Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 4
Playing together as an ensemble
I can play my part confidently within a large ensemble.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 4
Playing together as an ensemble
I can play my part confidently within a large ensemble.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Playing in an ensemble requires a shared sense of pulse, confident part playing and an awareness of the whole sound.
- Practising in parts first can help us to perform our part accurately and confidently as part of an ensemble.
- Successful rehearsal strategies include ‘chunking’, practising the start and thinking about appropriate dynamics.
Keywords
Ensemble - a group of people who perform together
Accompaniment - a musical part that supports the main melody or chant
Dynamics - how loud or quiet the music is
Rehearse - to practise in order to improve and prepare for performance
Common misconception
In an ensemble performance, one part, usually the melody, is the most important part.
In an ensemble performance each part is crucial. Each part adds something different to the final performance such as harmony, melody or rhythmic foundation.
To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Playing together as an ensemble, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Playing together as an ensemble, 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 Playing together: effective rehearsing as part of an ensemble unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Class set of pitched percussion instruments that can play G C and D.
Licence
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