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- Year 6
Balancing harmony lines in songs
I can hold a harmony part in a song, controlling my voice to create a balance between both independent sung lines.
- Year 6
Balancing harmony lines in songs
I can hold a harmony part in a song, controlling my voice to create a balance between both independent sung lines.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- We can read music notation by following the melodic shape of the melody.
- When two or more harmony parts have distinct melodies that move at different times, this creates a polyphonic texture.
- Listening carefully to the other part when singing in harmony helps us to balance our parts together.
- We can apply the character building blocks to help us to stage a scene.
Keywords
Harmony - the combination of two or more notes played or sung together, creating a pleasing sound
Sequence - a melodic phrase which is repeated at a higher or lower pitch
Polyphonic texture - each layer of harmony has a distinct melody that moves at different times
Staging (verb) - making decisions about creating a performance of our version of a story
Common misconception
When singing harmony parts, we should sing loudly to block out the other parts so that we can sing our own part correctly.
When singing together, it's important to listen to the other parts so that we hear how they fit together. We need to balance the sound, so that the audience can hear both parts clearly.
To help you plan your year 6 music lesson on: Balancing harmony lines in songs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 6 music lesson on: Balancing harmony lines in songs, 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.
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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. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 music lessons from the Singing for performance: conveying emotion and character through performance unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.When we describe a melody, the up and down movement of pitches is called the .
Q2.Legato articulation is ...
Q3.True or false? When composers are creating the mood of a piece, they only think about dynamics.
Q4.In music, a form of storytelling using dramatic singing, acting, costume and design and sometimes dance is called an .
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.True or false? When singing in harmony, we should sing loudly to block out the other part, to help us sing our part accurately.
Q2.When each layer of harmony has a distinct melody that moves at different times, we call this a texture.
Q3.A sequence in music is ...
Q4.Match the words to the correct definition.
how high or low a note is
a combination of notes to make a memorable tune
up and down movement of pitches in music
a musical thought, like a sentence in a story