Music
Subject Leader: Ms Jane Dyer - j.dyer@lavington.wilts.sch.uk
Year 7
What are we studying?
Students will complete 6 units of work.
The topics covered are:
Exploring the Elements – An exploration of the Elements of Music, the building blocks which they need to know for further work in music during KS3 and then on to KS4 if they choose to take GCSE Music. Students learn what each of the elements are and how to apply them through singing and keyboard playing. Students have a number of opportunities to put these elements into practice through performance, working in pairs and groups.
Keyboard Skills - Students continue to learn about notation, rhythm, and keyboard technique. Students learn to play a Christopher Norton piece called Intercity Stomp. The piece is differentiated, and there are a number of extension pieces for the more able students.
Notation - Students learn about note values, and how to combine them to create different rhythms using time signatures and bars to organise beats. They perform a spoken round in groups, and then write their own spoken round, in notation, in pairs.
Music Technology - Students further their understanding of notation by learning to arrange Pachelbel’s Canon on Sibelius in notation. They learn about layers, and harmony, and how to create layers that work. The more able students are encouraged to add their own original melody as an additional layer.
The Orchestra - Students learn about the orchestra – how it works, its sections, what different instruments sound like. Students learn about the importance of structure in music and learn about Rondo form in particular.. They then work on learning a piece in Rondo form, to perform together at the end of the project.
Ukulele Project - Students learn to play 4 chords on the ukulele. They then choose a song to learn and work on it in groups using a video tutorial to help them.
How are we assessed?
Each topic lasts for one term. At the end of the topic students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of music is assessed. This will be compared to their previous assessment to measure progress and performance.
How are we grouped?
Students are always taught in mixed ability classes. During lesson time, students work in pairs, small groups and mixed gender groupings.
What homework are we expected to do?
- Spellings of key words
- Understanding the meanings of keywords
- Completion of composition or rehearsing of performance task
Careers in Music
Careers is linked to our curriculum for Gatsby Benchmark 4 in Key stage 3 in the following ways:
- In National Careers week all KS3 lessons have careers related starter activities which directly link the subject with the world of work which culminates in the department creating a display of evidence to illustrate the work and student engagement.
What can parents do to help?
Ask your child what has happened in their music lesson and encourage them to complete any homework tasks set.
Encouraging your child to listen to a wide variety of music in general and in particular to explore the topic/genre studied at home.
Year 8
What are we studying?
Students will complete 3 units of work.
The topics covered are:
Reggae - Students learn about Reggae music – where it comes from, how it started, its characteristics. Students learn to play and sing Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, learning 1-3 keyboard parts, or learning to play the chords on guitar or ukulele. They put the song together in groups and perform it for assessment.
The Western Classical Period - Students learn about the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods and what the music of each period is characterized by. They learn a piano piece from one of the 3 periods.
The Blues - Students learn about the history and background of the Blues (slavery and the slave trade). They learn about the features of Blues music. They then learn to play the Blues conventions (12- bar blues, improvising, bass line) and create and perform a Blues piece in groups for assessment.
How are we assessed?
Each topic lasts for two terms. At the end of the topic students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of music is assessed. This will be compared to their previous assessment to measure progress and performance.
How are we grouped?
Students are always taught in mixed ability classes. During lesson time, students work individually, in pairs, small groups and mixed gender groupings.
What homework are we expected to do?
- Spellings of key words
- Understanding the meanings of keywords
- Completion of composition or rehearsing of performance task
Careers in Music
Careers is linked to our curriculum for Gatsby Benchmark 4 in Key stage 3 in the following ways:
- In National Careers week all KS3 lessons have careers related starter activities which directly link the subject with the world of work which culminates in the department creating a display of evidence to illustrate the work and student engagement.
What can parents do to help?
Ask your child what has happened in their music lesson and encourage them to complete any homework tasks set.
Encouraging your child to listen to a wide variety of music in general and in particular to explore the topic/genre studied at home
Year 9
What are we studying?
Students will complete 6 units of work.
