- Year 9
Riffs and power chords in grunge
I can create a grunge-style riff using power chords and a bass line based on the riff.
- Year 9
Riffs and power chords in grunge
I can create a grunge-style riff using power chords and a bass line based on the riff.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A key feature of grunge (and most rock styles) is the use of riffs.
- Grunge riffs often use power chords, consisting of the root note and fifth.
- To play a power chord on the piano, we remove the middle note from a triad chord, or find the fifth note in the scale.
- Distortion is often added to electric guitar sounds, creating a fuzzy effect which distorts the sound.
- Bass lines in grunge are often based around the riff, using the root note of each chord.
Keywords
Riff - A riff is a short, repeated musical idea that forms the basis of a pop or rock song.
Power chord - A power chord is a two-note chord often used on guitars, which uses the root note and the fifth of a triad chord.
Fifth - A fifth is a distance of five notes. For example, the distance from C to G is a fifth.
Common misconception
Power chords are any two notes of the chord triad.
For a chord to be a power chord it has to be the root and the fifth, not the root and the third. It also needs to be a perfect fifth. If pupils are working out their own power chords on the keyboard, some chords would use the black notes.
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Riffs and power chords in grunge, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Riffs and power chords in grunge, 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 The sound of 90s grunge unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
A DAW or other suitable compositional tool or instrument.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
