Year 5 - Music
Reading and playing minor melodies
Compose and Create: composing a minor melody on a stave
Study Hub
Study Guides
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 read and play minor melodies on tuned percussion.
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 work out the rhythms and pitches using takadimi and solfège note names.
- We can add to the texture of our music by using a drone as an accompaniment.
Vocabulary To Learn
- stave: lines on which musical notes can be placed
- texture: the combination of different layers of sounds
- accompaniment: musical ideas that support the main melody
- drone: a constant, pitched sound that continues throughout a piece of music
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- We can play a melody quickly when we are learning it.
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 work out the rhythms and pitches using takadimi and solfège note names.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'stave'
lines on which musical notes can be placed.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: We can play a melody quickly when we are learning it. Correction: It's always better to start slow, then speed up when confidence is built.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 5 Music guide library.