Creating a musical melody
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore creative processes to compose short melodies as starting points for free compositions.
Key learning points
- Good melodies use some repetition and have a distinctive shape and can use conjunct and disjunct intervals.
- Melodies all have rhythm. There are a variety of rhythmic choices that can be used to reflect the character of a melody.
- A melody can be expressive with appropriate tempo, dynamics and articulation.
Keywords
Disjunct - Movement by leaps in a melodic line is disjunct.
Conjunct - Conjunct describes movement by steps in a melodic line eg. tones and semitones.
Interval - An interval is the distance between two notes.
Articulation - Articulation is how the note is played eg. legato, staccato or accented.
Common misconception
Using disjunct intervals in a melody means the notes can be placed anywhere.
Disjunct intervals need a sense of order to the music and should be used in some sort of pattern in the same way that conjunct intervals should.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to move away from typical melodic composing conventions and consider the shape and character of the melody rather than the length of phrases in bars and only choose pitches that move in step only or triadic movement.
Equipment
A keyboard (or other suitable instrument) or DAW/notation software
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a melody?
Q2.Which word means soft or quiet dynamics in music?
Q3.Match the note name to the note length.
Q4.Which words apply to pitch in music?
Q5.A pattern of beats in music is called a __________.
Q6.Which music element do the words crescendo, forte, and mezzo-piano belong?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which statement defines the musical word conjunct?
Q2.What word describes the distance between 2 notes?
Q3.Legato, staccato or accented refer to what part of music?
Q4.What are the features of a good melody?
Q5.What word describes movement by leaps in a melodic line?
Q6.The __________ of a composition can help you decide the approach to the rhythm of your melody.
To help you plan your 10 music lesson on: Creating a musical melody, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 music lesson on: Creating a musical melody, 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 4 music lessons from the Free composition: Creative starting points unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.