Music

Year 7

Students study Samba Music with rhythmic values and group work being taught throughout. Students take part in whole-class performance work with the Ukulele and also study Gamelan, Slendro, Pelog as well as playing/staying on the beat and fluency. We look at classical music including New World Symphony by Dvorak and pair performance. Students also look at themes and variations and take and change an original piece of music. They also study Reggae music and look at pair performance and composition. Throughout Year 7 listening, performing and ensemble skills are embedded and there is continual reference and description of musical elements as a guide to analysis.

Year 8

During the autumn term students study blues performance, pair performance, blues composition, and improvisation and scales. In the spring term, students study TV, film and music performance – X Files, rhythmic patterns and the use of drone and ostinato, TV and film compositions, and the use of different scales, modes, melody and texture. During summer term students look at ternary form and musical structure and study Motown music, participating in class singing and ensemble performance. Throughout Year 8 listening, performing and ensemble skills are embedded and there is continual reference and description of musical elements as a guide to analysis.

Year 9

During the autumn term students study musical literacy, notation, scales and key signatures, performance directions, treble and bass clef, reading a score, minimalism composition, using cells and ostinatos and they also study the music of Steve Reich. In the spring term, students participate in dance music study and look at different genres of dance music. They study the use of rhythm and chords in dance music, traditional and sequenced performance, choosing an appropriate piece of music and setting targets and deadlines for recording. During summer term students continue with minimalism composition and study the use of diminution, augmentation and metric displacement and will learn how to structure a composition. They continue with the dance composition and study how to use technology and texture effectively in their compositions. Throughout Year 9 listening, performing and ensemble skills are embedded and there is continual reference and description of musical elements as a guide to analysis.

Years 10 and 11

During the autumn term, students complete a set work study on Moby, Steve Reich, Capercaillie and Miles Davis. The spring term sees students looking at minimalism composition and how to produce a score for their composition and their set work study is on Jeff Buckley and Rag Desh.  During the summer term students complete a set work study on Handel and continue with their dance composition and produce a score for their composition. Throughout Year 10 listening, performing and ensemble skills are embedded and there is continual reference and description of musical elements as a guide to analysis.