Explore The Great Fire of 1666 with these songs for 5 - 7 year olds and other video content which examine the causes of The Fire, what happened during The Fire and how the city was rebuilt afterwards. The songs are an ideal way to consolidate pupils' work on this topic.
1. Here in Pudding Lane
Focus: Clothes and writing; pets; musical scales; singing words clearly; steady beat; short and long notes.
2. Fire, fire, everywhere!
Focus: Fire safety; diaries; listening to and copying rhythm patterns; saying then singing; close together notes (pitch).
3. Let’s get building!
Focus: Tunes from chords; houses, homes and buildings; 3D shapes.
Resources
Download / print supporting notes for the song videos (pdf)
The Great Fire of London on our history pages. collection
Three short animations exploring the causes, events and consequences of The Great Fire of London - including Thomas Farriner, Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren.
KS1 Music: The Great Fire of London
This set of three songs supports the popular cross-curriculum topic of The Great Fire of London, with music evoking the atmosphere of a distant time and place while also bringing in sound elements from contemporary music, referencing a range of popular styles.
The songs have been written to map broadly to the sequence of events outlined in the history videos - that is, an introductory song about the causes of the Fire, a song about the events of the Fire, and a final song exploring the new buildings after the Fire. Thus the songs can be used to help pupils consolidate and sequence the important facts and outcomes of The Great Fire of London.
Each song can be heard in vocal versions and also in an instrumental backing track - with exactly the same timing - which you can use for practising as often as you like and for performing in your assemblies and shows for parents and the whole school. The backing tracks can be downloaded as mp3 files, for use offline.
The notes for each song contain:
suggestions for performing each song
ideas for combining the music with dance and drama
suggestions for use of classroom instruments
simple ideas for improvising and composing
a range of follow-up ideas for subjects right across the curriculum.
The songs
Here in Pudding Lane Focus: Social history of streets and towns; clothes and writing; mammals andpets; musical scales; singing words clearly; steady beat; short and long notes. Listen to how the backing track features the sounds of some 17th century instruments of the time: recorder, crumhorn, lute, harpsichord and hurdy-gurdy.
Fire, fire, everywhere! Focus: Fire safety; homes in history; maps in local areas; keeping a diary; listening to and copying rhythm patterns; saying then singing; close together notes (pitch). Listen to how the backing track features recorders and percussion alongside the sounds of modern instruments (electric guitar, synthesiser, cymbals and drum kit).
Let’s get building! Focus: Tunes from chords; houses, homes and buildings; 3D shapes. The tune is based on notes from just the chords of C major (C, E, G) and F major (F, A, C’), featuring especially the sounds of bright trumpets and brass instruments. It is made of short phrases all going up, from lower to higher.
The music content can be combined with the History videos and supporting print content available on each page to offer pupils a really exciting and comprehensive offering on The Great Fire of London.
See also...
KS1 Music: Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot. collection
Age 5 - 7. Video resources with 3 songs to learn that help consolidate teaching around The Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
