KS3 Music

shares the thinking

The teacher:

• uses oral commentary to support each demonstration (with a pre-recorded modelling video clip to ‘free up’ the teacher, allowing him to commentate with greater clarity)
• ‘talks through’ the thinking behind the ‘classic mistake’, using the opportunity to reinforce an important blues convention about phrase lengths

repeats the modelling process, sometimes slowing down the difficult concepts

Having modelled a ‘classic mistake’ the teacher repeats it with more detailed commentary, pointing out where the mistake was made and how to rectify it (‘listen out for the fill’)

provides opportunities for pupils to discuss and ask questions

The teacher tests understanding of blues phrasing involving them in the task by modelling the ‘classic mistake’ and eliciting from pupils the precise nature of the mistake

The teacher reinforces pupil understanding of the expressive potential of the blues scale by modelling three different versions, asking pupils to evaluate different outcomes by linking these to the context of blues songs

encourages pupils to test their ideas

The teacher improvises a blues melody on one note. In discussion, pupils agree that it needs more notes in order to sound ‘bluesy’

The teacher tests out their idea and asks the pupils to evaluate the new version

introduces the ‘big picture’ and discusses the wider implications of the work

The teacher:

• reminds pupils of the learning objectives, locating the task within the broader sequence of learning, prior to modelling how to compose a blues melody
• asks pupils during the composition of a blues melody to evaluate ‘which melody sounds ‘bluesy’' using the opportunity to remind pupils about the broader social context and its impact on the stylistic conventions

‘walks through’ the steps for learning and associates them with the learning outcomes

The teacher:

• points out the importance of 4 bar phrasing as a convention and constraint and models various outcomes
• models how to compose a blues melody using a) a few, b) some and c) many notes, discussing with pupils how each meets their understanding of what makes a good blues melody

analyses the processes and promotes pupils’ thinking about the way they have learned

The teacher analyses and elicits from pupils during the modelling of a ‘classic mistake’ what the problem was and then demonstrates how to correct the mistake. He points out that by modelling a classic mistake first, the pupils are more likely to remember how to work with the given restriction