Music activity pack for ages 11-13: compare two versions
Keep a first version, make a deliberate change and explain what the change does. These are adult-supported offline activities. No instrument, app, child account, recording or public sharing is required. Age bands are suggestions, not ability tests. Choose any suitable level and adapt the response to the learner.
Plan roughly 8-12 minutes for one activity if useful. The learner can choose the pace and leave the rest for later. An adult can read the prompts aloud. For older learners, agree together whether they want a partner or just help setting up.
Before you start
Use paper and a pencil. Sounds can be soft taps, spoken words or comfortable humming. Pointing, drawing or describing a choice are alternatives; they can support planning and discussion without claiming to reproduce every listening or performing task. Pause or change the activity whenever needed.
Rhythm: make an answer to a call
Use two groups of four steady counts. The first group is the call: sound on one and three. Invent a different answer in the second group, leaving at least one space. Keep the call fixed while trying two different answers.
Ask: Which answer makes the ending clearer? What did you leave unchanged?
Make it simpler: One person counts while another marks the two patterns, or compare the written boxes without playing.
Try another step: Try call-answer-call-answer and decide whether the last answer should change.
Keep a note: Mark X for sounds and - for spaces. Keep both answer versions.
Melody: repeat, then redirect
Hum a comfortable three-note idea and draw its up, down or same movements. Version A repeats it exactly. Version B keeps the first idea but changes the final note of the repeat. Compare at the same pace, without pushing your voice higher.
Ask: Does the changed ending feel like a stop or a way onward to you? What in the shape supports your view?
Make it simpler: Ask someone else to hum the chosen contour, or compare a drawing and explain the intended movement.
Try another step: Make a third ending and choose one for a short verse-to-chorus sketch.
Keep a note: Draw A and B. Mark the single note you changed and describe its effect.
Songwriting: give the second line a job
Use the invented opening: The last bus leaves a square of light. Write one line that tells us what happens next. Keep it as version A. For B, replace one vague word with a visible action or object. Speak both over the same count and adjust a crowded phrase.
Ask: What new information does line two add? Which wording is easier to say at your chosen pace?
Make it simpler: Describe the next moment aloud and let a partner write it down.
Try another step: Write a short repeated hook that connects to the scene without retelling both lines.
Keep a note: Keep both versions and note one change in meaning or rhythm. Fictional scenes are enough.
Copy this practice record
Copy these prompts onto paper. Keep two drafts if the activity compares versions. A short description is enough; no name, school, account or recording is needed.
- We chose: rhythm / melody / songwriting.
- Our starting idea: write, draw or describe it.
- Version A: keep the first pattern, shape or words.
- Version B, if we tried one: mark the change.
- What we noticed: name one difference, or say we are not sure yet.
- The learner wants to keep: one choice and, if useful, a reason.
- Next time: repeat / simplify / change one thing / try a different activity.
For a rhythm drawing, use four boxes labelled 1, 2, 3, 4. X means a sound on that count; a dash means a space. Each box represents a whole count in this simple exercise, not every possible rhythm. For a melody, arrows describe pitch movement, not loudness or exact notes.
Optional preparation for the adult
This existing reference screenshot shows a screen rhythm pattern. It is for an adult who wants a separate way to explore a pattern before the offline activity. The grid is not the paper worksheet and is not needed to complete this pack. It does not demonstrate a child using the service. The current Prepare a pulse-and-pattern activity short course is another separate adult preparation option.
Choose the next step
Return to the version you preferred and make one further change. The comparison guide can help an adult explain keeping a first draft. See the next-step guide or the home music activity plan.
Under-13 accounts are unavailable. An activity age label does not grant app access. Check the current family access guide before any separate screen activity; do not use a shared adult password as a substitute for supervised setup. Read the family access guide.
About this pack
Prepared for Hearhood by Scopra with AI assistance. These original editorial activities connect listening, making and discussing musical choices. England's music programmes of study are a broad reference, not evidence of curriculum accreditation or tested learner outcomes. The packs do not teach physical instrument technique. See England's music programmes of study. The four age packs offer different tasks, not a required sequence or an assessment.