I hope you are enjoying learning at home!
Today, we are learning more about our musical topic all about pulse and metre.
For the lesson you will need
- a pen or pencil
- some paper
- the worksheet
- a ball (or something else that you can throw up in the air and catch easily)
-
your body
In our lesson today, we are going to:
- warm-up by playing a game to the tune of 'My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean'
- think about music in different metres
- review rhythm notation
- understand the purpose of bar lines
- Are you up for the challenge of a body percussion piece where the metre changes?
There is a lot of throwing and catching in this lesson, so please bring lots of energy!
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crotchet |
two quavers |
minim |
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one beat |
two half beats |
two beats |
and learn about time signature and the the purpose of bar lines:
Bar lines
In the two lines of music below, we can see:
- quavers (in pairs)
- crotchets
- some numbers at the beginning which look like a fraction
The numbers are the time signature , which tells us how many beats in a bar, and what those beats are.
The top number = 3 = tells us that there are 3 beats in every bar.
The bottom number = 4 = tells us that the beats are crotchets (don't worry about this too much for the
moment, we will learn more about the bottom number in a time signature another time).
Where would the bar lines go?
Here is the music with the bar lines added - can you see how the notes are divided up into groups of three beats?
There is a double bar line at the end to show us that this is the very end of the piece of music.
The video also shows what happens when we add bar lines to a piece of music with:
- four beats in a bar
- two beat in a bar..
Remember:
- Rhythm is the pattern of sounds
- Pulse is the heartbeat of music
- Beat is the pulse of the music organised into bars (bricks in a wall)
- Metre is the grouping of pulse into strong and weak beats (defined by the time signature - 3 or 4 beats in a bar)
There is a two page worksheet to complete during and at the end of the lesson - click here on the
boxes below to see the sheets. You might want to print them out (or write out the questions) before
you start so that you can answer the questions as you go:
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The Lesson Video
You are now ready to meet Miss Miner for the main part of our lesson.
We will be looking at:
At the beginning of the lesson, there is a quiz - good luck!
Before you start the lesson, please read through the instructions on this page.
Please use this page as your reference document.
The Musical Challenge - Left Luggage
The final piece of work in this lesson is the musical challenge - Left Luggage.
The activity involves body percussion and knowing your left from your right!
Here are the words:
The rhythm isn't too tricky, the key is to ensure that you tap your left leg when you say
the word 'left' and your right leg when you say the word 'right'!
Can you add your feet and do both actions together?
It will take a lot of practice to get it right!
That was a lot to learn! Could you explain metre, a time signature and bar lines
to a spaceman?
That is the end of our lesson where we have learned about changes in metre.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Once you have watched the video and taken part in all of the activities, please
make sure that you complete the two page worksheet.
Please send your completed worksheet to your class teacher for me in the
usual way - a photo or a scanned copy will be fine. Thank you.
I am looking forward to reading your answers.
See you next time!
Mrs Sumner
Thank you to the wonderful people at the Oak National Academy for sharing this lesson with us.
Summer Term 2025
Fun, Inspiring (and often quite loud!) Music Lessons for Home School Hubs and Primary Schools
Specialising in:
- Primary Music Curriculum provision
- Whole Class Instrumental teaching
- Includes free use of instruments!
07941 282311
In association with
Little Strummers
"I found it very interesting and I thought that children learned about rhythm, by using body percussion without even realising that they were in a lesson, because it was so much fun for them!"
"I would highly recommend it!"
"I thought the song was lovely - there was a nice mix of playing the bowls, clapping, singing and actions. The whole idea of kitchen percussion is a brilliant one for lockdown but good in usual times too."
"The level of what you did/taught was perfect for their age and similar to things they do at school."
"The children all thoroughly enjoyed the session and were engaged throughout. They enjoyed having the opportunity to hold their own ukulele and learn to play along to some simple songs."
"The session was delivered brilliantly and the different stages were broken down into small sections to allow all children to participate."