Grade 5 Lesson 4

Objectives/Understanding Statements
• Students will improvise rhythms on non-pitched percussion instruments.
• Students will improvise melodies on pitched percussion instruments.
• Students will perform improvised melodies and rhythms together on pitched and non-pitched
percussion instruments.

Standards
Virginia Standards of Learning
5.3 The student will play a variety of pitched and non-pitched instruments alone and with
others.
5.6 The student will create music by
1. improvising melodies and rhythms of increasing complexity

Procedure
• Play music career review game
• Connect the concept of improvisation to composing: improv is a way of composing in the
moment of a performance
• Give each student a non-pitched percussion instrument
• Call and response rhythm patterns with the class
• Start by having students keep a steady beat
• Teacher performs a rhythm while students keep the beat
• Students echo the performed rhythm
• Give students the opportunity to take turns being the rhythm leader, improvising their own
rhythm patterns
• Switch students to melodic instruments pitched to a C pentatonic scale
• Call and response melodic patterns
• Start by having the students keep a steady beat on the C and G
• Teacher performs a 4 beat melody while students keep the beat
• Students echo the melody
• Improvise melodic patterns
• All students keep the beat on C and G
• Give groups of students the opportunity to improvise
• Narrow the groups down to one student improvising at a time
• Switch half of the students back to non-pitched percussion instruments
• Split the non-pitched instruments up into 1-3 groups
• Split the pitched percussion instruments up into 1-3 groups
• Give all groups 1-2 minutes to comes up with a 4 beat rhythm/melody for the whole group to
play
• Start with one group playing, gradually add in all other groups
• Take turns taking one or more groups out at a time, adding them back in, etc.
Assessment
• Teacher will assess students’ abilities to improvise rhythms on non-pitched percussion
instruments, improvise melodies on pitched percussion instruments , and perform them
together through informal observation as groups and individuals take turns improvising.

Materials
• Non-pitched percussion instruments (enough for each student)
• drums, rhythm sticks, cajon, claves, tambourines, etc.
• Pitched percussion instruments
• xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels (enough for each student)
• Music career review game: https://www.wisc-online.com/users/lindseyshowalter/games/31799/
music-careers

Adaptations
• Size: Instruments of various sizes will be available for student use.
• Color: N/A
• Pacing: Improvisation itself is a self-pacing activity. The students can do as little or as much
with improvisation as they feel comfortable.
• Modality: Verbal instruction (auditory), playing instruments (kinesthetic)

Extensions
To extend this lesson, students could spend time notating their improvisations after creating them
to be used for performances in the future. The students could also create a dance or movement to
go with their music.