This is a shop in which you can be sure of purchasing quality music resources. You truly do get what you pay for, and my prices reflect the standard that you can expect when you purchase one of my resources. Rainy Night Music is a name you can trust, and I invite you to contact me directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com if you have any questions, requests or suggestions. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to welcoming you as a colleague-customer. Follow me on Twitter for lots more!
This is a shop in which you can be sure of purchasing quality music resources. You truly do get what you pay for, and my prices reflect the standard that you can expect when you purchase one of my resources. Rainy Night Music is a name you can trust, and I invite you to contact me directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com if you have any questions, requests or suggestions. Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to welcoming you as a colleague-customer. Follow me on Twitter for lots more!
This resource pack includes 14 interactive fun quizzes based on language for learning and is suitable for ALL GCSE Music specs.
In this download pack you get 14 x 30-Question interactive Quizzes: 7 x Gold Run quizzes (ideal for learning and consolidating) and 7 x Stirke Out! quizzes (ideal for revision and testing) - both of which work extremely well on an individual basis and whole-class basis.
There are 7 topic areas covered:
GCSE Music Terminology for Rhythm, Metre and Tempo
GCSE Music Terminology for Harmony and Tonality
GCSE Music Terminology for Melody and Texture
GCSE Music Terminology for Timbre and Dynamics
GCSE Music Terminology for Structure and Genre
General Musical Knowledge
A Level Music Foreign Terminology/ ABRSM Grade 5
PLUS you also get a Christmas version to do with your Tutor Group absolutely free until the end of term. So that’s 16 quizzes in total (8 Strike Out! and 8 Gold Run).
For each question, there are 4 possible answers. In the Gold Run! each of the 30 questions are asked in turn and whilst any number of incorrect answers will sound a ‘buzzer’, the same question will stay on the screen until the correct answer is reached. Students need to answer all 30 questions to win. This is ideal as a whole class activity, that will last about 20 or 30 minutes. In the Strike Out! version of the quiz, the same 30 questions are grouped into 10 sets of 3, and an incorrect answer will trigger the 2nd question in the set, another incorrect answer will trigger the final question in the set, and if that question is answered incorrectly, that’s a Strike Out! and it’s somebody else’s turn to have a go (or the class starts again). This is a more exciting version (and competitive!). Both versions are great for revision - end of term/ half-term, or just for general revision of terminology/ language for learning.
For your convenience, the download pack has both .pptx and .ppt versions of both quizzes so that you can access them in Open Office as well as ordinary Office applications. I hope that you enjoy these quizzes and that they provide lots of fun revision activities for you and your classes.
I am grateful for your feedback at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com
For other activities please take a look at this comprehensive revision bundle https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/gcse-music-revision-activities-bundle-12041321
This topic focuses on Articulation, which includes volume dynamics. Specific content is as follows: Piano/ Pianissimo/ Mezzo Piano; Forte/ Fortissimo/ Mezzo Forte; Pianoforte/ Fortepiano/ Diminuendo/ Crescendo; Accent/ Marcato/ Sforzando; Portato/ Staccato/ Staccatissimo; Legato/ Tenuto; Rim shot. Students are taken through the information with both an information sheet, and a step-by-step PowerPoint. 4 x written/ notation tasks develop students’ ability to recognise the symbols and abbreviations and to be able to use and interpret them on a score. 10 x listening questions conclude the lesson, in which students’ ability to determine appropriate volume dynamics and changes, and articulation changes can be developed. These listening activities will also develop students’ musical memories – a vital skill for the listening exam. By the end of the lesson students will have a secure knowledge of the topic, and you – the teacher – have more than enough activities to allocate a homework task should you wish to.
All of this comes with a 30-slide animated and beautifully-presented PowerPoint, annotated with detailed teaching guidance notes, to make delivery of the topic smooth and efficient – plus a 4-page student information sheet, 4-page activity sheet, and 4-page detailed answer 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 take great pride in my resources, and the time and effort I put into them is immediately clear. I am confident that you will find this topic to be fully and comprehensively resourced in order to meet both your needs and the needs of your students… and it will save you (literally) hours of planning, too. I welcome any questions and feedback, and I can be contacted at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. Thank you for considering my resources for your classroom.
