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Lesson 1 of 6
  • Year 3

Chanting and singing in time

I can chant and sing with a secure sense of pulse.

Lesson 1 of 6
New
New
  • Year 3

Chanting and singing in time

I can chant and sing with a secure sense of pulse.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. When we sing, play, or listen to music, we can feel the steady pulse.
  2. A steady pulse is important in music because it helps keep us in time as we sing or play.
  3. When we show or sound the pulse, it is called the beat.
  4. The beat can be sounded using instruments or body percussion, or shown with actions and movements.

Keywords

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

  • Pulse - the regular, steady heartbeat of the music

  • Beat - the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock

Common misconception

We can always hear the pulse in music.

Sometimes the pulse is sounded (beat), but not always. The pulse is something we can feel.


To help you plan your year 3 music lesson on: Chanting and singing in time, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Find opportunities to listen to more music from a variety of genres, styles, cultures and historical periods. Ask pupils to tap, move or play along to the beat.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Class set of claves. If a class set is not available then enough for half the class is sufficient. The second task can be done in two groups with half the class playing at a time.

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.
What is something we should do at the start of each music lesson, before we sing?

play instruments
Correct answer: warm up
play games

Q2.
Match the keyword to its definition.

Correct Answer:chant,speaking in time to a pulse

speaking in time to a pulse

Correct Answer:song,music with words

music with words

Correct Answer:singing voice,creating musical sounds that can be a mixture of high and low notes

creating musical sounds that can be a mixture of high and low notes

Correct Answer:speaking voice,the voice we use when we talk to each other

the voice we use when we talk to each other

Q3.
Having a steady __________ helps us keep in time when we sing together.

An image in a quiz
rhythm
Correct answer: pulse
volume
pitch

Q4.
We can feel the when we move in time to the music.

Correct Answer: pulse

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following are good ways to warm up for singing?

Correct answer: saying tongue twisters
Correct answer: doing breathing exercises
Correct answer: stretching and moving our face muscles
doing 20 star jumps

Q2.
The pulse in music is ...

An image in a quiz
how loud or quiet the music is
the pattern of the words of a song
Correct answer: the steady heartbeat of the music
the different instruments being played

Q3.
When we show or play the pulse it is called ...

the rhythm
the pitch
Correct answer: the beat
the timbre

Q4.
When we play the beat, we can hear it. The pulse is something we can't always hear, but we can it.

Correct Answer: feel

Additional material

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