Music

Year 7 starts with students exploring their voices and getting confident with performance in front of their peers. They start to learn basic analysis techniques using key terminology and this is then built upon in the following years. Year 7 students then do a carousel of different tasks that introduce sight reading notation using both pitch and rhythm as well as improving their group work skills. This module helps students explore their creativity as well as introducing them to all three main aspects of music (performance, analysis and composition). After this module, they then explore Programme Music and learn about the orchestra, families of instruments and the idea of programme music telling a story. Year 7 then finishes with Gamelan, where they explore textures, melodies and a full class performance with conducting. This also exposes the students to melodies and music from another culture other than Western Classical. All of the assessments are either performance or composition with questioning used throughout to gauge understanding of key terminology and analysis.

By the end of Year 7 students can read basic staff and rhythm notation, identify instruments in the orchestra. Students perform with confidence in a range of musical styles, influenced and informed by study of a diverse range of world music. In preparation for composition skills they can operate music software.

Year 8 begins with a scheme on composing a chord song.Students explore performance and remember elements from the previous year. This Builds on performance to learn chordal patterns on ukuleles and pianos and builds confidence in the performers. The next scheme is a World Music Project which focuses on improving students’ research skills and differentiating between musical knowledge and just knowledge. Rap Project is designed to build upon the vocalise module and expand thinking into rapping and beatboxing as a vocal skill. Compositional techniques and performance are also developed. The Radio Jingle Project focuses on using the tools in compositional programmes to mix and edit sounds, use sampling and create short innovative bursts of music for advertising purposes. This builds on the skills from Year 7 with Programme Music. By the end of Year 8 students can play chords on a ukulele, compose their own song, use Garageband and identify and select the appropriate chord sequences of a range of musical style and genre. They use this knowledge to evaluate their own and others’ work.

Year 9 starts with a Songwriting module that serves as a revision from the previous year of rapping, lyrics and 4 chords and then builds more on the compositional element, with lots of options for stretch and challenge within the structure and also the chords and melody. Students will expand their previous knowledge and skills from both Years 7 and 8 in composing film music. This module consists of a series of shorter tasks, with the assessment piece being a much longer composition. Students move on to combine a lot of their performing and composition skills to perform an improvised Blues piece to a simple chord arrangement. They will also study the history of the blues and use certain songs as a template to analyse using music elements. Year 9 ends with a Personal Research Project. This divides the group into students who have chosen music as a subject for GCSE and those who have not. Those who have not will undertake a research project on a topic of their choice. This must be approved by the class teacher and then supervised. The prospective GCSE students will undertake a performance project where they will arrange a song of their choosing to be performed as their final assessment. By the end of Year 9 students can combine music and lyrics with chords to compose a song, improvise around a chord sequence, play a chord sequence fluently, analyse a song of their choice using correct musical terminology and use Logic ProX.

The GCSE music course comprises analysis, performance and composition, all three skills developed at KS3. In year 10, students study a wide range of set works from 18th Century to Music for stage and screen, topics introduced at KS3. A key area of development over the years is the encouragement and recording of wider listening, drawing on the diversity of music in earlier years. STudents work independently on free composition and performance, selecting influences from set works and wider listening in developing their own work. Year 11 builds on the knowledge and skill from Year 10 through final performances, composition to a brief and revision of set works.

A Level Music is based around the three skills of performance, appraisal , composition (shift in language from GCSE). The structure and skill set is similar to GCSE but knowledge is developed through study of a wider range of music and a more detailed approach to analysis of set works, encompassing form, harmony and tonality, structure and dynamics. Music must be appraised in context and wider listening for each era is required. Both compositions at A Level are free and build on GCSE work, influenced by knowledge of a wider range of music at A Level.