Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit pupils add simple vocal accompaniments to songs. They learn chanted and sung ostinati, adding these to songs they have learnt. Pupils practise in order to improve and understand the importance of maintaining a steady pulse.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to keep a rhythmic, chanted ostinato going under a song.

Key Notes

• Short rhythmic patterns can be repeated to create an ostinato accompaniment for a chant or song.
• The more layers of sound in a piece of music, the thicker the texture.
• Beats are organised into patterns of strong beats and weak beats.
• When the tempo gets faster, we need to chant and sing faster.
• When the tempo gets slower we need to chant and sing slower.

Vocabulary To Learn

• chant: speaking in time to a pulse
• sing: the voice we use to create musical sounds that can be a mixture of high sounds and low sounds
• rhythm: the pattern of sounds that we play and sing
• ostinato: a repeating musical pattern
• texture: the layering of different musical sounds

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• The pulse and steady beat always stays the same.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Adding body percussion to a song Study Guide
• Building a thicker texture with a sung ostinato Study Guide
• Developing part singing Study Guide
• Developing pulse and moving in time to the music Study Guide
• Performing songs with simple accompaniments Study Guide