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Year 2

Learning a four note melody on pitched percussion

I can begin to play a song that uses do, mi, so and la on pitched percussion instruments.

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New
New
Year 2

Learning a four note melody on pitched percussion

I can begin to play a song that uses do, mi, so and la on pitched percussion instruments.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We can tap the beat and rhythm of a song or rhyme.
  2. We can use stick notation to read rhythms using rhythm language.
  3. We can feel the pitch going higher and lower as we sing a song.
  4. We can use a musical stave to see the pitch of the notes ewe are gioing to play.
  5. We can play the melody of a song on pitched percussion instruments using do, mi, so, and la.

Keywords

  • Beat - the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock

  • Rhythm - the pattern of sounds that we play and sing

  • Stick notation - a way of writing rhythms down

  • Note - a single sound in music

  • Stave - the lines on which musical notes can be placed

Common misconception

Beat and rhythm are the same thing.

The beat follows the steady pulse of a song while the rhythm follows the pattern of the words.


To help you plan your year 2 music lesson on: Learning a four note melody on pitched percussion, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For this lesson, we will be using the notes C, E, G, and A on pitched percussion. It may be helpful to remove the bars that are not needed or label the bars do, mi, so, and la.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Pitched percussion instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels) and beaters.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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4 Questions

Q1.
Some notes are high and some notes are low. Which word do we use to describe how high or low a note is?
An image in a quiz
beat
Correct answer: pitch
rhythm
notation
Q2.
We can use actions to show the pitch as we sing. Which action shows the lowest pitch?
touch your knees
touch your shoulders
Correct answer: touch your toes
touch your head
Q3.
A xylophone can play a melody because we can play different when we strike it.
Correct Answer: notes, pitches, Notes, Pitches
Q4.
do, mi, so, and la are different...
rhythms
melodies
beats
Correct answer: notes

4 Questions

Q1.
This image is an example of...
An image in a quiz
tempo
Correct answer: stick notation
pitched percussion
call and response
Q2.
When we tap the steady pulse of a song, we are tapping the .
Correct Answer: beat, Beat
Q3.
What do we say when we tap this rhythm using rhythm language?
An image in a quiz
Ta
Correct answer: Ta-di
Q4.
Before playing a melody, it can be helpful to sing the __________ first.
Correct answer: notes
beat
rhythm