I know that many people like the vast range of musical performance possibilities offered by the Ensemble and in fact the Ensemble is often used as an accessible musical instrument. The MIDI Notes and Chords blocks allow you to ‘pre-compose’ aspects in advance and allow the individual to control the timing and duration of the notes when performing.
Although themes can be created and saved for any one to access, many non-musicians shy away from using these maps as they “don’t know what to do”. The pdf file below contains some general ideas for making music, generated by Lesley Schatzberger of Jessie’s Fund. It was originally put together for the Ensemble Research group at the University of York over 10 years old, but the ideas never go out of date.
Document Library – Simple ideas for making music
Jessie’s Fund also have a Resource area that includes lots of tips for music making with children.