This topic builds upon prior knowledge of modulation to related keys via a pivot chord within Cycle of 5ths Progressions. The specific focus of this topic is the Dominant 7th Chord, and it comprises a full study on how a V7 chord may be applied in a variety of situations.
Students are first shown how to create a 7th chord on any degree of a major or minor scale, and the dominant 7th chord is highlighted as important. The first activity requires students to apply the V7 chord to create Perfect Cadences in a variety of keys up to 4 sharps and flats, which also serves as excellent revision of key signatures and scales. The second activity examines the V7 chord as a substitute for the Leading chord in a cycle of 5ths progression, requiring students to follow a Roman Numerals chord progression to craft modulations between adjacent minor keys on the Circle of Fifths – providing excellent revision of chord positions and triad creation. The third activity examines how a pivot chord need not be identical, but instead a ‘strong best fit’, requiring students to craft more complex modulations. The final activity is a listening one in which students’ ability to distinguish between modulations to the dominant and subdominant in both major and minor keys is tested. By the end of the topic your students will have arrived at the border of Advanced Level study in Harmony and Tonality, and it will have stretched your most able students to achieve the very highest grades in composition through outstanding modulations.
All of this comes with a 26-slide animated and beautifully-presented PowerPoint, annotated with detailed teaching guidance notes, to make delivery of the lesson smooth and efficient – plus a 5-page student information sheet, 4-page activity sheet and 3-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.
This topic focuses on Rhythmic Development, specifically: rhythmic augmentation; rhythmic diminution; rhythmic retrograde; combining techniques. Students are taken through the process with both an information sheet, and a step-by-step PowerPoint. Incidental learning is deliberately included throughout in order to pre-teach things that will come up in other lessons: note groupings; tied notes; rules about crossing the centre of the barline. Independent learning is promoted throughout. 10 x notation tasks develop students’ ability to manipulate rhythms in specific ways which can be applied to composing later on. 10 x listening questions follow which develop students’ ability to focus on rhythmic change, and specifically: tempo (augmentation slower; diminution faster; retrograde and repetition, the same); if it is the same tempo, students must focus on the beginning or end of the rhythm to determine whether it is a repeat or retrograde… the exact same skill required to identify a given rhythm from a number of options in listening exams.
All of this comes with a 27-slide animated and beautifully-presented PowerPoint, annotated with detailed teaching guidance notes, to make delivery of the topic smooth and efficient – plus a 2-page student information sheet, 4-page activity sheet, and 3-page detailed answer 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 take great pride in my resources, and the time and effort I put into them is immediately clear. I am confident that you will find this topic to be fully and comprehensively resourced in order to meet both your needs and the needs of your students… and it will save you (literally) hours of planning, too. I welcome any questions and feedback, and I can be contacted at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. Thank you for considering my resources for your classroom.
Perfect for Year 7-9 Key Stage 3 Music students, and especially cover lessons. There are up to 6 hours of content in this download pack, which focuses on two composers from each of the 6 musical eras of the Western Classical Tradition! The activities build literacy skills in addition to broadening general musical knowledge. Answers for the activities are provided in booklets and are also included on a handy PowerPoint, so that students can mark their own work, allowing you to simply moderate. Full delivery instructions with suggested extension tasks are also included.
There are 18 worksheets in this resource, divided up into 6 sets of 3 – one set for each of the 6 musical eras of the Western Classical Tradition. In each set, there are 2 x 250-word composer biographies with an attached reading and comprehension task, and a 25-statement True or False activity based on the composer biographies for each era. Each set conveniently makes up a complete 1-hour lesson.
While students complete the reading and comprehension activities for each composer, there are YouTube links provided for the music of each respective composer, giving students a context and allowing them to record their observations and opinions for a class discussion at the end of the activity. The links are all checked and are valid as of 28th October 2020. There is also a teacher handout with full instructions as to how to run the Scheme of Work and whole individual lessons within it, including some great ideas for extending the learning. Another great thing about this resource is that it is absolutely perfect for a supply teacher who has no specialist musical knowledge at all.
