Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 10
- OCR
Composing a drum beat and contrast in pop song structure
I can compose a drum beat and develop musical ideas within a pop song structure.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- OCR
Composing a drum beat and contrast in pop song structure
I can compose a drum beat and develop musical ideas within a pop song structure.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
These resources were made for remote use during the pandemic, not classroom teaching.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The drummer’s main role in the rhythm section is to establish the tempo and rhythmic groove.
- They typically play a backbeat on the snare, beats 1 and 3 on the kick and quavers on the hi-hat.
- Combining a riff with chords, a bass line and a drum beat can create the accompanying parts of pop song.
- A pop song has two main sections, a verse and a chorus.
- It is important that they have both similarities and contrasting ideas.
Keywords
Backbeat - the emphasis of beats 2 and 4 in a drum groove, usually on the snare drum
Quaver - a note lasting half a beat; quavers often come in pairs
Verse and chorus - the two main repeated sections in a song; verse and chorus structure is the term used to describe the structure of a pop song
Common misconception
For musical ideas, such as a riff or melody to contrast, they have to be totally different.
Songs should have to have some continuity between the different sections. Highlight ways in which two melodically different ideas might still have some similarities ie. same rhythm, same shape, same number of notes, same initial motif.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Composing a drum beat and contrast in pop song structure, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Composing a drum beat and contrast in pop song structure, 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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Explore more key stage 4 music lessons from the Introduction to pop music unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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