Describing music from different times and places
'I like it' is a start. Musical vocabulary turns it into something you can explain.
Part of your national curriculum
- Listening and appraising: Identify and describe music from different times, places and traditions, using appropriate musical vocabulary
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Identify and describe music from different times, places and traditions, using appropriate musical vocabulary
Key learning points
- • Listening for the dimensions
- • Clues to time and place
- • Writing a comparison
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 16 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 16
Visual introductionPicture this
Describing music from different times and places
'I like it' is a start. Musical vocabulary turns it into something you can explain.
In a nutshell
Identify and describe music from different times, places and traditions, using appropriate musical vocabulary
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 16
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Listening for the dimensions
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 16
Learn
Listening for the dimensions
Describe pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture and structure separately. Doing that stops every description turning into 'fast and loud'.
Reset break
Part 4 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 16
Learn
Clues to time and place
Instrumentation, scale and rhythm often identify a tradition: a gamelan's tuned percussion, a Baroque harpsichord continuo, the offbeat emphasis of reggae.
Quick check
Part 6 of 16
Quick check
Part 7 of 16
Reset break
Part 8 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 16
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Writing a comparison
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 16
Learn
Writing a comparison
Compare two pieces one dimension at a time rather than describing each in turn. That is what makes a comparison rather than two descriptions.
Quick check
Part 11 of 16
Reset break
Part 12 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 13 of 16
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 14 of 16
Game · Recall cards
What is a polyrhythm?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 15 of 16
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Describing music from different times and places
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What is a polyrhythm?
2. What is a raga in Indian classical music?
3. Why is it valuable to study musical traditions beyond Western classical and pop?
4. Which are inter-related dimensions of music?
Lesson round-up
Part 16 of 16
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Games
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Points this lesson
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Best run
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 16 · Watch & discover
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Identify and describe music from different times, places and traditions, using appropriate musical vocabulary