These free KS3 music lesson plans cover Years 7 to 9, plus a Year 6 transition lesson: time signatures and conducting, primary chords on keyboard, writing a film-music leitmotif and the 12-bar blues. Each 50-minute plan has objectives, a timed outline, differentiation, assessment and links to the national curriculum and the Model Music Curriculum.
Updated · By the Classfern Music Department
UKUSWorks in the UK and the US. This version uses UK music words (bar, crotchet, stave) and UK year groups; the US version uses measure, quarter note, staff and US grades. · US version of this page
Key facts
4 lesson plans of 50 minutes: Year 6 transition, Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9.
The KS3 programme of study has six statements: perform, compose, use notation, use the interrelated dimensions, listen, and understand history and context.
The Model Music Curriculum (DfE, 2021) asks for at least one music period a week through KS3 and ends Year 9 with a blues project.
12-bar blues in C: C C C C | F F C C | G F C C (I I I I | IV IV I I | V IV I I).
C blues scale: C E♭ F F♯ G B♭.
What is in the KS3 music curriculum?
The national curriculum says KS3 pupils should perform confidently alone and in groups, improvise and compose, use staff and other notations, use the interrelated dimensions of music expressively, listen with increasing discrimination to a wide range of music, and develop a deepening understanding of music and its history.
The non-statutory Model Music Curriculum adds a year-by-year route through KS3:
KS3 music map, based on the Model Music Curriculum (DfE, 2021).
Year
Harmony and keys
Singing
Playing and improvising
Year 7
Chord sequences in C major or A minor using mainly primary chords; bass lines on the root
Three- and four-part rounds
Keyboard melodies within a fifth in C major or A minor
Year 8
Chord sequences in C, G, A minor or E minor
Chordal harmony in two or three parts
Improvise over a chord sequence or a groove
Year 9
Primary chords in several keys; contrasting sequences for ternary or verse–chorus form
Three-part harmony
Culmination project: the blues (12-bar blues, swing, walking bass, comping)
KS3 music lesson plans
Every plan has a lesson timer for the board and a print button (choose “Save as PDF” to keep a copy).
Lesson 1 (Year 6 transition): Time signatures, conducting and body percussion
Year group
Year 6, or the start of Year 7 (ages 10–12)
Time
50 minutes
Focus
Hearing and showing 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 time
Learning objectives
Explain what the top and bottom numbers of a time signature mean.
Conduct in two, three and four.
Compose and perform an 8-bar body-percussion piece in 3/4 or 4/4.
Resources
The two “Hear it” buttons below this plan (a waltz pattern in 3 and a march pattern in 4).
Metronome set to 3 or 4 beats with beat 1 accented.
50-minute lesson. Each row is one part; the lesson timer below follows these times.
Time
Part
What happens
0–5 min
Warm-up
Find every C on the keyboard (the white key just left of the group of two black keys). Play C major five-finger scales.
5–15 min
Build the triads
Root, third, fifth: C E G, F A C, G B D. Play each as a block chord, then broken.
15–25 min
Add a bass
Left hand plays C, F or G (the root) on beat 1 while the right hand plays the chord.
25–40 min
Compose
Pairs write an 8-bar sequence (e.g. I IV V I | I IV V I) that ends on I, then play it with the jam track.
40–50 min
Perform
Pairs perform; the class listens for the ending – does it sound finished?
Differentiation
Support: Play one-finger chords (just the root), or use the C chord shape only.
Stretch: Add A minor (vi) for I V vi IV, then add a simple melody in the right hand over the left-hand chords.
Access (SEND): Coloured stickers on C, F and G; pair with a supportive partner.
Assessment
Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) Keyboard performance: accurate chords, changes in time, ending on I (each 1–3).
Evidence kept at home The written chord sequence in the pupil’s book or folder.
Curriculum links
Model Music Curriculum, Year 7 – compose chord sequences in C major or A minor “using mainly primary chords”, with bass lines on the root
National curriculum KS3 – “play and perform confidently in a range of solo and ensemble contexts using their voice, playing instruments musically, fluently and with accuracy and expression”
Lesson 3: Film music – write a leitmotif
Year group
Year 8 (ages 12–13)
Time
50 minutes
Focus
How film composers use leitmotifs, major and minor, and the elements of music to create character
Learning objectives
Explain what a leitmotif is.
Use pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre and major or minor to give a character a musical identity.
Compose and perform a hero and a villain leitmotif.
Resources
A short film clip with no music, or two character pictures.
Keyboards or tuned percussion.
The “Hear it” buttons below the plans: major chord and minor chord.
Lesson outline
50-minute lesson. Each row is one part; the lesson timer below follows these times.
Time
Part
What happens
0–5 min
Starter
Play the major chord and the minor chord. Which suits a hero? Which suits a villain? Why?
5–15 min
What is a leitmotif?
