Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 6
Theme and variation as a musical structure
I can hear how a theme is altered to create variations and can explain theme and variation as a musical structure.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 6
Theme and variation as a musical structure
I can hear how a theme is altered to create variations and can explain theme and variation as a musical structure.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Theme and variations is a type of musical structure.
- A theme is a short, recognisable melody that is the main musical idea for a composition.
- Each variation is based on the original theme but changed slightly in one or more ways.
- The orchestra is made up of four main sections: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Keywords
Structure - the way the music is organised
Theme - a short, recognisable melody that is the main musical idea for a composition
Variation - when a musical theme is repeated with changes
Theme and variations - a structure in music where the main theme is stated at the beginning and then repeated throughout, but changed in some way each time
Orchestra - a large musical ensemble, combining instruments from the string, woodwind, brass, and percussion families
Common misconception
Theme and variations is the same as theme music.
Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for video games, or films and is usually played at the beginning, end and at some point during the course of the game or film.
To help you plan your year 6 music lesson on: Theme and variation as a musical structure, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 6 music lesson on: Theme and variation as a musical structure, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 2 music lessons from the Compose and Create: creating melodic variations based on a theme unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
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!
