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Lesson 1 of 6
  • Year 4

Major and minor tonality folk songs

I can sing new major and minor tonality folk songs with a sense of character.

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Lesson 1 of 6
New
New
  • Year 4

Major and minor tonality folk songs

I can sing new major and minor tonality folk songs with a sense of character.

Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and

Copyrights help

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. It is essential to warm up the voice before singing to keep it strong and healthy and to prevent injury.
  2. Performing with a sense of character and emotion brings a song to life.
  3. The same song can be sung with different character and feeling.
  4. Singing with different dynamics can change the character of a song.
  5. Many songs have a tonal centre, or tonality. Often, this can be described as major or minor.

Keywords

  • Warm-up - a sequence of exercises used to prepare the mind, body and voice for singing / playing instruments

  • Folk song - a song that originates from a particular country, culture or people that is usually passed down orally

  • Tonality - the organisation of notes around a central note, the tonic, which helps to shape the music’s sound and character

  • Dynamics - how loud or quiet the music is

Common misconception

We only warm up before a singing performance.

Warming up protects and strengthens our voice, prepares our mind and develops our musical skills. It is beneficial and advisable to warm up for every music lesson and every singing practice.


To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Major and minor tonality folk songs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Create a word bank of words to describe character, feelings and mood to encourage your pupils to think beyond major being 'happy' and minor being 'sad.'
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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).

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