Year 5 - Music
Reading the five note minor pentachord scale
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 notate the ascending and descending minor pentachord on a simplified stave.
Key Notes
- Stave notation can tell us the rhythm and pitch of a melody, which we can use to help us perform it accurately.
- The rhythm of notes is the pattern of long and short sounds, and can be represented using 'Takadimi'.
- We can add pitches to a rhythmic composition using improvisation
Vocabulary To Learn
- stave: lines on which musical notes can be placed
- minor pentachord: the first 5 notes of a minor scale - la ti do re me
- rhythm: the pattern of sounds and silences that we play and sing
- improvisation: creative, in-the-moment musical composition
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- When writing out music notation, the exact position of the notes doesn't really matter.
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. The rhythm of notes is the pattern of long and short sounds, and can be represented using 'Takadimi'.
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: When writing out music notation, the exact position of the notes doesn't really matter. Correction: The part that matters the most is the note head - the circle at the bottom of the stick. Where that sits (on a line or space) tells us what pitch to play, so accuracy in where it is placed is important.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 5 Music guide library.