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Year 1

Keeping a steady beat as we move, sing and play

I can move to the beat of the music and know when it is my turn to sing, move and respond in time.

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New
New
Year 1

Keeping a steady beat as we move, sing and play

I can move to the beat of the music and know when it is my turn to sing, move and respond in time.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We can use movements, body percussion and instruments to help us feel the pulse and hear the beat.
  2. When we keep a steady beat we are able to sing our responses and join in with musical games at the correct moment.
  3. We understand the structure of our songs and know when it is our turn to sing and play.

Keywords

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

  • Pulse - the regular, steady heartbeat of the music

  • Structure - the way the music is organised

Common misconception

Beat and rhythm are interchangeable terminology.

The beat is the consistent audible sound of the underlying pulse. Rhythm is the pattern of sounds and silences which can be a combination of sounds of any duration.


To help you plan your year 1 music lesson on: Keeping a steady beat as we move, sing and play, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Repeat songs and games, using many different actions to help pupils internalise the pulse. For example marching in time, clapping in time or patting their knees in time. Some motor skills make this easier than others; marching may result in pupils stamping too loudly making the music inaudible.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

ball, drum, class set of percussion instruments that can keep a clean beat e.g. claves

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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.
Warming up before singing helps...
Correct answer: protect our voice from getting hurt.
us to hear new instruments.
get us to sing as loud as possible.
Correct answer: get our minds, bodies and voices ready for singing .
Q2.
The regular, steady heartbeat of the music is called the .
Correct Answer: pulse, Pulse
Q3.
Match the musical term to the definition.
Correct Answer:sing,create high and low sounds with our voice
tick

create high and low sounds with our voice

Correct Answer:chant,speaking in time to a pulse
tick

speaking in time to a pulse

Q4.
A percussion instrument is played by...
striking, blowing or scraping.
Correct answer: striking, shaking or scraping.
shaking, scraping or strumming.

4 Questions

Q1.
True or false. When we sing the response in a call and response song, we sing an exact copy of the call.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q2.
When we play on the beat, we are...
changing from playing quietly to playing loudly.
playing the patterns of sound, like the syllables of the words.
Correct answer: playing the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock.
Q3.
Why do we practise our sense of pulse by playing on the beat?
An image in a quiz
So we can play high and low notes.
Correct answer: So we can sing and play together at the right time.
So we can play quietly and loudly.
Q4.
When we think about the way the music is organised, we are thinking about the musical .
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: structure, Structure