I really hope that you will enjoy my resources and find them useful. I pride myself on the quality of my resources and I welcome feedback and enquiries from my colleague-customers from all over the world at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. I will be more than happy to help you in any way that I can. Thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.
This substantially resourced pack builds upon prior knowledge of intervals, major and minor scales, including the creation of triads, through a detailed study of the Pentatonic Scale and its modes, alongside the two most common Hexatonic Scales, the Whole Tone Scale and the Blues Scale. It is appropriate for all GCSE Music exam boards, AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and Eduqas, and should take about 2 hours to teach. It may also be used as a bridging topic for A Level Music.
Specifically, the pack includes the following high-quality materials: an original 6-page text-book style handout, with diagrams and annotations, covering the entire content of the topic; a 5-page worksheet containing written activities relating to the creation of the scales and their triads, and a listening activity relating to the recognition of Blues Scale, Pentatonic, and Whole Tone melodies; 10 x 30-second-long MP3 files for the listening activity (also embedded into the PowerPoint); 1 x 34-slide comprehensive and beautifully animated PowerPoint, with detailed teaching guidance notes for every single slide, making delivery of content an absolute breeze; 4-page answer sheet for the activities. Please note that the handout, activity sheet, and answer sheet are all on the same (15-page) PDF document.
The content in this topic will enable students to create Pentatonic, Blues, and Whole Tone Scales and triads, understand how the Pentatonic Scale is placed into modes to change its sound, and they will gain vital experience in hearing and distinguishing between melodies made from these scales. It will be invaluable for their composition work, increasing the scope of their imaginations with regard to tonality.
I take great care to ensure my resources are of the highest quality – both in content and in presentation – and I wholeheartedly recommend them to both you and your students. I welcome feedback and enquiries from my colleague-customers all over the world, and I can be contacted directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. I would be delighted to hear from you, and I thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.
African Music is a very popular topic in Key Stage 3 Music. This project focuses on Rhythm and Metre, balancing theoretical elements such as basic note durations, time signatures, and specific features of rhythm and metre with live group performances. The cultural and historical elements of the music are also a focus within the unit, and explicitly so in 2 of the tasks for the benefit of subject-specific Citizenship requirements.
The project is divided into 2 ‘lessons’, which fit perfectly into 2 x 100-minute lessons, but also very well into 3 action-packed hour-long lessons… I have personally taught this project in both of these formats. The theoretical content works best with most Year 8 groups, but can also work well with high-ability Year 7 groups; the performing and composing tasks work great with either year group.
The video tutorials take the pressure off you, the teacher, if you need half an hour or so to check homework, etc. Let me teach your students how time signatures work, what triplets are, and how graphic scores work while you mark a few books, if you want!
I take great pride in the quality of my resources and I welcome feedback and enquiries from my colleague-customers the world over. 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.
This is the first movement from one of the three concertos listed on the new AQA A Level Syllabus (for first teaching from September 2016), and the only movement from this work that is required for AS Level. This resource pack comprises: a full Sibelius score of the first movement from Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major (Il Gardellino) for Sibelius 4, 5, 6, 7, and 7.5, including student versions - all versions included in download; a 7-page student worksheet designed to allow students to gain vital analysis skills; a 7-page detailed answer sheet, which constitutes a thorough analysis of everything that a student needs to know for the exam; an MP3 audio of the Sibelius score from a high quality sound-card recording. If you are a teacher, this resource pack will save you literally hours of planning; if you are a student, this will inform you about everything you need to know about this piece for the exam. Great value, and the same hallmark of quality that you rightly expect from the Rainy Night Music brand.
