Singing sea shanties
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can sing a sea shanty in harmony and using body percussion.
Key learning points
- Sea shanties are a type of folk song that were traditionally sung by sailors to coordinate their movements.
- They have a strong pulse to help this coordination, and a catchy, repeated melody.
- We can sing them in unison - when everyone sings the same melody - or in harmony.
- We can emphasise the downbeat to help show the pulse when performing.
Keywords
Sea shanty - a folk song traditionally sung by sailors to help them coordinate their movements
Pulse - the constant underlying beat in a piece of music
Downbeat - the strongest beat of the bar named after the downbeat a conductor makes on beat one
Unison - when multiple parts play or sing the same notes at the same time
Harmony - the way that different notes are played or sung together to create chords
Common misconception
Sea shanties are songs for pirates.
Many cultures based around the sea use songs to coordinate movement on boats. Sea shanties are one example of this, and were sung by many, including sailors and fishermen. Other traditional cultures had their own songs for this purpose.
Teacher tip
Consider how the group is split to ensure that strong singers are supporting in each part. The tasks could be done in smaller groups once pupils have been taught the melody and harmony, and pupils can consider dynamics and variations on the body percussion and beat to extend their performance.
Files needed for this lesson
Wellerman - full version in unison 741.56 KB (MP3)
Wellerman - full version in harmony 741.56 KB (MP3)
Download these files to use in the lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a mode?
Q2.What is the name of the mode that starts on D and uses the white notes of the piano?
Q3.A sea shanty is a type of what?
Q4.What were sea shanties traditionally used for?
Q5.What is a strophic structure?
Q6.What is singing in unison?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which feature makes sea shanties helpful for sailors to coordinate movement?
Q2.What is singing in harmony?
Q3.When the singers sing the same pitches, words and rhythms, this is called singing in...
Q4.Which of these is not a common feature of sea shanties?
Q5.Which length is not common for a phrase?
Q6.What is body percussion?
To help you plan your 7 music lesson on: Singing sea shanties, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 music lesson on: Singing sea shanties, 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 3 music lessons from the Folk songs from around the world unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.