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Year 4 - Music

Composing and notating a major melody

Compose and Create: composing a major melody on a stave

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils explore the tonality of a major melody through listening to a range of music. Pupils learn the major pentachord, the first five notes of the scale, on tuned percussion. They use this new scale to compose and notate short melodies.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to compose and notate a major melody considering the use of steps and leaps, repetition and melodic shape.

Key Notes

  • Stave notation can tell us the rhythm and pitch of a melody, which we can use to help us perform it accurately.
  • We can compose by selecting pitches from the major pentachord for an existing rhythm.
  • Effective melodies start and end on 'do' and move mostly by step, with some leaps.
  • We can use repeating patterns to make our melody and rhythm compositions sound organised.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • major pentachord: the first 5 notes of a major scale - do re mi fa so
  • melody: a combination of notes to make a memorable tune
  • compose: to create a piece of music over time
  • stave: lines on which musical notes can be placed

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • When composing, to make a melody interesting, it should be complicated with lots of different notes.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Stave notation can tell us the rhythm and pitch of a melody, which we can use to help us perform it accurately. We can compose by selecting pitches from the major pentachord for an existing rhythm.

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

the first 5 notes of a major scale - do re mi fa so.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: When composing, to make a melody interesting, it should be complicated with lots of different notes. Correction: A simple melody with lots of repetition and stepwise movement often makes a more memorable melody.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 4 Music guide library.