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      Singing major pentatonic folk songs

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can sing folk songs with accuracy of pitch and pulse.

      Key learning points

      1. It is important to warm up before singing to protect our voice from injury and to develop our vocal strength.
      2. Folk songs come from all around the world, originating from a particular country, area or people.
      3. Folk songs are usually simple songs passed down by oral tradition.
      4. Developing a sound sense of pulse helps us to sing and play together.
      5. Body percussion can help us to identify and perform rhythm patterns accurately.

      Keywords

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

      • Folk song - a song that originates from a particular country, culture or people that is usually passed down orally

      • Pulse - the regular, steady heartbeat of the music

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

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

      Common misconception

      Warming up is fun, but we don’t need to warm up every time we practise our singing.

      Warming-up is really important to prevent our voice from injury. It also helps to improve many of our music skills.

      Teacher tip

      Encourage pupils to bring folk songs from home to share with the class. Don’t worry about their tonality, just focus on the understanding of what a folk song is and how these are shared.

      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.
      The is the regular, steady heartbeat of the music.

      An image in a quiz
      rhythm
      pitch
      Correct answer: pulse

      Q2.
      What is rhythm?

      An image in a quiz
      how fast or slow the music is played
      Correct answer: the pattern of sounds that we play and sing
      how high or low the note sounds

      Q3.
      True or false? Beat and rhythm are the same thing.

      Correct Answer: false, False, untrue, Untrue

      Q4.
      We can make sounds with our body, using our body as an instrument. What do we call this?

      Correct Answer: body percussion

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      It is important to before every music lesson to strengthen our voice, develop our musical skills and protect our voice from injury.

      Correct Answer: warm up, Warm up, Warm-up, warm-up

      Q2.
      Ame Ame and Tongo are types of ...

      Correct answer: folk song
      pop song
      chants

      Q3.
      True or false? Folk songs are usually long, complicated songs that need notating to be remembered.

      Correct Answer: false, False, untrue, Untrue

      Q4.
      What is this rhythm?

      An image in a quiz
      Takadimi Ta Ta Ta-di
      Correct answer: Takadimi Ta-di Ta-di Ta
      Ta-di Takadimi Takadimi Ta
      Q4 MuseScore Studio is developed by Muse Group https://musescore.org/en

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