GCSE Music MODULATION and PIVOT CHORDS

This lesson is intended as a first step towards creating proper modulations using pivot chords as part of a Cycle of Fifths progression. The topic builds upon prior knowledge of the Circle of Fifths, Major and Minor Scales, and creating triads. Students are taken through the information with both an information sheet, and a step-by-step PowerPoint that really goes the extra mile. 24 x written/ notation tasks guide students through the following concepts: deriving a House of Keys (for Modulation options) from the Circle of Fifths; how to organise diatonic chords into a Cycle of Fifths progression; how to find common chords between ‘House of Key’ keys; how to use a common chord as a Pivot chord within a Cycle of Fifths progression in the target key. This is a weighty, GCSE level topic, and it will open the door to students achieving higher-level composition grades through an understanding of how to move around the Circle of Fifths.

Additionally, there are 10 x listening questions to conclude the lesson, in which students’ ability to distinguish between modulations to Relative Major, Relative Minor, and Dominant keys are tested. By the end of the lesson students will have a secure knowledge of the topic, and you – the teacher – will have more than enough scope to set additional activities as homework should you wish to.

All of this comes with a 29-slide animated and beautifully-presented PowerPoint, annotated with detailed teaching guidance notes, to make delivery of the lesson smooth and efficient – plus a 4-page student information sheet, 4-page activity sheet and 4-page detailed answers sheet. With regards to the listening questions, MP3s are provided (and they are always my own compositions), and you may well want to insert the audios into the slide rather than use media player.

I really hope that you will enjoy my resources and find them useful. I pride myself on the quality of the resources that I publish, and I welcome feedback and enquiries from all of my colleague-customers across the world. I can be contacted directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com and I would be delighted to hear from you. Thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.