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- Year 10
- OCR
Melody in Greek folk music
I can identify the typical features of melody in Greek folk music and perform them in Thalassaki Mou.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- OCR
Melody in Greek folk music
I can identify the typical features of melody in Greek folk music and perform them in Thalassaki Mou.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The bouzouki has a characteristic playing style that uses slides and tremolo.
- Instrumental and vocal melodies are often harmonised with thirds.
- Melodies in Greek folk music are mostly conjunct and use ornamentation.
- The vocal melodies are often conjunct and melismatic, like in Thalassaki Mou.
Keywords
Third - an interval of two tones or three semitones
Slide - when a performer moves seamlessly between two pitches
Tremolo - a rapid repetition of a note or notes
Melismatic - a melody in which many notes are sung for just one syllable of a word
Conjunct - when notes move by step, they do not leap
Common misconception
The bouzouki sounds the same as a guitar.
The bouzouki has very specific techniques that give it its characteristic sound. These include use of tremolo, slides and thirds. Although these can be used on the guitar, they are not as common as on the bouzouki.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Melody in Greek folk music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Melody in Greek folk music, 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.
Explore more key stage 4 music lessons from the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
File needed for this lesson
- Thalassaki Mou template 6.36 MB (ZIP)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Equipment
DAW and/or live instruments
Licence
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