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Music Story Planner

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Music Story Planner

Programme music uses sound to suggest a story, character, place or event. Plan a beginning, middle and ending, then choose musical ideas to bring your story to life.

Explore emotion and sound

Think about how musical choices can shape a listener’s feelings.

1.Choose three different emotions. For each one, suggest a musical choice—such as tempo, dynamics, pitch, harmony or instrument—that could help communicate it.

2.Which musical choice is most likely to make a short scene feel suspenseful?

A steady, gentle tune that stays at the same volume
A sudden change in dynamics, such as a quiet sound becoming loud
A cheerful melody played at a lively pace
A familiar tune repeated without change

3.Select every musical feature that could help suggest sadness.

A slow pace
A minor-sounding harmony
A thin texture with a solo instrument
A fast, forceful rhythm with a bright sound

Shape a musical story

Develop a story that could be communicated through music. Your ideas can be realistic or imaginary.

4.Invent two possible stories for a piece of programme music. Give each a short title and describe its main event in one sentence.

5.Choose one of your story ideas. Outline what happens at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.

6.Name three musical sounds or techniques you could use to represent a character, feeling or event in your chosen story. Explain what each one might represent.

7.Imagine a classmate has shared a programme-music story plan. Write one helpful response using one of these openings: “A detail that works well is…”, “I wonder what would happen if…”, or “You could make the ending clearer by…”.

8.Write one musical idea you want to include in your plan, such as a recurring motif, a particular emotion or a sound that marks an important event.