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Music - Key Stage 3
Got To: Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9
The Key Stage 3 music curriculum will focus on developing musical literacy, historical musical knowledge through constant listening, appreciation of composers and their art, and a general enjoyment of music-making through class-based practical musical activities.
These goals will be achieved through units of structured learning assignments throughout each year, including the study of aspects of music history and compositional styles leading to the creation of individual compositions and practical involvement in class ensemble music-making.
The broad and all-embracing nature of this approach, as well as being justified academically in its own right, is also logically commensurate with a suitable foundation for a more detailed study of music for students wishing to study the subject to examination level at Key Stage 4, where performing, listening and composing are the three main elemental ingredients integral to the GCSE course.
In general terms, the music curriculum in years 7,8 and 9 is meant to stimulate all students into becoming actively aware of music as a cultural and socially essential part of living in a modern society.
By the very nature and understanding of the subject as taught in mixed ability groups. it will be the aim and purpose of class activities to concentrate on the musical progress of all students and to ensure that the assignments and challenges are suitably differentiated enough to accommodate all levels of musical ability and experience.
It must be appreciated that as the various elements of musical activity require not only relevant knowledge-based information but also constant repetition and reinforcement, some of the listed course units below will of necessity be repeated in different formats and at various different times throughout each of the three one-year courses. For example, some elements of musical literacy will be ongoing and re-visited constantly throughout each year-long course.
Got To: Introduction | Year 8 | Year 9
Michaelmas Term (First Half)
[i] Musical literacy: Western musical notation including note values, rhythmic patterns, pitch names and a general introduction to the key system and various clefs.
Aural training and awareness through singing and simple aural dictation will feature prominently as part of this unit of work.
[ii] Simple melody writing/composing combined with individual performance on an instrument, be it a keyboard, percussion or an orchestral instrument.
[iii] Class singing where and when appropriate, using European folk songs, popular songs from other countries.
[iv] Introduction to listening to music in an analytical way, i.e. identification of instrument, timbre, mood, dynamics etc. To begin with, a selection of classical pieces will be chosen for this purpose such as Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
Michaelmas Term (Second Half)
[i] Introduction to instruments of the orchestra, using illustrated textbooks and Britten’s ‘Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’.
[ii] Ongoing aural training and exposure to reading staff notation by means of class singing, sight singing and reading notes from the stave onto an instrument.
[iii] Listening to well- known and popular classical pieces of music and studying their mode of communication, whether programmatic /descriptive or abstract/pure music, and to place each piece into an historical context.
[iv] Introduction to the pentatonic scale by means of playing improvised melodies based on this scale.
Lent Term (First Half)
[i] Unit of work focusing on descriptive music and the musical qualities associated with telling a story or describing an event. Works such as ‘Night on a Bare Mountain’, ‘Dance Macabre’, ‘Carnival of the Animals.’ ‘Peter and the Wolf’ will be used to demonstrate the power of music to communicate in a graphic and programmatic way.
[ii] Class singing combined with ongoing aural training will take place in one lesson at least once a fortnight.
[iii] Composing a melody on an instrument lasting 4 or 8 bars to either a given rhythm or one composed by individual students. More musically advanced students will be encouraged to use chords – particularly if they are competent keyboard players.
Lent Term (Second Half)
[i] Whole class ensemble playing, using differentiated notated parts for percussion, keyboards and assorted orchestral instruments.
[ii] Use of the pentatonic scale to create more prolonged compositions both written/notated and improvised.
[iii] Instruments of the orchestra - topic continued. Listening and identification. Concentration on individual instruments from each section of the orchestra and the study of how their sounds are produced.
Summer Term (First Half)
[i] Composing longer melodies for keyboard or tuned percussion with an additional rhythm accompaniment, i.e. for un-tuned percussion instrument.
Introduce new keys such as G and F major and also A minor.
[ii] Introduction to World Music as a developing and ongoing topic or scheme of work. Begin with music of China and /or Korea. Students will be encouraged to research aspects of this project independently and to investigate history and context pertaining to the music of each country or continent.
[iii] Class singing and continued aural training in relation to western notation and performances practices.
Summer Term (Second Half)
[i] Class ensemble performances of a more challenging nature, specifically composed by the Director of Music for a differentiated mixed ability group of students.
[ii] Further composition assignments to include the use of words and word setting, leading to the writing of a song.
[iii] Revision and testing of Listening assignments , music theory and notation and the knowledge and identification of Instruments of the orchestra.
Got To: Introduction | Year 7 | Year 9
Michaelmas Term (First Half)
[i] Musical literacy unit of work continued.- including more advanced rhythms in 3/8 and 6/8 patterns. Ongoing aural training continues concentrating on basic intervals of a third, a fifth and octave.
[ii] Introduction in both theoretical and practical terms of primary triads/chords to apply to individual student melody writing.
[iii] Instruments of the Orchestra – stage 2. The study of each individual member of the orchestra and its particular timbre and musical possibilities.
[iv] Class singing: songs from stage musicals: traditional songs from different countries and sight –singing/playing from ‘Sing at Sight’ books.
