The Music department aims to equip students with an understanding of, and an acceptance of, music from different cultures and countries, whilst improving confidence and ability when performing and composing their own music.
Music topics include the study of chord structures, melodies, major and minor; World music and musical genres from different cultures plus musical instruments such as guitar and piano. Pupils will learn about different groups and ensembles, and will analyse their music. Learn about the Music curriculum and how homework is set below:
Year 7
Term 1 |
| Half Term 1: Introduction to Music – Notation (Treble Clef), Basic introduction to Cubase 4 Software, Singing – Unison & Harmony Half Term 2: Elements & Notation – Tempo, Dynamics, Notation (Treble Clef/Leger Lines), Texture |
Term 2 |
| Half Term 1: Pitch & Rhythm Instrumentation, Note Values, Reading and Writing Rhythms, Playing Rhythms Half Term 2: World Music – Music from different countries & cultures, Gamelan, Samba, Salsa, Folk, Welsh Music |
Term 3 |
| Half Term 1: Graphic Scores – Reading & Creating Graphic Scores, Performing Graphic Scores Half Term 2: Keyboard Work – Scales, Chords, Reading Music & Playing it (Sight-reading), Coordinating hands together |
Year 8
Term 1 |
| Half Term 1: Simple Chord Structures – Creating simple chord structures, Composing melodies over chord patterns, Recording compositions in the computer Half Term 2: The Beatles (primary chords) – Singing and analyzing Beatles songs, Triads, Composing and performing pieces using the primary chords ,Song-writing and Word-setting |
Term 2 |
| Half Term 3: Blues – Listening to and analyzing Blues music, Performing 12-bar Blues patterns, Improvisation over the 12-bar Blues chord pattern Half Term 4: Caribbean Music & Reggae – Listening to and identifying features of Caribbean & Reggae music, Performing and Composing music in this style |
Term 3 |
| Half Term 5: Pentatonic Scale (Chinese Music) – Awareness of Chinese Musical style, Perform and Compose pieces that use the Pentatonic Scale Half Term 6: Major & Minor – Learn to identify the difference between major and minor scales, Play scales, Perform and Compose pieces of music that use both major and minor chords |
Year 9
Term 1 |
| Half Term 1: Introduction to Guitars – Learn the strings on the guitar, Learn to play chords of D, G, A, E & A minor on the guitar, Perform pieces of music on the guitar that use primary chords, e.g. 12-bar blues, Brief introduction to the Bass Guitar Half Term 2: Song-Writing – Understanding how songs are composed, Setting words to music Composing and Performing your own songs |
Term 2 |
| Half Term 3: Form & Structure 1 – Understanding how larger-scale musical compositions are structured, Composing and performing pieces in different styles and using different structures, Binary Form / Ternary Form / Rondo Form Half Term 4: Form & Structure 2 – Theme & Variations – Composing & Performing, Rock Music – guitars/bass/vocals/keyboards/drums |
Term 3 |
| Half Term 5: Popular Styles at the Keyboard – Understand the characteristics of popular music, Combining walking bass lines and Blues Improvisation, Syncopation (off-beat rhythms) Half Term 6: Form & Structure 2 – Understanding the importance of good techniques, Performing both individually and as part of smaller/larger groups, Improving confidence and stage=presence |