Year 5 - Music
Identifying major and minor tonalities
Compose and Create: composing a minor melody on a stave
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn songs and listen to music that has a minor tonality. Pupils learn the toneset for the minor pentachord (la, ti, do, re, mi) and use this to compose a minor melody. An analysis of Benjamin Britten's Old Abram Brown inspires the shaping of the pupils' compositions.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to sing and identify songs in the major or minor key.
Key Notes
- It is essential to warm up the voice before singing to keep it strong and healthy and to prevent injury.
- Many songs have a tonal centre, or tonality. Often, this can be described as major or minor.
- Minor tonalities are organised around the note 'la' and are often dark sounding.
Vocabulary To Learn
- warm up: a sequence of exercises used to prepare the mind, body and voice for singing / playing instruments
- tonality: the organisation of notes around a central note, the tonic, which helps to shape the music's sound and character
- major: the major scale is organised around the note do and can feel bright
- minor: the minor scale is organised around the note la and can feel dark
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Songs with a minor tonality are always sad.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
It is essential to warm up the voice before singing to keep it strong and healthy and to prevent injury. Many songs have a tonal centre, or tonality. Often, this can be described as major or minor.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'warm up'
a sequence of exercises used to prepare the mind, body and voice for singing / playing instruments.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Songs with a minor tonality are always sad. Correction: Tonality is one of the elements that gives a melody its character. While minor tonalites often feel dark, it is the combination of how all the elements of music are used that will make a song sound sad.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 5 Music guide library.