Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 4
Folk songs and the minor pentachord
I can follow the melodic shape of minor tonality folk songs, singing and signing the minor pentachord and framing this with a drone accompaniment.
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- Year 4
Folk songs and the minor pentachord
I can follow the melodic shape of minor tonality folk songs, singing and signing the minor pentachord and framing this with a drone accompaniment.
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
- The minor pentachord is the first five notes of the minor scale: la, ti, do, re, mi.
- Folk songs can be accompanied or unaccompanied.
- Adding a drone underneath a song adds another layer of sound to the texture of the piece.
- To be able to accompany songs effectively, we need to be able to play with a sound sense of pulse.
- We need to consider the dynamic balance when adding accompaniments to songs.
Keywords
Minor pentachord - the first five notes of the minor scale: la, ti, do, re, mi
Accompaniment - a musical part that supports the main melody or chant
Drone - a constant, pitched sound that continues throughout a piece of music
Texture - the combination of different layers of sounds
Dynamics - how loud or quiet the music is
Common misconception
Music can only be major or minor in tonality.
Music can be tonal - major, minor or other using modes. Music can also be atonal or go beyond tonality, not having a traditional sense of key or tonal note.
To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Folk songs and the minor pentachord, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Folk songs and the minor pentachord, 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 Start with playing: adding layers to major and minor songs unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Pitched percussion, notes D and A, e.g. percussion tubes, chime bars, glockenspiels, hand bells or xylophones.
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