This is one of the six study pieces in the Romantic Piano Topic for Section C on the new AQA A Level Music Syllabus (for first teaching from September 2016). This resource pack comprises everything you need for complete teaching and learning related to the work. Specifically: a full Sibelius score of Edvard Grieg’s Norwegian March for Sibelius 4, 5, 6, 7, and 7.5, including all first and student versions - all versions included in download; an 8-page student worksheet designed to allow students to gain vital analysis skills; an 8-page detailed answer sheet, which constitutes a thorough 4500+ word analysis of everything that a student needs to know for the exam; an MP3 audio of the Sibelius score from a high quality sound-card recording. If you are a teacher, this resource pack will save you literally hours of planning; if you are a student, this will inform you about everything you need to know about this piece for the exam. Every resource I post is one which I have spent hours preparing, researching, and refining with my own homemade personal touch.
**Ideal for Year 7s and 8s, this project is fully resourced with enough activities for up to 3 hours of fun-packed, exciting, quality learning. **
In this download pack, you will receive:
1 x Starter Word Search introducing key words associated with Indian Music (Literacy)
1 x 5-page worksheet with 10 separate tasks covering the whole range of listening, composing, and performing skills
1 x 3-minute annotated video demonstrating the 4 main components of Indian Music with plenty of incidental learning embedded.
1 x 19-Slide PowerPoint with Objectives, Outcomes, Answers for tasks to enable easy marking, and MUCH more
1 x Main task focusing on group performance in the form of a Bhangra-Hindustani Groove (composed by myself)
5 x MP3 files modelling the individual parts, the main task and extension task.
1 x Snake-Charming fact sheet for you to incorporate a short ethical debate should you wish (PHSCE)
1 x Crossword for homework to recap key words relating to Indian Music (Numeracy)
This project deals first with features of Hindustani Music (Raag sections, etc.) and then moves onto Bhangra (Chaal, Tumbi, etc.). The main task and extension task is designed to explicitly fuse these two styles together in order to deepen and broaden learning. Topics and skills covered include: notation skills; knowledge of instruments; contextual knowledge; how to create ragas with numeric patterns; improvising within a raga; appraising one’s own and others’ work; performing; analysing.
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.
Flamenco Music is one of the most interesting, fun, and exciting styles of Music that young musicians can be inspired by, and this Teaching and Learning Pack will give you absolutely everything you need… and more!
Ideal for Year 8s and 9s in the UK and Grades 7-8 in the US and Australia, this project is fully resourced and would easily accommodate 2.5 hours of activities. In this download, you will receive:
1 x Starter Word Search introducing key words associated with Flamenco (Literacy)
1 x 4-page worksheet with 10 separate tasks covering the whole range of listening, composing, and performing skills
1 x 4.5-minute annotated video demonstrating the characteristics of the Flamenco genre
1 x 17-Slide PowerPoint with Objectives, Outcomes, Answers for tasks to enable easy marking, and MUCH more
1 x Main task focusing on group performance in the form of a Canon in the Flamenco style with a Ground Bass (composed by myself)
3 x MP3 files demonstrating the Canon, the Ground Bass, and a modeling of the whole performance
1 x Bull-fighting fact sheet for you to incorporate a short ethical debate should you wish (PHSCE)
1 x Crossword for homework to recap key words relating to Flamenco (Numeracy)
The tasks that are set throughout the lesson are broad, well-structured, and well-supported. Topics include: notation skills; knowledge of instruments; contextual knowledge; how to create scales with numeric patterns; composing using a scale; appraising one’s own and others’ work; performing; analysing.
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.
These cards are such fun, and they are an incredibly good way for students of all abilities to build an understanding of chords, scales, and clefs. The beauty of these cards – which are based on a standard deck of ordinary playing cards – is that the game can be played at any level.
If your younger students have a basic knowledge of treble and bass staff notation along with simple major and minor 3-note chords, then they can enjoy this game in full. If your older students have super-advanced knowledge up to and including alto and tenor staff notation along with augmented and Neapolitan 6th chords (and beyond!) then the game can be played at that level instead.
After inventing this game, I had my own set of these cards professionally printed and I bring them to dinner parties when I am surrounded by fellow music teachers – it is honestly the best thing any of us play together, which is why I advertise this game as being for both the classroom and the staffroom.
