Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 10
- OCR
The piano concerto through time
I can identify similarities and differences between the piano concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- OCR
The piano concerto through time
I can identify similarities and differences between the piano concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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
- The piano became a very important instrument in Classical and Romantic concertos.
- Its dynamic range, pitch range, expressive abilities and ability to play multiple layers attracted composers to it.
- The piano concerto mirrored most of the trends of those periods, though there are some specific ways the piano is used.
- These include accompanying orchestral melodies with chords and playing both melody and accompaniment together.
Keywords
Chromatic - notes from outside the key; chromatic movement often involves moving by semitones
Diatonic - harmony which uses only notes from within the key
Arpeggio - a broken chord in which the notes of a chord are played in order, ascending or descending
Scalic - a melody using segments of a scale
Tutti - a section in a concerto where the orchestra play together, including the main melody
Common misconception
Piano concertos are just the same as other concertos.
Not quite. Because of the unique abilities of the piano - including its range and ability to play multiple lines at once - composers use it slightly differently to other instruments. This includes using it to accompany itself, or the orchestra.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The piano concerto through time, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The piano concerto through time, 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 The concerto through time unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!