Cover lesson · Music · Year 8 · Intermediate
LNF: Literacy → Writing → Vocabulary, spelling, grammar
Also assessed, DCF: Producing → Evaluating and improving digital content
Name: Class: Date:
What this practises: planning, organising and proofreading a comparative review in Music, alongside evaluating and improving digital content for a school music magazine. Pupils sort 12 raw listening notes on two live performances of Ar Hyd y Nos (a solo acoustic Welsh triple harp and a 28-piece colliery brass band) by musical category, upgrade vague adjectives into precise musical vocabulary, write a structured 4-paragraph review, and proofread a website summary box. No audio needs to be played.
Board: open the supply teacher presentation for board slides, timers and script: /cover-lesson-resources/presentations/structuring-a-comparative-review-of-two-live-welsh-performances.html
Print: this worksheet (one per pupil) and the stimulus sheet “Tresaith acoustic and brass band concert: listening notes and glossary” (one between two). Pupils only need a pen.
Run: 5 min settling starter · 5 min comparative structure brief · 10 min Step 1 note sorting · 10 min Step 2 vocabulary upgrade · 12 min Step 3 writing the 4-paragraph review · 5 min Step 4 proofreading · 3 min plenary check. Total 50 minutes.
Collect: this worksheet at the end of the lesson. Keep the stimulus sheets for the next class.
Quick checks: Step 1 note numbers: Tempo = A: 2, B: 7; Dynamics = A: 5, 10; B: 3, 12; Instrumentation & timbre = A: 1, 8; B: 4, 9; Texture & mood = A: 6, B: 11. Step 2 terms: legato & andante, crescendo & fortissimo, arpeggios, homophonic, timbre / resonant / sonorous.
When reviewing two live performances of the same piece, weak writers list everything about the first performance and then everything about the second, using vague words like “nice”, “fast” and “loud”. Skilled writers group their notes by theme so each paragraph directly compares both performances using precise musical terms. Today you will organise 12 raw concert notes on two arrangements of Ar Hyd y Nos, upgrade vague wording, write a 4-paragraph magazine review, and proofread the online summary.
Read the 12 numbered listening notes in Section 2 of the stimulus sheet. Group all 12 notes into the four musical categories below by writing the Note number(s) and a short summary phrase in each box. Row 1 is started for you.
| Musical category | Performance A: Solo Triple Harp (Catrin Llwyd) | Performance B: 28-Piece Colliery Brass Band |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tempo and rhythm (speed and beat) |
Note 2: Gentle andante walking speed (68 BPM), slowing with rubato at phrase ends. | |
| 2. Dynamics (volume levels and changes) |
||
| 3. Instrumentation and timbre (instruments and tone colour) |
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| 4. Texture and mood (layers and atmosphere) |
(a) Replace each vague draft phrase below with the exact musical term(s) from Section 3 of the stimulus sheet. Row 1 is done for you.
| Vague draft description | Precise musical vocabulary to use instead |
|---|---|
| 1. “smooth joined-up notes at a walking speed” | legato notes at an andante tempo |
| 2. “got louder and louder until it was super loud at the end” | |
| 3. “plucked the notes of each chord one after another” | |
| 4. “all 28 brass instruments moved together in thick block chords” | |
| 5. “started quite softly and ended very, very quietly” | |
| 6. “the unique warm ringing sound of the harp strings” |
(b) Join the two observations about dynamics into one polished comparative sentence using the connective whereas or in contrast and at least 3 Italian dynamic terms.
Write a 140 to 180 word magazine review comparing the two performances of Ar Hyd y Nos for Cerdd Cymru. Follow this 4-paragraph plan:
(a) The magazine editor drafted this 2-sentence summary box for the top of the webpage, but it contains 4 errors (two misspelt musical words, one lower-case song title error, and one subject-verb agreement error). Circle or underline the 4 errors and write the corrected version underneath.
Draft webpage pull-quote: “At Tresaith Festival, two unforgettable performance of ar hyd y nos showed how versatile Welsh folk music can be. While Catrin Llwyd’s triple harp whispered in delicate arpeggios, Band Pres Cwmaman built a thrilling creshendo in rich homofonic brass harmony.”
Corrected pull-quote:
(b) Self-check your Step 3 review: write down 6 musical terms and 2 comparative connectives that you successfully used in your own paragraphs.