Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 9
- Year 9
Creating a tone row
I can explain the fundamentals of serialism and create a tone row.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Serialism developed in the 20th century, with composers searching for a new approach to composition.
- It is atonal, meaning that it has no key or tonic note.
- Everything in a piece is based on a unique tone row - the 12 notes of the chromatic scale arranged in a specific order.
- A tone row must use all 12 notes and avoid repeating any.
- Arnold Schoenberg and Elisabeth Lutyens are two well-known serialist composers.
Keywords
Atonal - lacking a key or tonic
Serialism - an atonal composition method based on a specific order of pitches (a tone row)
Tone row - a specific order of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, forming the basis of a piece of serialism
Chromatic scale - the 12 notes used in most Western music
Common misconception
A tone row is just a scale.
A tone row is different because it isn't just a set of notes to choose from, but a specific order. When you are composing something in C major, you can use the notes of the C major scale in any order. With a tone row, they have a specific order.
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Creating a tone row, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Creating a tone row, 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 3 music lessons from the Approaches to contemporary composition unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Notation software, a DAW or live instruments.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a sample?
Q2.A singer making whispering noises is an example of an extended technique.
Q3.What is this symbol called?
Q4.What is this symbol called?
Q5.What note is this on the treble clef stave?
Q6.What are these five notes?
