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Lesson 3 of 6
  • Year 4

Reading the five note major pentachord scale

I can read and notate the ascending and descending major pentachord on a simplified stave.

Lesson 3 of 6
New
New
  • Year 4

Reading the five note major pentachord scale

I can read and notate the ascending and descending major pentachord on a simplified stave.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Musical notes are written on a stave, which tells us the pitch of the notes.
  2. Higher notes are higher up on the stave.
  3. Improvising means creating music in the moment using the voice or instruments, alone or with others.
  4. We can add pitches to a rhythmic composition using improvisation.

Keywords

  • Stave - lines on which musical notes can be placed

  • Major pentachord - the first 5 notes of a major scale - do re mi fa so

  • Rhythm - the pattern of sounds and silences that we play and sing

  • Improvisation - creative, in-the-moment musical composition

Common misconception

The notes on the stave can be written like dots on the line or inbetween the lines.

It is important that the size of the notes matches the size of the stave. This makes the notation easier to read.


To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Reading the five note major pentachord scale, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils could demonstrate their improvisations to the class at the end of the lesson, or could improvise to each other in pairs.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Class set of pitched percussion instruments, eg. glockespiels, xylophones, chime bars.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What are the five notes in the major pentachord?

Correct answer: do, re, mi, fa, so
fa, so, la, ti, do
do, mi, fa, so, re
la, ti, do, re, mi

Q2.
What note is shown by this Solfège hand symbol?

An image in a quiz
do
re
mi
Correct answer: fa
so

Q3.
The pitch of a note is ...

how loud or quiet it is
how fast or slow it is
Correct answer: how high or low it is
how long or short it is

Q4.
The pattern do, re, mi, fa, so is

Correct answer: ascending
descending
staying at the same pitch

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
A stave is ...

the first five notes of the major scale
Correct answer: horizontal lines that notes are placed on to tell us the pitch
the pattern of sounds and silences that we play and sing
creative, in-the-moment musical composition

Q2.
The pattern so, fa, mi, re, do is ...

ascending
Correct answer: descending
staying at the same pitch

Q3.
What rhythms are shown in this image?

An image in a quiz
Correct answer: takadimi ta, takadimi ta
tadi tadi, tadi tadi
takadi ta, takadi ta
ta takadimi ta takadimi

Q4.
Improvisation means ...

playing pre-written melodies accurately
playing a series of ascending notes
Correct answer: making up musical ideas on the spot
playing a rhythm on just one note