The aim of the game is simple: collect the note pitches that you want (or need) to create whichever chords and scales you want; when you have what you need, play your ‘hand’ and earn the number of points on the cards that you play. The game ends when you want it to, and could go on for hours, or just 15 minutes before the end of the lesson (or the start of parent evenings)! Please watch the video to gain further insight into this resource, which I cannot recommend enough to you.
The files are all PDF documents: a master card PDF from which you can print all the cards, correctly aligned front to back for convenience (laminate them for longevity); a full explanation of the rules of the game on a second PDF document; finally, a PDF scorecard, including space for up to 70 entries for 5 players for easy tracking of the scores.
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.
The resources included in this download reflect the exceptional value for money and quality that you rightly expect when purchasing from Rainy Night Music.
Indonesian Music is a fascinating topic for KS 3 students to explore. It offers so much in terms of history and culture, and a unique style of music which is very accessible to wide-ranging ability groups. This project focuses on Gamelan and specifically its performance and composition. The project balances cultural and historical contexts with musical characteristics of the Gamelan genre, and there is plenty of time allowed for practical work with you, the teacher, in charge of the precise timings.
The project is divided into 2 ‘lessons’, which fit broadly into 2 x 100-minute lessons, but also very well into 3 action-packed hour-long lessons… or indeed 4 hour-long lessons with more time allowed for practical work through the vast resources included in this pack. I have personally taught this project in both of these formats. The content works best with most Year 8 groups, but can also work well with able Year 7 groups.
The video tutorials take the pressure off you, the teacher, but also provide you with a step-by-step guide if you are unfamiliar with Gamelan yourself. In this pack you will get an overview/ teaching guide plus each of the following: Lesson 1 worksheet and Lesson 2 worksheet; Lesson 1 PowerPoint and Lesson 2 PowerPoint; Sibelius score of Lesson 1 Task 4 (in 10 Sibelius versions from Sibelius 4 up to Sibelius 7.5); Sibelius score of Lesson 2 Task 1 Blank Template (in 10 Sibelius versions from Sibelius 4 up to Sibelius 7.5); Video Support in MP4 format for Lesson 1 and for Lesson 2; PDF of word search Starter Activity and PDF of crossword Starter Activity; MP3 audio for each of the 4 starter melodies in Lesson 2; PDF of Section B (Advanced) for Lesson 1 Task 4 and PDF of full version with repeats; MP3 audio for Section A, Section B, and a full version of the Gamelan Ternary Piece used for Lesson 1 Task 4.
I am very proud of the quality of the resources that I publish, and I hope that you and your students will enjoy them as much as I and my students do. I welcome feedback and enquiries from my colleague-customers all over the world, and I can be contacted directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. I would be delighted to hear from you. Thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.
This resource is suitable for AS and A Level Music and Grade 4 and 5 ABRSM Theory. This is a whole topic in terms of content and activities. It is fully supported by a 25-slide PowerPoint and 2 worksheets, all with detailed answers.
This resource pack could be used for either revision or content delivery. By the end of worksheet 1, students will be confident in transcribing music from one clef to another so that it sounds at the same pitch. The clefs covered are: Treble; Alto; Tenor; Bass. By the end of the topic, students should be equipped with the skills, techniques, and experience to transpose to concert pitch from written pitch (and vice-versa) for instruments in C that transpose at the octave, and for all transposing instruments in Bb, A, G, F, and Eb. There are more than 30 exercises – all with detailed answers on a PDF document, and as part of a handy PowerPoint presentation (which includes Objectives, differentiated Outcomes) making delivery of the content a breeze. Not only are transposition skills invaluable for potential exam questions, they are essential to correctly analysing orchestral music as part of any high level music course. Students also benefit from these skills in the area of composition: developing knowledge of instruments and how they work.
I really hope that you will enjoy my resources and find them useful. I pride myself on the quality of the resources and I welcome feedback and enquiries from all of my colleague-customers throughout 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.
This resource is suitable for AS and A Level Music and Grade 5 ABRSM Theory. This is a whole topic worth of content and activities, fully supported by a 13-slide PowerPoint and an 11-page PDF document containing: 3 pages of methodology and explanation; 1 full walking-talking example using a clear step-by-step process (including answers); 3 pages of sample questions; 3 pages of sample answers making self-marking easy. The questions are phrased in 3 different ways, reflecting the possible ways in which exam questions will be asked.
