Music Key stage 1 & 2 – Schemes of Work - Unit 4

Music at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 1/2)

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm (7 Lessons)

About this unit

This unit develops children's ability to recognise the difference between
pulse and rhythm and to perform with a sense of pulse.

During this unit, children use songs and activities to develop confidence in
singing and playing to a common pulse. They respond to and explore
changes of speed (tempo) and repeat and create simple rhythmic phrases.
They use these skills to create an accompaniment for a song or chant. This
unit should be revisited during the key stage as many times as needed to
ensure that all, or at least the great majority, of the class have achieved the
expectation.

Sections in this unit

This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. Introduction: What is pulse?
2. Exploration (1)
3. Exploration (2)
4. Exploration (3)
5. Exploration (4)
6. Exploration (5)
7. Bringing it all together: Can we use pulse and rhythm to make
accompaniments?

Prior learning
It is helpful if children and teachers have:

 moved and danced to music with a strong pulse and a variety of

rhythmic styles
 learnt to recognise different speeds (tempo) in music
 explored how words have a different number of syllables
 developed skills through the activities described in unit 3

Future learning
In addition to the examples given in the 'Points to note' section, children
could go on to:

 play and make up longer rhythmic patterns

  use symbols that define the different lengths of the sounds used in
the pattern
 watch musicals, eg Grease, West side story, and identify how the
dances match the music
 create dances that explore and use different rhythmic patterns in
sequence and together, eg folk dance patterns
 celebrate their work in this unit by creating a class performance
containing different rhythmic patterns. This could be extended into
a whole school performance bringing together the different class
compositions

When this unit is repeated, which should occur at least once, the focus will
remain the same, that is, understanding pulse and rhythm, but the content
and expectations should change. Content is changed easily through use of
different examples of music. Expectations are changed by expecting more
to achieve the 'most children' and 'some children will have progressed
further' statements and by placing a greater emphasis on the extension
examples in 'Points to note'.

Where the unit fits in

This unit links to the ongoing unit (unit 1) by developing a sense of pulse
and reinforcing and extending understanding of rhythm. Teachers are
advised to include those activities concerned with pulse and rhythm which
are described in unit 1. This unit also builds on unit 3 and leads to unit 10

The unit links to work in physical education in dance. It also has a direct
link to English in identifying syllables in words and composing sound
patterns. It provides an opportunity to learn information through chants,
the months of the year. This unit also develops children's ability to work
together with concentration and awareness of others, and links to PSHE.

Expectations
at the end of this unit

most children will: identify pulse in music; repeat and create short
rhythmic phrases confidently

some children will not have made so much progress and will: recognise
and respond to changes in tempo (speed of the pulse)

some children will have progressed further and will: create and control
rhythmic patterns with a strong sense of pulse; set a tempo for others to
follow
Enrichment
 The school could link up with a local dance school, dance group,
folk dance group or youth theatre, and devise some collaborative
work focusing on dance patterns/steps.
 African musicians and dancers could be invited to present a
performance to the class, school or community.

Vocabulary
In this unit children will have an opportunity to use words and phrases
related to:

 duration, eg long, short, pulse, beat, rhythm

 tempo, eg fast, slow
 dynamics, eg loud, quiet
 structure, eg phrase

Glossary

Pulse: A regular pattern that can be felt constantly throughout much music.
It can change speed.

Beat: As for pulse. The words pulse and beat are generally used in the
same way. However, beat tends to be used to describe the way pulse is used
in music - some beats are stronger than others. The pattern of stronger and
weaker beats is what makes a waltz (with three beats - strong, weak, weak)
sound different to a march (with two beats - strong, weak, or four beats -
strong, weak, medium, weak).

Rhythm: A sequence of shorter and longer sounds that can fit to a steady
beat.

Chant: Words spoken to a steady beat.

Metre: The grouping of beats into stronger and weaker beats.

Resources
Stimulus:

 songs and chants

Sound sources:

 body percussion sounds, eg clapping, hands on knees, untuned

 classroom percussion instruments

Objectives
Section 1: Introduction: What is pulse?
Children should learn:

 what is meant by pulse or steady beat

View related activities and outcomes

Section 2: Exploration (1)

Children should learn:

 how to control a pulse

View related activities and outcomes

Section 3: Exploration (2)

Children should learn:

 what is meant by rhythm

View related activities and outcomes

Section 4: Exploration (3)

Children should learn:

 how to combine pulse and rhythm

View related activities and outcomes

Section 5: Exploration (4)

Children should learn:

 how to recall and copy rhythmic patterns

View related activities and outcomes

Section 6: Exploration (5)

Children should learn:
  how to create rhythmic patterns based on words and phrases

View related activities and outcomes

Section 7: Bringing it all together: Can we use pulse and rhythm to

make accompaniments?
Children should learn:

 to use pulse and rhythm to create an accompaniment for a chant or

song

View related activities and outcomes

Activities
Section 1: Introduction: What is pulse?

