoes. Carrots. Beans. Chilies. A drum. A microphone. We're not entirely sure how we got here either 🧐

Something is coming for SA schools and it involves a little more than chakalaka.

Schools, get your spoons ready. The recipe drops soon 👀

Improvisation can feel like a big word, but the idea is wonderfully simple: making up music in the moment 🎵

Pupils can listen to a backing track, tap out their ideas quietly first, then take turns creating a rhythm for the class to echo.

No written pattern. No rehearsed answer. Just listening, responding and building the confidence to create something of their own.

Schools are back, and so are the little routines that make a big difference 🎶

A simple breathing exercise can help pupils settle, focus and prepare their voices before singing.

It’s calm, it’s quick and it builds breath control without feeling technical.

A lovely one to keep in your back pocket for those first music lessons of the term.

School holiday idea bank: junk modelling drums 🥁

Instrument-making is such a lovely way to bring creativity, problem-solving and sound exploration into the music classroom.

The magic is not in making something perfect.

A simple recycled-materials activity can quickly become a lesson in listening, experimenting and thinking like a musician.

A little warm-up activity for the new term 🎶

Before pupils sing, it helps to give them a moment to connect with their breath, settle their bodies and get their voices ready.

Simple vocal warm-ups like this build control, confidence and awareness without needing anything complicated.

A few focused sounds.
A steady breath.
A class ready to sing.

School holidays are the perfect time to quietly bank a few new lesson ideas for next term 👀

This is a simple, playful way to build confidence.

Start with facial expressions.
Add exaggerated movement.
Let pupils copy, explore and notice what feels easy or tricky.

For some pupils, joining in physically can feel a little exposing at first, so giving them a smaller, quieter way in can make all the difference.

Big expressions, big movements, low pressure and lots of learning!