LESSON PLAN: 4 Chord Songs in C Major
Objective
Students will be able to play and identify songs that use the most common chords in popular music today.
Resources
The “Axis of Awesome” 4 Chords video, recordings and song charts for “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift, “Someone Like You” by Adele, “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa, “With Or Without You” by U2, and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, Jam Card #6 (Scale Chords)
Vocabulary and Terms
Procedures
- Show students the “Axis of Awesome” video from our website.
- Practice finding these four chords in the key of C Major; the C chord, G chord, A minor chord, and the F chord in that order. They all use the same shape.
- Add bass notes in the left hand by playing only the root of each chord down low on the keyboard at the same time you play the chord with your right hand.
- Use this comping pattern to play “I Knew You Were Trouble”
- Use this comping pattern to play “Someone Like You”
- Use this comping pattern to play “Edge of Glory”
- Use this comping pattern to play “With Or Without You”
- Use this comping pattern to play “Don’t Stop Believing”
National Core Arts Standards (Music)
Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation. Example: General Music MU:Pr4.2.4 b. When analyzing selected music, read and perform using iconic and/or standard notation. Example: General Music MU:Pr4.2.3 a. Demonstrate understanding of the structure in music selected for performance. Common Core Correlations: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate informationpresented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.C.5 Generate a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule. Identify apparent features of the pattern that were not explicit in the rule itself.