 Listen to some recorded music which has a strong pulse and ask the
children to tap their knees in time with it. Everyone should be
tapping at the same time. Establish whether to clap a fast or slow
pulse. Listen to some music which does not have a strong pulse.
 Talk about the pulse in our body and how it makes a regular pattern.
Talk about how it gets faster and slower.
 Sing some songs with a strong pulse, eg The grand old Duke of
York, Here we go round the mulberry bush, Pop goes the weasel,
and tap, clap or walk the beats as you sing. What is the effect of this
strong pulse? Does it make you want to move or sit still?

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 2: Exploration (1)

 Can you think of some songs with a fast speed or tempo? What sort
of songs would have a slow tempo? Try singing a few songs at an
unsuitable tempo, eg sing The grand old Duke of York very slowly
and Rock a bye baby very quickly.
 The pulse of music can speed up and slow down for special effect,
eg the last verse of My grandfather's clock could get slower and
slower as the clock stops ticking. Music often slows down at the
end.
 Ask the children to 'catch' the speed/tempo set by the teacher. Tap a
 steady pulse on both knees and after about eight taps, nod at the
children to indicate that they can join in. They should stop when
you stop. Try again at a faster or slower tempo.
 Ask the children to watch and copy you carefully. Start by tapping a
steady pulse on both knees. When everyone is joining in, either
slow down or speed up. Ask the children not to 'run away with' the
beat as it gets faster.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 3: Exploration (2)

 Choose one of the songs to which the children have already tapped,
clapped or walked the pulse. Explain that this time the children are
going to clap the rhythm of the words, that is, one clap for each
word, or each part of a word (syllable). Give the children a strong
lead as you clap the rhythm together. Keep the clapping light. Sing
as you clap.
 Tap the rhythm of well-known chants and songs. Invite the children
to guess the chants/songs.
 Divide the class into two groups. One group claps and chants or
sings the rhythm of the first line of a well-known chant or song then
stops. The other group takes over without a break and claps the
rhythm of the second line, and so on until the end. Try with a
different group for each line of the chant or song. Try without
chanting or singing.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 4: Exploration (3)

 Stand a child at the back of the group and ask him/her to tap the
pulse on a tambourine or tambor while everyone else claps a
rhythm. Encourage the children to listen out for the pulse. Is it
sometimes the same as the rhythm? When is the rhythm faster or
slower? Try again with half the class tapping the pulse on their
thighs, and the other clapping the rhythm.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 5: Exploration (4)

 'Copy cats': Clap or tap a rhythmic pattern which is echoed by the

 children. This is immediately followed by a new pattern. The
activity continues to a steady pulse. Repeat any patterns that the
children find difficult to copy.
 'Pass the tambourine': Sit in a circle. The teacher has one
tambourine and another is passed quietly around the circle to a
steady pulse. A thrown dice determines the number of times the
instrument is passed. Set a slow tempo and ask the children to chant
the numbers in time with the pulse. Whoever is holding the
tambourine on the final number copies a short rhythmic pattern
tapped by the teacher.
 Ask the children to copy a leader as he/she claps and chants the
names of classes, teachers, football teams, food, etc. Controlled by a
steady pulse, chant and clap or tap the rhythm of all the days of the
week, months of the year and seasons. Chant and clap instructions,
greetings, farewells, playground chants, eg What's the time Mr
Wolf?

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 6: Exploration (5)

 Ask children, one at a time, to think of a word or a phrase, to keep it

in their heads, then clap its rhythm. Check the rhythm against the
spoken word. Repeat four times. The rest of the children should be
thinking (but not saying out loud) the words on which the rhythm is
based.
 Sit in a circle and ask the children to clap the rhythm of the days of
the week or months of the year in sequence, one at a time. There
should be no speaking. Try more slowly or more quickly.

View related objectives and outcomes

Section 7: Bringing it all together: Can we use pulse and rhythm to

make accompaniments?

