Time and Tune
Time and Tune is a BBC schools radio series from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, covering Music for primary school pupils.
A music series offering children opportunities to listen to music and sing along, with creative suggestions and games to develop music appreciation and skills.
Each school term Time and Tune covered 7 or 8 different songs, built up verse by verse and used as a basis to investigate ways of singing, musical notation and other topics. During the 1960s each term's songs began to be themed around a common subject, and from the early 1970s each term began to consist of a complete cantata or musical story, which children could perform as an end-of-term show once the broadcasts had finished.
Episodes of Time and Tune have a presenter, joined by a children's choir and sometimes professional singers. The presenter talked directly to listening children but encouraged them to interact with the classroom teacher, during and after the broadcasts.
Programmes are accompanied by lavishly illustrated pupils' pamphlets, containing the tunes and words of all the songs, simple exercises and features about musical instruments or related topics. The pamphlets would be referred to during the broadcasts and were essential for successful use of the series. At least three pamphlets have been issued every school year for the past sixty years, and these pamphlets form the basis for the episode guide below.
The series is part of a BBC music course for primary schools, which extends from Music Box for infants, The Song Tree for 5-7 year olds (added in spring 1982), Time and Tune for 7-9 year olds, and Rhythm and Melody (until summer 1964) or Music Workshop (from autumn 1964) for 9-11 year olds. Pupils can graduate from one series to another, learning increasingly advanced topics.
Two earlier BBC school radio music series called Time and Tune for Juniors and Time and Tune for Seniors ran in Scotland during the 1930s, but they were not directly related to this series.
Episode Guide
So far there further details are available about the following units:
If you can provide any pictures or information missing from this guide, please get in touch by email immediately!
Links
- BBC Programmes page for Time and Tune
- Mudcat Café forum: Time and Tune contentsLists of songs from each term
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