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Lesson 6 of 6
  • Year 6

Polyrhythmic accompaniments

I can rehearse songs with many layers effectively to prepare for a performance.

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View unit
Lesson 6 of 6
New
New
  • Year 6

Polyrhythmic accompaniments

I can rehearse songs with many layers effectively to prepare for a performance.

Download all

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Rehearsing together makes sure that everybody knows their part in the ensemble and when to play.
  2. Rehearsing together is a skill that can be developed.
  3. Performing to a small audience gives you the opportunity to develop your performance skills.

Keywords

  • Rehearse - to practise in order to improve and prepare for performance

  • Perform - to present music, playing or singing for an audience

  • Accompaniment - a musical part that supports the main melody

  • Polyrhythm - playing two or more conflicting rhythms at the same time

Common misconception

We only need to rehearse if we find our part difficult.

Rehearsing can warm you up for a performance and make sure you feel alert and ready to perform. It also makes sure you know when and how to play and not just what to play.


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

Sequence together your whole body, breathing and vocal exercises to warm up and prepare for singing together.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Group sets of unpitched percussion e.g. claves, djembe and shakers.

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.
When we play or sing together in a group, we are performing as part of .

Correct Answer: an ensemble, ensemble

Q2.
We accompany Senwa Dedende with a rhythmic ostinato. How would you describe this?

a repeating chord played throughout a piece
a repeating musical idea created from a short melodic pattern
Correct answer: a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern

Q3.
Which of these is an example of an unpitched percussion instrument?

piano
Correct answer: drum
violin
trombone

Q4.
What is a round?

two or more songs that fit together sung at the same time
Correct answer: multiple groups sing the same melody but start at different times
rhythmical speech, often over a musical accompaniment

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Why do we rehearse before a performance?

to learn what notes to play
to learn the words of the song
Correct answer: to improve our playing or singing together
Correct answer: so we know what to do and when

Q2.
True or false? Every time we rehearse together, we should work on the same things to get better at them.

Correct Answer: false, untrue, no

Q3.
Why do we perform in front of others?

Correct answer: to celebrate our learning
so we can move onto learning something new
Correct answer: to enjoy a shared musical experience
to make us feel really nervous

Q4.
What do we mean by 'balancing the sound'?

we play as loud as we can so everyone knows we have practised really well
monitoring dynamics to make sure our part is always the loudest part
Correct answer: monitoring dynamics so each layer can be heard as we want it to be heard