 Teach the children a chant, eg Mrs White had a fright, in the middle
of the night; or a simple song. Accompany the chanted rhythm with
clapping. Transfer the rhythm to an untuned percussion instrument,
eg woodblock, and use it to accompany the chanting. Add the pulse
on another instrument. How can we make the performance more
effective? Experiment with different tempi, voices, dynamics and
instruments. Add a few sound effects, eg spooky sound for Mrs
White.
  Help the children to plan a performance of the chant or song.
Rehearse an extended version, eg first play four steady beats on an
unpitched instrument, then chant/sing once through accompanied
by the pulse. Keep the pulse going and clap the rhythm of the words
without chanting/singing. Finally, combine pulse, clapped rhythms
and chanting/singing.

View related objectives and outcomes

Outcomes
Section 1: Introduction: What is pulse?
Children:

 identify the pulse in different pieces of music

View related objectives and activities

Section 2: Exploration (1)

Children:

 identify the pulse and join in getting faster and slower together

View related objectives and activities

Section 3: Exploration (2)

Children:

 identify the rhythm of the words

View related objectives and activities

Section 4: Exploration (3)

Children:

 perform rhythm to a given pulse

View related objectives and activities

Section 5: Exploration (4)

Children:

 recall and perform rhythmic patterns to a steady pulse

View related objectives and activities

Section 6: Exploration (5)

Children:

 begin to internalise and create rhythmic patterns

View related objectives and activities

Section 7: Bringing it all together: Can we use pulse and rhythm to

make accompaniments?
Children:

 accompany a chant or song by clapping or playing the pulse or

rhythm

View related objectives and activities

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 1: Introduction: What is pulse?

Objectives
Children should learn:
 what is meant by pulse or steady beat

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Listen to some recorded music which has a   identify the
strong pulse and ask the children to tap their pulse in
knees in time with it. Everyone should be different
tapping at the same time. Establish whether to pieces of
clap a fast or slow pulse. Listen to some music music
which does not have a strong pulse.
 Talk about the pulse in our body and how it
makes a regular pattern. Talk about how it
gets faster and slower.
  Sing some songs with a strong pulse, eg The
grand old Duke of York, Here we go round
the mulberry bush, Pop goes the weasel, and
tap, clap or walk the beats as you sing. What
is the effect of this strong pulse? Does it make
you want to move or sit still?

Points to note
 Use music which has contrasting tempi (speeds), eg Bach's Air from
Suite No. 3 in G and Winter from Vivaldi's Four seasons.
 The children might not always clap the same pulse, eg in The grand
old Duke of York, the children would probably clap the quick
pulse, that is, on the words grand/duke/York. They might, however,
clap on a slower pulse, eg on the words 'grand' and 'York'. At this
stage it is advisable to encourage children to clap the same pulse or
beat.
 Always encourage children to respond physically, using movement
and dance to reinforce the enjoyment of music and the sense of
pulse.

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 2: Exploration (1)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to control a pulse

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Can you think of some songs with a fast   identify the
speed or tempo? What sort of songs would pulse and join
have a slow tempo? Try singing a few songs in getting faster
at an unsuitable tempo, eg sing The grand and slower
old Duke of York very slowly, and Rock a together
bye baby very quickly.
 The pulse of music can speed up and slow
down for special effect, eg the last verse of
My grandfather's clock could get slower and
slower as the clock stops ticking. Music
often slows down at the end.
 Ask the children to 'catch' the speed/tempo
set by the teacher. Tap a steady pulse on
both knees and after about eight taps, nod at
the children to indicate that they can join in.
They should stop when you stop. Try again
 at a faster or slower tempo.
 Ask the children to watch and copy you
carefully. Start by tapping a steady pulse on
both knees. When everyone is joining in,
either slow down or speed up. Ask the
children not to 'run away with' the beat as it
gets faster.

Points to note
 Use both the words 'speed' and 'tempo' - the children will soon
realise they mean the same thing.
 Extension activity: Identify the stronger beats in music (that is,
where the beats are grouped into a pattern of strong and weak beats
- the 'metre'), eg a waltz has a three-beat pattern (strong, weak,
weak), a march has a two- (strong, weak) or four-beat (strong,
weak, medium, weak) pattern.

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 3: Exploration (2)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 what is meant by rhythm

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Choose one of the songs to which the children  identify
have already tapped, clapped or walked the pulse. the
Explain that this time the children are going to rhythm of
clap the rhythm of the words, that is, one clap for the words
each word, or each part of a word (syllable). Give
the children a strong lead as you clap the rhythm
together. Keep the clapping light. Sing as you
clap.
 Tap the rhythm of well-known chants and songs. 
Invite the children to guess the chants/songs.
 Divide the class into two groups. One group claps
and chants or sings the rhythm of the first line of
a well-known chant or song then stops. The other
group takes over without a break and claps the
rhythm of the second line, and so on until the end.
Try with a different group for each line of the
chant or song. Try without chanting or singing.
Points to note
 Keyboards could be used to illustrate different rhythmic styles, eg
salsa, bossa nova. These could be used to accompany the rhythmic
patterns created by the class.

