Justin Miller and Sarah Wagner

Content and Achievement Standards

● Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
c. sing music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression
appropriate for the work being performed.
● Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
a. describe specific musical events in an given example using appropriate
terminology
c. demonstrate knowledge of tonality and harmonic progressions in their
analyses of music.

Class Goals and Objectives

● Use a perception chart to analyze the instrumentation and form of “Wake Me up
Before You Go-Go” by Wham!
● Enable students to aurally identify the difference between major and minor
chords.

Materials
● A recording of the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”
● Perception Chart
● Piano

Procedures
1. Students and instructor will discuss how it feels when a group of your friends
hang out without inviting you: instructor makes a connection to the song “Wake
Me Up Before You Go Go.”

PROMPT: As you listen to the song and fill out the perception chart, see if you
can identify how many different chords are in the chorus.

2. Students will listen to a recording of “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and fill out
a perception chart while listening for chord structure of the chorus.

3. Students and instructor will identify the correct answers to the perception chart.

QUESTION: How many chords did you hear in the chorus? (Single out a few
students and see if their answers are the same)

4. Reveal/Confirm that there are two chords in the chorus. Listen to the chorus
again (Teacher plays chords on piano along with chorus? CM/dm)
 Justin Miller and Sarah Wagner

QUESTION: What is different about the way the two chords sound?

5. Instructor will play the two chords and point out the key difference(s) between
major and minor chords and give tips to help aurally identify them.

PROMPT: Repeat after me. (Repeat Do-Mi and Re-Fa to show difference
between major and minor thirds)

6. Instructor writes the two chords on a staff and shows that the third indicates
whether a chord is major or minor.

7. Students will listen to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” again and sing along to
the chorus roots & thirds using solfege.

8. Instructor will play the four chords in “Get Lucky” and have students identify if
they are major or minor.

9. Students will then listen to “Get Lucky” and sing the four chord roots.

Assessment of Goals and Objectives

Assessment will be informal and achieved by asking for answers to the perception chart
and walking around the room to listen to the students sing the roots of the chords of the
chorus.

Follow up Lessons

Future lessons would focus on other chord structures of choruses of popular songs.