ABSTRACT
Sound and Silence used contemporary music as a creative stimulus for composing. This practice continues as part of many orchestral education programmes and in the use of set works within the General Certificate of Secondary Education music curriculum. The rich mix of the poetic and evocative idea of rain and the fun way of generating pitches/melody through a musical cryptogram make 14 Ways of Describing Rain an excellent starting point for creative musical activity. It offers lots of potential for learning and creative exploration and can be used with a range of different ages and experiences. One can imagine a very simple composition exercise in which children are invited to create a piece about rain, resulting in simple sound effect responses. This chapter describes the process of planning how to present 14 Ways of Describing Rain as a creative stimulus to a group of children aged 8—11 years old and the scaffolded process of the workshop itself.