Michaelmas Term (Second Half)
[i] The history of the keyboard, beginning with the organ, and concentrating on the harpsichord and piano and their treatment by various composers throughout history
[ii] More detailed unit of work on the history and development of the piano and its repertoire.
[iii] Composing element. The use of chords and simple harmony in writing music.
[iv] World music topic. Music of India and the subcontinent. The historical and social perspective as well as the use of ragas and traditional rhythmic and melodic patterns.
Lent Term (First Half)
[i] The progression of Musical Styles throughout western musical history. The study of selected classical pieces from Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods., using music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Chopin.
[ii] The nature of composition, improvisation and performance throughout history. A comparative approach comparing western and eastern/Asian musical methods, and practices.
[iii] Class singing. Songs from USA and Europe examining and comparing musical styles and texts.
[iv] Aural training continues by means of pitch and rhythm dictation.
Lent Term (Second Half)
[i] Composing unit focusing on writing and notating melodies for different instruments of the orchestra – including transposing instruments such as clarinet and trumpet. Performances will follow by students who play those instruments.
[ii] Class ensemble compositions using existing arrangements of well known classical and popular pieces,- the purpose of which is to encourage proficiency in music reading and the enjoyment of making music with others.
[iii] Electric/Cassio keyboard unit. Examine the layout and musical and technical potential of such instruments, and how to develop personal musical skills on them.
[iv] World music unit: Music of Indonesia.
Summer Term (First Half)
[i] Classical music genres. THE CONCERTO This unit will examine the history of the form and its exponents from Vivaldi and Mozart to Rachmaninov and Shostakovich
[ii] Classical music genres: THE SYMPHONY: its development and exponents from the 18th century to the present day,
[iii] Extended melody composition using ABA form – after studying classical examples of the plan by composers such as Handel, Mozart and Haydn.
[iv] Solo performance unit. Students to begin to prepare a solo [already written] piece for assessment purposes at the end of term.
Summer Term (Second Half)
[i] Instruments of the Orchestra; Stage 3
The technical workings of one member of each section of the orchestra: to include practical demonstrations by musical experts on particular instruments.
[ii] Class singing and ongoing aural training. Revision of all the songs taught throughout the year.
[iii] Music of the 1960’s. A practical approach, taught through performance.
Music by Bill Haley, Elvis Presley. The emergence of Rock and roll, the use of basic triads in many pop songs. Music of the Beatles. Students to sing and play songs such as Eleanor Rigby, Let It Be, Yesterday, and Ob La Di.
[iv] Preparation for End of term tests focusing on the examination of students’ levels of performing, composing and listening abilities.
Got To: Introduction | Year 7 | Year 8
Michaelmas Term (First Half)
[i] Musical Theory and literacy, continued.
Introduction of simple and compound time signatures.
Dotted notes and syncopated rhythms combined with elements of improvisation on percussion and keyboard instruments.
Pitch and rhythm aural dictation continued.
[ii] Melody writing with chords. Revise deployment of primary triads 1, IV and V.
[iii] Concept of using major and minor keys in students’ compositions.
Also, how other composers used different keys to different effects.
[iv] Continue the teaching of word setting to melodic compositions, taking examples of both classical [ ie Schubert and Schumann] and modern- day composers [ ie Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lennon and McCartney.]
Michaelmas Term (Second Half)
[i] History of Musical styles from the beginning of the 20th Century.
Impressionism, Atonality: Expressionism: Schoenberg, Bartok, etc.
[ii] The Blues: its history and social context and performance traditions.
The use of classroom tuned percussion and keyboards will feature prominently in this scheme of work.
[iii] The Jazz period in the 1920’s and 30’s including Ragtime and the lead-up to Rock and Roll in the 1950’s
Lent Term (First Half)
[i] The emergence of the Broadway musical .
Lerner and Lowe. Rogers and Hammerstein, Lloyd Webber
[ii] Word setting to melodies using new and challenging rhythmic patterns and keys.
[iii] Aspects of musical development in the 21st Century: Rock music, rap music, serious electronic music: the computerization of music.
Lent Term (Second Half)
[i] Improvisation and the Blues revised, using keyboards and percussion instruments.
[ii] The Avante Garde in the 20th Century.
Peter Maxwell Davies: Karlheinz Stockhousen: John Taverner, John Cage.
[iii] Extended Melody writing – with chordal accompaniment.
Individual performance preparation on an instrument of choice.
Summer Term (First Half)
[i] World music unit. Traditional sounds from other cultures: both modern and primitive. Examine compositional and performance practices.
[ii] Western Opera: contrasted with Chinese opera. History, social and musical significance.
[iii] The role of the voice in music-making throughout historical and musical periods.
Summer Term (Second Half)
[i] Instruments of the orchestra[ final revision]
In-depth investigation of sound production on each instrument and identification of timbres heard in ensemble performances.
[ii] Revise Improvisation at the keyboard. Use of chord sequences with melody writing. Attention to phrasing, dynamics and simple two part harmony writing.
[iii] The music industry today. Commercial aspects of pop and rock music.
Music criticism/journalism.
Music of the future: application of technology, opportunities for experimentation and potential consequences for musicians and their careers.