Key Stage 3 Music - Folk Music

Lesson 4


Lesson Objectives

  • Understand how Folk songs use long phrases to help express the stories of the songs.
  • Learn how to perform Folk songs expressively and learn how to practice and perform as an ensemble.

Starter

Your teacher will play some of your YouTube findings from the "Use Your Initiative" from lesson 3.

What musical features can you identify that are similar to the Folk songs they you been learning?


Musical phrasing allows you to:

  • Create a smooth melody line.
  • Get the story of the song across.
  • Breathe together in the correct place.

You can make your piece more expressive by

  • Adding dynamics (louder/quieter) to certain sections.
  • Singing in unison and in harmony.
  • Experimenting with the texture/layers of your performance.

As a class, you are going to rehearse and perform Scarborough Fair.



Scarborough Fair (Ballad) Lyrics


Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

Remember me to one who lives there,

she once was a true love of mine.


Tell her to make me a cambric shirt

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

Without no seams nor needlework

Then she'll be a true love of mine


Tell her to find me an acre of land

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

Between salt water and the sea strands

Then she'll be a true love of mine.



You will then create your own version of Scarborough Fair that includes expressive qualities, such as dynamics and rehearse and perform this. An example of this looks like this. Your teacher will then film you using the class Ipad.

Once you have filmed it, watch it back. What worked well? What could you do to improve it? Have another go at rehearsing and filming your performance and include the discussed changes.