The topics covered are:
Popular Music Part 1 - Students learn about popular music from 1950-1989. They learn a song from this period from a choice of songs or choose their own. The prepare their song for performance at the end of the project.
Music From the Shows - Students learn about the origins and characteristics of musical theatre. They learn to play a piece of musical theatre for assessment.
Film Music - Students learn about film music – how it is used, why it is used, how it is composed. They look at how different Elements of Music are used by film music composers. They then go on to writing the music for a film scene of their choice (from a selection provided for them).
Popular Music Part 2 - Students learn about popular music from 1990 to now. They learn a song from this period from a choice of songs or choose their own. The prepare their song for performance at the end of the project.
Electronic Dance Music - Students gain an understanding of the key musical features of EDM and compose their own EDM piece using Bandlab.
Showcase Project - Students have a choice of task – practical or written/creative. They work on their task for the term and present it to the class at the end of the project.
How are we assessed?
Each topic lasts for one term. At the end of the topic students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of music is assessed. This will be compared to their previous assessment to measure progress and performance.
How are we grouped?
Students are always taught in mixed ability classes. During lesson time, students work individually, in pairs, small groups and mixed gender groupings.
What homework are we expected to do?
- Spellings of key words
- Understanding the meanings of keywords
- Completion of composition or rehearsing of performance task
Careers in Music
Careers is linked to our curriculum for Gatsby Benchmark 4 in Key stage 3 in the following ways:
- In National Careers week all KS3 lessons have careers related starter activities which directly link the subject with the world of work which culminates in the department creating a display of evidence to illustrate the work and student engagement.
What can parents do to help?
Ask your child what has happened in their music lesson and encourage them to complete any homework tasks set.
Encouraging your child to listen to a wide variety of music in general and in particularly to explore the topic/genre studied at home.
Years 10 and 11
What are we studying?
Year 10
Performance - Experience of marking exemplar solo performances in order to gain an understanding of the assessment criteria and the overall expectations for performance. Recording of solo performance. Preparation of ensemble performance.
Composition - Experience of marking exemplar compositions in order to gain an understanding of the assessment criteria and the overall expectations for composition. Writing and submission of free choice composition.
AoS4: Popular Music - Study of a variety of popular music styles and their associated features and vocabulary. Analysis of the set work Africa by Toto. Listening exercises on this AoS in preparation for the listening exam in Year 11.
Aos1: Musical Devices - Study of the development of Western Classical Music and all associated vocabulary. Study of the structural forms and devices across a variety of genres and styles from the Western Classical Tradition and all associated vocabulary. Analysis of the set work Badinerie by JS Bach.
Aos2: Music for Ensemble - Study of sonority and texture, including instrumental and vocal groupings. Study of texture Preparation of ensemble performance.
Year 11
Performance - Final recording of solo performance. Recording of final ensemble performance.
Composition - Writing and submission of set brief composition.
Aos3: Film Music - We will study film music to gain an understanding of it, and of how composers use timbre, tone colour and dynamics for effect. Study of audience and venue, use of musical elements to fulfil a commission, how performers interpret a composition, leitmotifs and thematic transformation.
Revision - Revision of all course content. Opportunity to improve any performance or composition coursework.
How are we assessed?
Lessons will be a mixture of practical and theory.
Students need to learn about the following in order to critically appraise pieces of music through the contexts of areas of study:
- Form and structure in music
- Appropriate musical vocabulary for the course
- Stylistic features of the set works and the genres covered in the Areas of Study
- Conventions used in different times and places
- How music relates to the context in which it was created
- How to express and justify their opinions and preferences
Students need to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of musical elements, musical contexts and musical language in relation to music that they have studied and to unfamiliar music for each of the areas of study.
What homework are you expected to do?
Regular lessons and practice of chosen instrument/voice – this should be at least 10 minutes a day, with 3 longer sessions.
Composition tasks
Practice theory development, essay practice and revision of set works
Learning meaning and spelling of key words
What can parents do to help?
Oversee regular practice of chosen instrument/voice and organisation of choosing pieces to perform.
Checking in on composition progress.
Encourage participation in choir/orchestra or other suitable performance group.
Testing of key words.
