KS3 · Music · Year 8
Combining Wade In The Water with other spirituals
Year 8 song guides 2
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/10
Your learning goal
I can sing Wade In The Water with changing polyphonic textures.
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Combining Wade In The Water with other spirituals: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
What you’ll learn
I can sing Wade In The Water with changing polyphonic textures.
Key learning points
- When songs are based on similar harmonic patterns, they can often be combined as partner songs.
- A polyphonic texture means each layer of harmony has a distinct melody that moves at different times.
- When we perform using more complex polyphonic textures, we need to pay close attention to balance.
- We need to listen carefully to the other parts and adjust our dynamics so that every line can be heard clearly.
Words to know
- polyphonic
- each layer of harmony has a distinct melody that moves at different times
- anacrusis
- the opening note or notes of a phrase which starts before the first beat of the bar (also called a pickup)
- balance
- how each part is matched against another to ensure that no one part overwhelms the others
- blue note
- a note sung at a lower pitch than the standard note in the scale to give an emotional, blues like effect
Common mistakes
When singing different melodies on top of each other, sometimes singers "compete" to see which is the loudest!
The aim is to create a blended sound where all the melodies are audible.
For parents, carers and teachers
- The audio recordings are at the lower octave. Parts can be sung at either octave to suit pupils' voices. For smaller groups, some parts can be ommitted; a two or three part arrangement works well too.