A leitmotif is a short musical idea linked to a character, place or idea. Richard Wagner used them in his operas; film composers such as John Williams use them in film scores. Listen to a famous film theme and spot when it returns.
15–35 min
Compose
Pairs write two motifs of 4–8 notes: a hero (major, rising, bright, louder) and a villain (minor, low, slower, with a tritone or semitones). Note them as letters or on the stave.
35–45 min
Perform to picture
Play each motif when the character appears in the clip. Change one element (tempo or dynamics) when the character is in danger.
45–50 min
Plenary
Which choices made the villain sound like a villain? Use three music words.
Differentiation
Support: Give a starting motif to vary; limit to five notes.
Stretch: Transform the hero motif: play it in minor, slower and quieter for a sad scene.
Access (SEND): Offer a graphic score (shapes for high/low and long/short) instead of letters.
Assessment
Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) Leitmotif rubric: clear character, uses at least three elements, performed as written (each 1–3).
Self-assessed “I used major/minor, pitch and tempo on purpose.”
Curriculum links
National curriculum KS3 – “improvise and compose; and extend and develop musical ideas by drawing on a range of musical structures, styles, genres and traditions”
National curriculum KS3 – “identify and use the interrelated dimensions of music expressively and with increasing sophistication”
Model Music Curriculum, KS3 listening – film music beyond the 1940s, e.g. John Williams, Rachel Portman
Lesson 4: The 12-bar blues
Year group
Year 9 (ages 13–14)
Time
50 minutes
Focus
The 12-bar blues chord pattern, a walking bass and improvising on the blues scale
Learning objectives
Play the 12-bar blues in C: C C C C | F F C C | G F C C.
Explain swung rhythm and a walking bass.
Improvise a short solo using the C blues scale: C E♭ F F♯ G B♭.
Resources
Jam tracks with a blues or swing beat and the progression C7 C7 C7 C7 F7 F7 C7 C7 G7 F7 C7 C7.
Keyboards, ukuleles or tuned percussion.
The “Hear it: C blues scale” button below the plans.
Lesson outline
50-minute lesson. Each row is one part; the lesson timer below follows these times.
Time
Part
What happens
0–5 min
Starter
Listen to a blues recording. Count the bars of one verse: there are 12.
5–15 min
The chord pattern
Write the 12 bars on the board with Roman numerals: I I I I | IV IV I I | V IV I I. Everyone plays the roots (C, F, G) with the jam track.
15–25 min
Walking bass and swing
Swung quavers are long–short, not even. A walking bass moves on every beat, e.g. C E G A for chord I.
25–45 min
Improvise
Half the class keeps the chords and bass going; the others take turns to improvise for 4 bars using the C blues scale. Start with only three notes: C, E♭ and G.
45–50 min
Plenary
Where does the blues come from? (African American communities in the southern United States, in the late 1800s and early 1900s.) Name one thing you heard in a classmate’s solo.
Differentiation
Support: Play roots only, once per bar; improvise with two notes.
Stretch: Play seventh chords (C7 = C E G B♭); add a riff that repeats over the changing chords.
Access (SEND): Number the bars on a large grid; let pupils point along while others play.
Assessment
Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) Ensemble: chord changes in the right bars (1–3); improvisation uses the blues scale and fits the beat (1–3).
Self-assessed “I kept my place in the 12 bars.”
Curriculum links
Model Music Curriculum, Year 9 culmination project – The Blues: 12-bar blues, swung rhythm, walking bass and comping
National curriculum KS3 – “listen with increasing discrimination to a wide range of music from great composers and musicians”
National curriculum KS3 – “develop a deepening understanding of the music that they perform and to which they listen, and its history”
Hear it
Sounds for Lessons 1, 3 and 4, played by the browser.
What should a KS3 music lesson include?
A good KS3 music lesson is practical: a short starter, one new idea, a long hands-on part on keyboards, ukuleles, voices or software, a performance, and a plenary where pupils explain their choices using the interrelated dimensions.
KS3 is a good time to connect music lessons to music students already know: film themes, game soundtracks and popular songs often use the same chords (I, IV, V and vi) and the same devices (riffs, ostinatos and leitmotifs) as the pieces in these plans.
What is a leitmotif?
A leitmotif is a short musical idea – a few notes, a rhythm or a chord – that stands for a character, place or idea and comes back whenever it appears. The composer Richard Wagner made the technique famous in his operas, and film composers use it all the time.
Composers change a leitmotif to tell the story: the same notes in a minor key, slower and quieter, can show a hero in trouble.
What are the chords of a 12-bar blues?
A 12-bar blues uses three chords: I, IV and V. The standard pattern is I I I I | IV IV I I | V IV I I. In C major that is C C C C | F F C C | G F C C, often played as seventh chords (C7, F7 and G7).
Many blues songs swing (long–short pairs of quavers) and the last bar often turns around to V to lead back to the start.
All four plans are free on lessonplanner.info to print and adapt for your own classes, with no sign-in and no ads.
