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Year 1 - Music

Using tempo to tell a musical story

Music and movement: feeling the pulse and changing the tempo

Unit Summary

This unit develops pupil's sense of pulse across a range of different tempi. Pupils internalise phrasing through music and movement games and understand when it is their turn to sing, move or play. They are challenged to notice and respond appropriately to tempo changes.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use tempo changes to tell a musical story.

Key Notes

  • It is helpful to sing and play at different tempi to practise feeling the pulse and following the beat.
  • We know a piece of music can speed up (accelerando) or slow down (rallentando).
  • Different tempi and tempo changes can help to tell a musical story.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • tempo: how fast or slow the music is played
  • pulse: the regular, steady heartbeat of the music
  • beat: the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock
  • accelerando: gradually getting faster
  • rallentando: gradually getting slower

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Feeling the beat doesn't need practising.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

It is helpful to sing and play at different tempi to practise feeling the pulse and following the beat. We know a piece of music can speed up (accelerando) or slow down (rallentando).

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'tempo'

how fast or slow the music is played.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Feeling the beat doesn't need practising. Correction: Singing games are really useful to help us practise the beat, especially when it is very slow or very fast. We need to practise the beat at lots of different tempi.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 1 Music guide library.