Choosing appropriate percussive timbres to represent an animal
I can respond to music through movement and understand that timbre can help to develop a character.
Choosing appropriate percussive timbres to represent an animal
I can respond to music through movement and understand that timbre can help to develop a character.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Composers can create music that helps us imagine animals, characters or stories.
- Moving to music can help us imagine the stories the composer is trying to tell.
- Instruments are chosen because of their timbre but all the musical elements need to work together to create the animal.
- Percussion instruments can be played in many different ways to create the imagery of an animal or environment.
Keywords
Composer - a person who creates music
Conductor - a person who directs musicians or singers
Timbre - a description of the sound or tone of an instrument
Common misconception
Timbre alone creates a musical story.
All the musical elements need to work together to create a musical story. A clarinet can be many things depending on how it is played - not just an orangutan.
To help you plan your year 2 music lesson on: Choosing appropriate percussive timbres to represent an animal, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 2 music lesson on: Choosing appropriate percussive timbres to represent an animal, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 music lessons from the Compose and create: recording our musical ideas using a graphic score unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
A variety of classroom percussion. A box with a lid that can fit multiple instruments inside.
Licence
Starter quiz
4 Questions



the pattern of sounds that we play and sing
a description of the sound or tone of an instrument
how high or low a note is
Exit quiz
4 Questions
