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Lesson 1 of 6
  • Year 3

Identifying different layers of accompaniment within a piece of music

I can identify different layers of sound under songs and in music.

Lesson 1 of 6
New
New
  • Year 3

Identifying different layers of accompaniment within a piece of music

I can identify different layers of sound under songs and in music.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Instruments can be identified by their timbre.
  2. The more instruments or layers of sound we add, the thicker the texture becomes.
  3. We can add ostinatos and drones to songs to thicken the texture.
  4. Feeling the steady pulse helps us to play and sing in time.

Keywords

  • Texture - the combination of different layers of sounds

  • Pulse - the regular steady heartbeat of the music

  • Timbre - a description of the sound or tone of an instrument or voice

  • Ostinato - a repeating musical pattern that can be rhythmic or melodic

Common misconception

We won't be able to hear what instruments are playing when they're playing at the same time.

We can identify the instruments playing by their unique timbre and tune our ears to recognise each sound.


To help you plan your year 3 music lesson on: Identifying different layers of accompaniment within a piece of music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Spending time checking that pupils are feeling the pulse in both the warm up and the listening activity will support their ensemble playing and singing later in the lesson.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Instruments suitable for playing the drone such as glockenspiels, chime bars, xylophones. Claves/egg shakers for playing rhythmic ostinati.

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

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4 Questions

Q1.
The is the regular, steady heartbeat of the music.

Correct Answer: pulse

Q2.
The musical word for the sound or tone of an instrument is .

Correct Answer: timbre

Q3.
Texture is ...

the speed of the music
Correct answer: the combination of different layers of sounds
a description of the sounds or tone of the music
a short repeated musical idea

Q4.
At the start of each music lesson we to make sure that we are focused and we are ready to sing and play.

Correct Answer: warm-up, warm up

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
A constant, pitched sound that continues throughout a piece of music is called a .

Correct Answer: drone

Q2.
We can change the texture by adding more of sound.

Correct Answer: layers

Q3.
An ostinato is ...

Correct answer: a repeating musical pattern that can be rhythmic or melodic
a description of different layers of sounds
a group of people who perform together

Q4.
True or false? Every instrument has its own unique timbre.

Correct Answer: True, true

Additional material

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