Study Guides

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 understand the key features of Fur Elise that give the music its character and can use these as the basis of an improvisation.

Key Notes

• Most music has its own distinctive features that make a piece enjoyable.
• Fur Elise's distinctive features include the opening motif, the use of sequence and the constant quaver rhythm.
• Musicians can use songs as inspiration for new music and adapt the original to make their own version.
• The B section of Fur Elise changes key to the relative major key. This has an impact on the feel of the music.
• We have created our own version of Fur Elise by changing the time signature, and adapting the melody and chords.

Vocabulary To Learn

• motif: a short melodic idea that recurs throughout a piece of music
• relative keys: keys in music that are based on two scales which use the same notes; every major scale has a relative minor scale e.g. C major and A minor
• time signature: the number of beats in a bar of music

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Related keys are those with the same home (tonic) note such as C major and C minor.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Changing hand positions in the middle of a phrase Study Guide
• Developing fluency in changing hand positions on the keyboard Study Guide
• Learning the accompaniment for Fur Elise Study Guide
• Learning the middle section of Fur Elise Study Guide
• Playing a melody with sharps Study Guide