Describing unfamiliar music
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use my knowledge of all musical elements to write a detailed description of a piece of music.
Key learning points
- The musical elements are a useful starting point for a description of unfamiliar music.
- An effective description should encompass multiple different musical elements and should describe each in a concise way.
- We can use the table method to help us structure our thoughts and arrange them into an effective paragraph.
- We can also analyse the musical effect of those elements in the table.
- Describing the effect of each feature gives a more thorough description of a piece of music.
Keywords
Musical element - the building blocks of music, which include rhythm, melody, harmony, structure and others
Musical effect - the impact that a certain musical idea or device has, for example this could be creating a certain mood or feeling
Common misconception
The main thing I need to remember for long-form answers is the elements acronym (e.g. MAD T SHIRTT).
These acronyms do help us to remember what the elements are, but it is much more important in these longer descriptions to ensure answers are clearly structured, thorough and concise, and that correct technical vocabulary is used for each element.
Teacher tip
There are many methods for structuring long-form answers. The table method is effective , but some pupils might find a 'mind map' easier to use. You may have other strategies that align to your school's writing pedagogy. Explore other methods if appropriate, but ensure that the fundamentals remain.
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