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 4: Exploration (3)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to combine pulse and rhythm

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Stand a child at the back of the group and ask  perform
him/her to tap the pulse on a tambourine or rhythm to
tambor while everyone else claps a rhythm. a given
Encourage the children to listen out for the pulse. pulse

Is it sometimes the same as the rhythm? When is
the rhythm faster or slower? Try again with half
the class tapping the pulse on their thighs, and the
other clapping the rhythm.

Points to note
 Extension activity: Ask the children to mark the pulse with their
feet and clap or tap the rhythm with their hands at the same time.

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 5: Exploration (4)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to recall and copy rhythmic patterns

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 'Copy cats': Clap or tap a rhythmic pattern   recall and
which is echoed by the children. This is perform
immediately followed by a new pattern. The rhythmic
activity continues to a steady pulse. Repeat patterns to a
any patterns that the children find difficult to steady pulse
copy.
  'Pass the tambourine': Sit in a circle. The
teacher has one tambourine and another is
passed quietly around the circle to a steady
pulse. A thrown dice determines the number
of times the instrument is passed. Set a slow
tempo and ask the children to chant the
numbers in time with the pulse. Whoever is
holding the tambourine on the final number
copies a short rhythmic pattern tapped by the
teacher.
 Ask the children to copy a leader as he/she
claps and chants the names of classes,
teachers, football teams, food, etc. Controlled
by a steady pulse, chant and clap or tap the
rhythm of all the days of the week, months of
the year and seasons. Chant and clap
instructions, greetings, farewells, playground
chants, eg What's the time Mr Wolf?

Points to note
 When playing 'Copy cats' and 'Pass the tambourine', the leader
should make each rhythmic pattern fit in with four beats. This could
include claps on the beat, slower claps lasting for two or more beats,
claps which are faster than the beat. The rhythmic patterns will be
made up of combinations of these, eg

(Saying 'and' after a number, eg 2+ , helps to reinforce the

subdivision of the beat into half beats.)

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 6: Exploration (5)

Objectives
Children should learn:
 how to create rhythmic patterns based on words and phrases

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Ask children, one at a time, to think of a   begin to
word or a phrase, to keep it in their heads, internalise and
 then clap its rhythm. Check the rhythm create
against the spoken word. Repeat four times. rhythmic
The rest of the children should be thinking patterns
(but not saying out loud) the words on which
the rhythm is based.
 Sit in a circle and ask the children to clap the
rhythm of the days of the week or months of
the year in sequence, one at a time. There
should be no speaking. Try more slowly or
more quickly.

Points to note
 The final stage for key stage 1 pupils is to make up short rhythmic
patterns in the abstract - that is, without the help of words. This will
only be achieved after a lot of practice.
 When chanting help the class keep to a steady beat.

Unit 4: Feel the pulse - Exploring pulse and rhythm

Section 7: Bringing it all together: Can we use pulse and rhythm to
make accompaniments?

Objectives
Children should learn:
 to use pulse and rhythm to create an accompaniment for a chant or
song

Activities Outcomes
Children:
 Teach the children a chant, eg Mrs White   accompany a
had a fright, in the middle of the night; or a chant or song by
simple song. Accompany the chanted clapping or
rhythm with clapping. Transfer the rhythm playing the
to an untuned percussion instrument, eg pulse or rhythm
woodblock, and use it to accompany the
chanting. Add the pulse on another
instrument. How can we make the
performance more effective? Experiment
with different tempi, voices, dynamics and
instruments. Add a few sound effects, eg
spooky sound for Mrs White.
 Help the children to plan a performance of
the chant or song. Rehearse an extended
version, eg first play four steady beats on
 an unpitched instrument, then chant/sing
once through accompanied by the pulse.
Keep the pulse going and clap the rhythm
of the words without chanting/singing.
Finally, combine pulse, clapped rhythms
and chanting/singing.

Points to note
 Choose a word phrase from the chant or song and use the rhythm
created by the words as an accompaniment. A few children can
chant it quietly while the others chant or sing the whole song. It
could be played quietly on one or more unpitched instruments. This
is called rhythmic ostinato. Try with another phrase from the chant
or song.
 Note those children who find pulse difficult and look to reinforce
their understanding of it in future work.