This resource pack could be used for either revision or content delivery. By the end of the lesson, students should be equipped with the skills, techniques, and experience to handle written interval questions involving all major, minor, diminished, augmented and compound intervals in each of the 4 main clefs: Treble, Bass, Alto, and Tenor.
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.
There are at least 2 lessons (if not 3) here. It is perfect for bridging the gap between GCSE and A Level Music. Although the focus is on the different types of, and quirks within, Binary forms, and the 3 separate worksheets focus on 3 separate piano pieces in Binary Form, developing broader analysis skills runs throughout this project.
The 3 pieces I have chosen for the case studies are: Evening Song by Daniel Gottlobb-Turk; The Theme from Mozart’s K.284 Piano Sonata in D Major; and Minuet in G BWV Anh. 114 by J.S. Bach. A Sibelius 5, 6, 7, and 7.5 score for each of these is included in the pack. Each study piece has a 2-page worksheet with another 2-page (detailed) answer sheet, and students are set questions based on harmony, tonality, metre, instruments (including transposition tasks), and aspects of melody, in addition to questions about form and structure. There is also a 2-page ‘key information’ sheet outlining the different Binary Forms (symmetrical, asymmetrical, rounded, balanced, simple, continuous, and sectional). All of this is included on the 14-page PDF document in the download pack. You will also have a handy PowerPoint in the pack in order to help you deliver the lesson: objective and outcome slides; key word/ term slide; header slide for each of the 3 study pieces, and an optional suggested homework slide (JCF Bach Allegretto in F) including links to the score and audio (correct at time of publishing).
I used this as preparation for the study of more complex exam set works, and I did so for two reasons: firstly, projects like this enrich the repertoire that students become acquainted with and deeper, longer-lasting learning takes place; secondly, many set works have far too many elements for a lot of students to cope with straight out of GCSE, so simpler pieces like these allow learning to take place quicker.
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.
This resource is suitable for AS and A Level Music and from Grade 4 to Grade 6 ABRSM Theory. This is at least a whole lesson worth of content and activities, and probably 2. It is fully supported by a 29-slide PowerPoint and 2 worksheets, all with complete and detailed answers.
This resource pack could be used for both revision and content delivery. By the end of worksheet 1, students will be confident in identifying and labelling all six basic types of non-harmony notes, which create mild melodic dissonance: Echappée; Cambiata; Passing; Neighbour; Appoggiatura; Anticipations. Students will also be taught (and given practice in) distinguishing between chromatic and diatonic dissonance, and between accented and unaccented dissonances created by each of the six types of dissonance stated above.
The second worksheet concerns itself with prepared dissonances. Students will be taught how to (and given more practice in) distinguishing between sevenths, suspensions, and retardations. They will also learn how to identify 9-8, 7-6, 4-3 (and even 2-3 Bass) suspensions, along with 7-8 and 2-3 Retardations. The final part of worksheet 2 offers practice in distinguishing between prepared and passing 7ths. This is a complete study of melodic dissonance, and will feed directly into both examination and composition skills. There are more than 30 exercises in total (33) – all with detailed answers, and a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (which includes Objectives, differentiated Outcomes, etc) making delivery of the content a breeze for you, the teacher.
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.
This resource is suitable for AS and A Level Music and Grade 4-5 ABRSM Theory. This is at least a whole lesson worth of content and activities, if not 2. It is fully supported by a 22-slide PowerPoint and 2 worksheets, all with detailed answers.
This resource pack could be used for either revision or content delivery. By the end of the lesson, students should be equipped with the skills, techniques, and experience to convert simple and compound time signatures and be able to fully transcribe a passage of music from one to the other without changing the rhythmic effect. Not only are these skills valuable for potential exam questions, it provides students with an invaluable technique for developing compositions. The suggestion on the work sheet (and PowerPoint) that students should consider rewriting the first section of their composition in compound time (or in simple time if it was originally compound), and using it as part of a ternary structure, is what I have said to my own students because examiners really like to see that. The worksheet and PowerPoint takes students through that process in baby steps and delivers great results.
