Modern Band Lesson
Samantha Belinski
7th Grade
Standards:
MU:Pr4.1.6
Apply teacher-provided criteria for selecting music to perform for a specific purpose and/or
context, and explain why each was chosen
Objectives:
1. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to play an E-style bar chord with a success
rate of at least 80%
2. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to perform the song “My Girl” by The
Temptations by playing F major and C major chords with a success rate of at least 80%.
3. By the end of the lesson, students will understand how to perform two different types of
F major chords with a success rate of at least 80%.
Hook:
I will begin the lesson by playing a short clip of the song “My Girl” by The Temptations so
students can listen to it. Once I stop playing, I will ask if anyone has heard the song before and if
they think it would be fun to play. This will lead into the lesson because I will be teaching them
to play an E-style bar chord, which in this song is an F major chord.
Instructional Sequence:
1. After hearing the song, I will start to teach them how to play an F chord. It will be an
easier version of the chord we will learn later in the lesson, which is an F major chord as
an E-style bar chord. I’ll play the chord for them first and then slowly have them try it
themselves as I explain how to play it. I’ll also put up a visual of the chord at this time.
2. I’ll ask students to give me a sign indicating how they’re doing (either by giving a
thumbs up/down or saying how they did on a scale from 1-5).
3. Once most of the class seems comfortable, I’ll explain that they’re now going to learn
how to play a more challenging version of an F chord.
4. I’ll play the F chord as an E-style bar chord and show them where my fingers are on the
guitar.
5. Once they’ve seen how I played this version of the chord, I’ll ask them if they know the
kind of chord I’m playing. I’ll give them a hint if no one knows before I tell them the
answer.
6. I’ll then explain that the chord I just played is a bar chord. I’ll then ask if anyone knows
why bar chords are useful to learn.
7. After explaining why bar chords are useful, I’ll slowly show them how to play it. If some
are struggling, I’ll tell them to try playing the chord on a higher fret, which might make it
easier to get the fingering. I’ll put up another visual for this chord as well.
8. I’ll ask students again how they’re doing on a scale from 1-5 so I can see where everyone
is at this point.
9. Once most of the class is comfortable, I’ll then explain that there are many different types
of bar chords and that they now know how to play an E-style bar chord.
10. I’ll explain that even though this chord is in E-style, playing it based off of the first fret
will make it an F major chord. Now they know how to play both a bar chord and two
versions of the F major chord.
11. Next I’ll explain that we’re going to try to play along with “My Girl” by using the F and
C chord, which they’ve previously learned. I’ll quickly review the C chord and pull up a
diagram to remind them of what it is.
12. I’ll then pull up a chart of the song and what the chord progression looks like so they
know when to play their part. I’ll be in charge of playing the G and Dm chords, but I’ll
let them know that they’re welcome to play along with as many chords as they want to or
with any strumming pattern that is comfortable since everyone is at different levels. If
they feel more comfortable with the easier version of the F chord, they can play that
instead of the full bar chord.
13. After playing through the song once, I’ll ask everyone again how they did on a scale from
1-5. I’ll then have the groups switch chords and play through the song again.
14. After the second playing, I’ll ask again how they think they did.
Assessment of Objectives:
I’ll assess the students throughout the lesson since this is a challenging chord for beginners to
play. I’ll ask them how they’re each doing on a scale from 1-5 each time I teach them a different
version of the F chord so I can see where everyone is and if I need to go over anything again or
give them more time to practice. I’ll do this again after the first and second performances of the
song as well since it’s hard to tell how everyone’s doing over Zoom since their microphones will
be muted.
