Learning a musical theme
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can learn a melodic theme, using notation to support me.
Key learning points
- You can usually recognise aspects of the original theme when you listen to a variation.
- When composing variations, composers might change the rhythm, the melody or the tonality of the theme.
- A glockenspiel is played with mallets and the best sound is achieved when striking the centre of the bar.
- We can play a theme accurately using pitch and rhythm notation.
Keywords
Theme - a short, recognisable melody that is the main musical idea for a composition
Variation - when a musical theme is repeated with changes
Glockenspiel - a tuned percussion instrument with metal bars. Glocken is a German word that means bells and spiel means to play
Mallet - the musical name for the beaters with which you play the glockenspiel
Common misconception
Theme and variation structure only applies to orchestral music.
A musical structure can apply to any style of music.
Teacher tip
Pupils should hold mallets loosely in the hand, playing in the very centre of the bar so that the mallet ‘bounces’ off the bar. This allows the metal to resonate and create a ringing sound. If the mallet is ‘pushed’ into the bar, it muffles the note, resulting in a less satisfactory sound.
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!
