How songs tell stories in theatre
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand how different songs are used to tell us about stories and characters.
Key learning points
- Actors can tell a story or share a character's emotional journey through song
- Solo songs often give us information about how a character is feeling
- Ensemble songs often tell the story or give us clues about the mood of the story
- We can share stories with an audience by understanding the lyrics we're singing
Keywords
Musical theatre - a type of theatre with songs, acting and dance
Solo song - a piece performed by one person - an Italian word meaning 'alone'
Ensemble (musical theatre) - a chorus of people on stage sharing the plot or mood
Soliloquy (musical theatre) - a character sharing their thoughts and feelings with the audience
Common misconception
Musical theatre is solely for light entertainment.
Songs in musical theatre can explore a range of emotions and experiences that an audience might relate to.
Teacher tip
Spend time watching the suggested clips to allow pupils to see how the whole body and the performance space are used to convey emotions and the story in a song. Encourage pupils to be big and bold when singing When I Was a Lad to help develop confidence for later lessons in the unit.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What is the audience?
Q2.What are the lyrics of a song?
Q3.Tempo means ...
Q4.An is an exact copy of a musical phrase.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.__________ musicals are musicals with an original story and songs.
Q2.One major influence on musical theatre was a 19th century style of performance called __________, a short, often comical, light opera.
Q3.__________ songs often give us information about how a character is feeling in musical theatre.
Q4.__________ songs often tell the story or give us clues about the mood of the story in musical theatre.
To help you plan your 4 music lesson on: How songs tell stories in theatre, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 music lesson on: How songs tell stories in theatre, 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. 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 together: how stories are shared through song unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.