This Music video introduces teachers to the concepts of pitch, melody and notation, helping pupils understand how notes can move higher, lower or stay the same. It explores how pitch describes how high or low a sound is and demonstrates ways teachers can physically model pitch movement using their voice and hand gestures to support children’s understanding. The lesson also explains how melodies are created when pitches are combined and how composers use pitch to represent moods, characters and settings.

The video supports teachers in developing pupils’ understanding of pitch movement by introducing stepwise and leap movements between notes. As children progress through Key Stage 2, they learn to sing, play and compose melodies while making connections between musical sounds and expressive intent. The content encourages children to listen carefully, identify pitch patterns and begin applying these ideas in their own compositions and performances.

Teachers are also introduced to different forms of notation and how musical ideas can be recorded and remembered. The lesson explains that in Key Stage 1, children may use marks, symbols and shapes to represent sounds before progressing to stave notation in Key Stage 2. Pupils learn that the stave consists of five horizontal lines and four spaces, often beginning with a treble clef, and that the position of notes on the stave shows their pitch. Lower Key Stage 2 pupils begin reading and writing the notes C, D, E, F and G, while Upper Key Stage 2 pupils extend this understanding to a full octave from low C to high C.

This video is part of Kapow Primary’s Music videos, which support teachers in developing confidence and subject knowledge when helping children explore musical concepts, perform with accuracy and creativity and deepen their understanding of how music can be written, shared and performed.

See more of our Year 4 scheme of work.