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Lesson 3 of 4
  • Year 6

Film music: atmosphere

I can create atmosphere in my film score, considering effective ways to build on my motif to create feelings of tension and danger.

Lesson 3 of 4
New
New
  • Year 6

Film music: atmosphere

I can create atmosphere in my film score, considering effective ways to build on my motif to create feelings of tension and danger.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Music can effectively create a sense of atmosphere, for example, creating feelings of tension, danger or drama.
  2. Repeating and adapting a motif throughout a film score can help us to follow a narrative.
  3. We need to think about the structure of the music when scoring so that the music clearly enhances the visual narrative.

Keywords

  • Film score - on original piece of music composed to accompany a film or television programme that contributes to the narrative by adding emotion, tension or drama

  • Scoring - creating original music for film or television that enhances the narrative

  • Atmosphere - using music to create the emotional mood or tone of the narrative

  • Motif - a short recurring musical idea in a film score that represents a place, character, emotion or idea

Common misconception

We all respond in the same way to a piece of music.

Our response to music is personal. We may agree or disagree with others on the feelings and atmosphere we sense in a piece of music. We can have interesting discussions around our personal responses to music.


To help you plan your year 6 music lesson on: Film music: atmosphere, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The compositional element of this lesson and unit can be completed on classroom percussion instruments, keyboards or using a digital audio workspace such as Chrome Music Lab, Garageband or Bandlab. This is a great unit for exploring music technology in your classroom.
Teacher tip

Equipment

If creating using a DAW (digital audio workstation), pupils will need access to tablets or laptops. Otherwise, a selection of pitched and unpitched classroom percussion.

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.
How might you describe the elements of music?

a repeated musical idea
Correct answer: the ingredients needed for a piece of music
Correct answer: the building blocks of music
a musical thought, like a sentence in a story
a scale of five notes

Q2.
How is a percussion instrument played?

Correct answer: scraped
Correct answer: struck
bowed
plucked
Correct answer: shaken

Q3.
The violin, viola, cello and double bass belong to the family.

Correct Answer: string

Q4.
The musical element means 'the way the music is organised', thinking about what comes first and then what comes next.

Correct Answer: structure

Assessment exit quiz

4 Questions

Q1.
A short recurring musical idea in a film score that represents a place, character, emotion or idea is called a ...

ostinato
cell
Correct answer: motif

Q2.
Why are film scores used in films and television series?

Correct answer: to help us understand the story
to stop the programme seeming so quiet
Correct answer: to contribute to the narrative
Correct answer: to add emotion, tension and drama
because a story cannot be told without music

Q3.
True or false? A motif in a film score can change and adapt.

Correct Answer: True, correct, yes

Q4.
When considering how to order a film score to fit the narrative, which element of music are you thinking about?

Correct Answer: structure