Year 8 - Music
Changing hand positions in the middle of a phrase
Minor, major and developing keyboard skills
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit introduces major and minor scales and explores what makes music distinctive and memorable. Pupils develop keyboard technique and rehearsal strateiges, learning more complex melodic lines with accidentals and varied articulation.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to perform a piece which changes hand position in the middle of a phrase.
Key Notes
- Learning to play a melody which uses chromatic movement and is played in a staccato style.
- Developing fluency in changing hand positions when performing a piece on the keyboard.
- Developing dexterity in comfortably using fourth and fifth fingers to play a melody with accidentals.
- Learning how to navigate the difficult sections and spotting patterns in a piece to help learn it more efficiently.
Vocabulary To Learn
- chromatic movement: using notes outside of the normal (major or minor) key
- staccato: when the notes are played in a detached manner
- accidental: a sign in music notation which shows that the note is sharp, flat or natural.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- When we refer to the A section of a piece of music (in relation to structure) they have to be exactly the same.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Learning to play a melody which uses chromatic movement and is played in a staccato style. Developing fluency in changing hand positions when performing a piece on the keyboard.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'chromatic movement'
using notes outside of the normal (major or minor) key.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: When we refer to the A section of a piece of music (in relation to structure) they have to be exactly the same. Correction: Letters are used to describe sections overall but quite often there are slight differences. Use some common examples of songs pupils will know of where sections might be labelled the same piece of music, but where there are small differences.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 8 Music guide library.