New
New
Lesson 3 of 4
  • Year 2

River soundscapes

I can layer vocal and body percussion cells to create a river soundscape.

Lesson 3 of 4
New
New
  • Year 2

River soundscapes

I can layer vocal and body percussion cells to create a river soundscape.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A soundscape can be created using just vocalisations and body percussion.
  2. When we structure a soundscape, we think about how to organise the sounds - what comes first, then what comes next.
  3. A cell is a short musical idea that can be used in a soundscape to help build the piece.

Keywords

  • Vocalisation - a sound made by the voice, but does not need to be a word

  • Soundscape - using sounds to create a feeling, place or story, making you feel like you are really there, for example a journey downriver

  • Structure - the way the music is organised

  • Cell - short, simple musical ideas

  • Body percussion - to make a percussive musical sound with the body

Common misconception

Structure and texture are the same thing.

Here, the structuring of the piece does involve a buiding of texture, but it is helpful to think of structure as horizontal - what is happening now and next, and texture as vertical - how many layers are there.


To help you plan your year 2 music lesson on: River soundscapes, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The vocal cells here can be used just as examples. Feel free to create your soundscape around these, or use them just as inspiration for your class to create their own.
Teacher tip

Equipment

art resources - pastels and paper

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

4 Questions

Q1.
A is someone who creates new music.

Correct Answer: composer

Q2.
__________ is when you use sounds to create a feeling, place or story, making you feel like you are really there, for example a journey downriver.

A melody
Correct answer: A soundscape
An ostinato

Q3.
Changing dynamics can help us build our soundscape. What does dynamics mean?

Correct answer: how loud or quiet the music is played
how fast or slow the music is played
how high or low the notes are

Q4.
We can think about a sound's timbre when creating a soundscape. What is timbre?

the regular steady heartbeat of the music
the way the music is organised
Correct answer: a description of the sound or tone of an instrument

Assessment exit quiz

4 Questions

Q1.
When we vocalise, we make a sound with our ...

hands
feet
Correct answer: voice

Q2.
In music, what is structure?

how fast or slow the music is played
Correct answer: the way the music is organised
the regular, steady heartbeat of the music

Q3.
True or false? We always use percussion instruments when composing a soundscape.

Correct Answer: false

Q4.
A cell is ...

Correct answer: a short, simple musical idea.
a long melody with many notes.
a percussion instrument.