Step 2

This exercise will play with theme. A theme is an idea that repeats in a piece of writing or work of art. To explore your character you used the theme of music. Repeat this theme of music to make your setting. Music is often used in theatre to create a sense of atmosphere.

Task

Look at the pictures of musical instruments. There’s a piano, a violin, a guitar and a flute. What does the musical instrument remind you of? Use your idea to imagine a setting.

Here are some of my ideas...

Piano

• Idea: The black and white keys remind me of a chess board.
• Setting: A giant chess board. Every square you step on plays a note like piano keys.

Violin

• Idea: The strings remind me of a flowing river.
• Setting: A river that ripples with the sound of vivid violin strings.

Guitar

• Idea: The shape of the guitar reminds me of a curved mountain.
• Setting: A magical mountain. All around the wind screeches like an electric guitar.

Flute

• Idea: The holes in the flute remind me of stepping stones.
• Setting: A babbling brook with stepping stones. Each stone you step on toots like a flute.

Recommend for ages 6-7

Now that you have an idea for your setting you can move to the end of this chapter.

Recommended for ages 8-9

If you would like to take your writing a step further, here is another exercise.

Choose your favourite setting. I have chosen the violin river. Write how your setting changes during the four seasons. You might like to repeat the theme of music. What does your setting sound like?

• Winter: The Violin River is glazed with glistening snow like frosting on a cream cake. Icicles hang from trees and sound like wind chimes on the breeze.
• Spring: The Violin River skips like a lamb and tinkles like an ice cream van. Bubbles babble, spring and bop. They sound like daffodils from the earth – pop!
• Summer: The Violin River drifts lazy beneath a roaring sun. The relaxed rhythm of the water’s sway sounds like fields of golden hay.
• Autumn: The Violin River is covered with fallen leaves like a winding path of red, gold and green. It sounds like the crisp crunch of the apple you munched for lunch.

Congratulations on completing this chapter! You have been rewarded the third letter of the dog’s name – the letter S.

Lesson Summary

In this exercise, the theme of music is explored to develop a setting based on different musical instruments. The task involves looking at pictures of instruments and associating them with certain ideas to create imaginative settings. Here are some examples:

• Piano Idea: The black and white keys are like a chessboard.
• Setting: A giant chessboard where each square plays a note like a piano key.
• Violin Idea: The strings are reminiscent of a flowing river.
• Setting: A river that ripples with the sounds of violin strings.
• Guitar Idea: The shape of the guitar resembles a curved mountain.
• Setting: A magical mountain where the wind screeches like an electric guitar.
• Flute Idea: The holes in the flute are like stepping stones.
• Setting: A babbling brook with stepping stones, each tooting like a flute.

Recommended for ages 6-7, this exercise encourages creative thinking using music themes to develop unique settings. After creating a setting, the chapter suggests moving forward or challenging oneself further by describing how the chosen setting changes during the four seasons, incorporating the music theme to imagine the soundscape of the setting in different seasons. For example:

• Winter: The Violin River is covered with glistening snow, icicles hanging from trees like wind chimes.
• Spring: The river skips and tinkles like an ice cream van, bubbling like daffodils popping up.
• Summer: The lazy drifting of the river under the sun sounds like fields of golden hay.
• Autumn: Covered in fallen leaves, the river sounds like the crisp crunch of apples.

Congratulations on completing this chapter! As a reward, the third letter of the dog's name is revealed - the letter S.