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      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can sing and move with a steady sense of pulse.

      Key learning points

      1. It is important to warm up our bodies and voices before every music lesson.
      2. Warming up helps prevent us from injuring our voices.
      3. Having a steady sense of pulse helps to keep us in time when we sing and move together.
      4. We can show the pulse in different ways, and this is called the beat.

      Keywords

      • Warm-up - a sequence of exercises used to prepare the mind, body and voice for singing / playing instruments

      • Singing voice - the voice we use to create musical sounds that can be a mixture of high sounds and low sounds

      • Pulse - the regular, steady heartbeat of the music

      • Beat - the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock

      Common misconception

      Warming up is only important before a perfomance. It isn't necessary to warm up for every music lesson.

      Warming up is necessary before undertaking any type of singing. It is an important part of a regular music lesson routine.

      Teacher tip

      The use of props or puppets can help motivate and encourage pupils to join in.

      Equipment

      An object to pass around the circle such as a toy dog bone. Dog and bumblebee puppets would be beneficial.

      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.
      Why is it important to warm up our voice?

      so we can sing loudly
      to learn lots of new songs
      Correct answer: to protect our voices from getting hurt

      Q2.
      Match the type of voice to the activity

      Correct Answer:speaking voice,talking to a friend
      Correct Answer:singing voice,performing a song
      Correct Answer:chanting voice,speaking words in time to a steady pulse
      Correct Answer:shouting voice,calling across the playground

      Q3.
      In music, we need to develop our sense of pulse because ...

      it helps us sing in tune
      it helps us to know what rhythm to play
      Correct answer: it help us to sing and play in time
      it tells us how loud to sing

      Q4.
      Put these warm-ups in the right order to prepare us for singing.

      1 - whole body warm-ups
      2 - face warm-ups
      3 - breathing exercises
      4 - vocal exercises

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      True or false? We should warm up before we sing.

      Correct Answer: true, True

      Q2.
      Match the warm-up activity to what it helps with.

      Correct Answer:breathing exercises,help us learn to control our breathing
      Correct Answer:tongue twisters,help to warm up our lips and tongue
      Correct Answer:whole body warm-ups,help to relax our muscles
      Correct Answer:vocal exercises,help to gently stretch our vocal cords

      Q3.
      The pulse is ...

      the pattern of sounds that we play and sing
      Correct answer: the regular, steady heartbeat of the music
      how fast or slow the music is

      Q4.
      When we tap our knees to the steady pulse, we are playing the .

      Correct Answer: beat, Beat

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