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.
This is an Introduction to 4-part harmony. It is a full and comprehensive topic that would fit nicely into 3 x 1-hour lessons, but could be squeezed into 2 x 1-hour lessons with a gifted A-Level Music class if the final task was also set as homework.
The content is based around an introduction to Bach Chorales. There are 4 tasks in total.
Task 1 is: choosing chords to harmonise a melody. This is based on identifying the key , drawing out triads, and matching given melody notes with the triads/ chords, leading to a 4-part arrangement of the chord progression they have chosen, applying the techniques that are introduced throughout.
Task 2 is: Arranging for 4 parts. Students are given a fixed chord progression with which to harmonise the melody from task 1. Meanwhile the PowerPoint will take them through the following: Note Doubling; Consecutive 5ths ; Consecutive 8ves ; Consecutive Unisons ; Chord Spacing ; Six-Way check (SA; ST; SB; AT; AB; TB) to prevent banned consecutives.
Task 3 is: Using passing notes to create momentum. Students will be shown a model answer on the PowerPoint to Task 2, which then becomes the starting point for Task 3. The PowerPoint takes students through passing notes (what they are, what they do, and pitfalls of using too many at once) and then students are to add passing notes to the given arrangement.
Task 4 is: Working in a minor key. Students use the tonic minor to largely transfer their arrangement from the major, but new concepts are introduced for them to think about: melodic augmented 2nds (and using the melodic minor scale to avoid them); Tierce de Picardie cadence (where, how, and why it’s used); the tricky Mediant in minor keys.
From a teaching perspective, you have a full 20-slide Powerpoint making delivery of content easy, MP3 audios of the model answers so students can hear how nice good 4-part writing really sounds, Sibelius 5, 6, 7, and 7.5 templates if you want to use Music ICT to complete the tasks, 4 x PDF worksheets (that you’ll want to hand out one at a time because model answers become the next worksheet!) in case you don’t have/ don’t wish to use Music ICT.
I take great care to ensure my resources are of the highest quality – both in content and in presentation – and I wholeheartedly recommend them to both you and your students. I welcome feedback and enquiries from my colleague-customers the world over, and I can be contacted directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com. I would be delighted to hear from you, and I thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.
Put simply: if you teach AQA A-Level Music (new specification 2016+), then this is the best £9 you will ever spend. Yes, there are a couple of things that are specific to my school in terms of its policies on how, when, and who decides when a student is AS or A Level, and a couple of things specific to my own department policies, but that does not detract from what this is: a fully comprehensive guide to the requirements of the AQA AS and A Level Music courses, as interpreted by an experienced Head of Music.
I have always used such a video (this one was only made last year, 2016, for the new specification), but it has been shared to the school’s Google Classroom and Moodle for both students and parents to view at their leisure. There is not a single student or parent who could say ‘I didn’t know about that’.
This video covers: the differences between AS and A Level Music in terms of both content, weightings, and standards for each of the 3 elements of the course; the set works, including a decent amount of background teaching to the various composers and genres listed; a guide to learning independently - from how to take notes in class, to how to share information with other students, produce detailed notes, and expand those notes through a series of low, medium, and high-level questions (all explained on the video). This insight into ‘how’ to learn at VI Form was actually taken up as a whole-school model for my school by the SLT. Students do not necessarily know ‘how’ to conduct the necessary independent research outside of the classroom - this video dedicates at least 25 minutes to just that. Don’t forget it also instructs parents how to assist, and as it comes with a Site License option, should you take that up, you are free to put this on your own school e-learning platform so that your students and parents may benefit as much as mine. I have even used this video for staff training, with great feedback.
You will need to provide the students with print-outs of the AQA Specs which are referred to in the video - I wouldn’t include those PDFs here in case it looks like I am selling the specs! The PDF resources included in this are referred to in the video and are to do with the independent learning. I hope that you get as much benefit from this video in your school as I do in mine. Thank you for buying Rainy Night Music.