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music lesson on
improvisation at
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tsimprov

WHY
TEACH THIS?
With curriculum time
at a premium, it is vital
that lessons inspire and
promote the love of music.
Students learn so much
through performance, and
I for one want the learners
to be hooked and coming
back for more – so what
better way than using
Lesson plan: Music KS3 the song of the summer,
Despacito?

KEY

STRIKE A CURRICULUM LINKS

• Ideal for KS 3 performance

CHORD!
unit (can be tweaked
by instrument, solo/
ensemble or by introducing
sequencing elements)
Develop students’ musical confidence
• Covers the construction
as they put together a performance of chords, the chord
with minimal teacher input sequence, inversions, lead
melody, and ensemble
performance

Q
12-bar blues and the walking bass are the go-to for
keyboard lessons up and down the country – but I have
encountered problems when asking students to take that
knowledge and the skill set acquired, and apply them to
What came first: the
learning a song of their choice. To promote the musical chord or the melody?
understanding of chord structure and basic keyboard skills
it is essential the students are not scared to attempt chords
that use those scary black notes – so this is a lesson with
the key focus set on constructing chords, performing the
chords, and developing a performance from the ground up.

STARTER ACTIVITY
At the start of the lesson I would supply
students with a basic printout of the lyrics for
the song which is to be performed – in this case,
Despacito, by Luis Fonsi. This can then be used as the
basis for an analysis of the song structure. By presenting
the chord sequence in a standard pop format on the
board we can then discuss the chord placement in
relation to specific key lyrics that trigger the changes, as
well as relevant information about the timing of the
changes, in terms of the modelled performance. This
slight tweak in approach means students will have had to
produce their own learning resource appropriate to their
ability, and ensures key information for them is included.

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HOME LEARNING
Homework could be:
• A listening task –
students should find
another song that uses
a similar progression.
• A review of an
alternative cover.
• Contextual research
- looking up key facts
about the song etc.

MAIN ACTIVITIES
Construct the chords
In this case, we have:
/ Bm /G /D /A
This information can then
lead to the students
identifying the gaps
between the notes within
the chords – so, Major (4,3)
and Minor (3,4), which will
get the students playing
chords in this format:
Bm= (B,D,F#) or getting the students to
G= (G,B,D) organise the melody, the
D= (D,F#,A) challenge element can act
A= (A,C#,E)
Whilst this does accomplish
the objective of performing a
chord sequence and
developing musical
knowledge, it is at this stage
that you can challenge
students to find a more
/ economic way to transition
between the chords. This
process leads the students
into addressing the
misconception of inversions
and reaping the benefits of
using them by moving
between the chords.
Organise the melody
By drip feeding the notes in,
as a repetitive teaching tool,
which really aids the
learner into getting the
melody to stick in their
memory. Resources can be
differentiated according to
the varying levels of support
as a second instrument
to broaden the musical
they offer; this will
ultimately allow the teacher
more time to observe the
students rehearsing and
then coach with individual,
targeted verbal feedback.
resource development
Rearrange the song
To tweak this task we can
challenge the students to
replace a chord within the
sequence, or replace part of
the melody. This will open
up a huge array of questions
that can be explored
surrounding other songs
that use this sequence,
which can then lead to the
student being able to extend
their learning and hopefully
start to connect the topics or
SOW’s they have been
taught, together.
GOING DEEPER
The use of the ukulele
experience has been
really interesting, as it
is significantly easier
for students to access
than the traditional
guitar. A ukulele chord
chart means that
the original task of
is approached from a
different angle.
The performance of
the track against the
original or backing
track significantly
drives home the
importance of playing
in time (a quick win
for increasing the
challenge within
the lesson).
NEXT STEPS

SUMMARY Spread the task

across lessons by
The outcome at the end of the lesson(s) should be based upon students allowing individual or
working together to create part of the song as a performance. This can be paired rehearsal, then
ensemble building,
shared live, or recorded; it’s all down to your space and facilities. Whatever the approach
finally adding
employed, the students should be able to apply success criteria to the performance
the vocals.
they been able to generate. This will be in line with the school's assessment policy and
will hopefully allow them to highlight a strength within their performance, as well as an
appropriate target which they can take into their next lesson or rehearsal.
Within the context of making an informed assessment of the students’ progress, I
have found it really useful to use the cloud based G suite from Google as the monitoring
mechanism. Students have their starting and end points recorded from a mobile device
and uploaded to a cloud drive, enabling them to watch back the progress they have
made and diagnose exactly what they have to do to improve. There is no cost for the
G suite and many schools have this facility or a Microsoft equivalent (office 365). By THE AUTHOR
embracing this technology into the assessment process our marking and feedback has
Daniel Austin is
significantly improved, and the way students talk about their learning is certainly more co director of vocational
detailed and informed. and fitness, and head
This is all based upon the message we share and reinforce at CCHS: that within music of music, at Clacton
we learn, unlearn and relearn. County High School.

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