Aim

To provide a curriculum which:

• Provides a balanced and broad range of study for students who choose music which enhances and builds upon the work undertaken in Year 7 and 8
• Lays the foundations for further study at GCSE level

The work is based around the core skills of performing, composing, listening and appraising and there is the opportunity to practice these skills in a range of contexts.

Topics covered

There is one compulsory unit and four pathways units of work in Year 9 which aim to build on the skills that they have learnt in Year 7 and 8. The pathways units are designed to prepare students for the Eduqas GCSE Music course in Year 10.

Compulsory unit:

• Hooks and Riffs; students look at how music from many genres relies on repeated ideas. Students will explore a classic pop riff before using Bandlab to create their own piece of EDM using loops

Pathways units:

• Units 1 & 2: Film music; students are put in the position of a film soundtrack composer and explore the challenges and devices used in film soundtrack composition. They explore leitmotifs, themes and other typical film music devices to compose their own soundtrack to clips from famous films. They also have the opportunity to prepare performances of film music and music from other genres and have these assessed against the GCSE mark scheme
• Unit 3: Music for dancing; students explore different styles of dance, including Tango, Waltz, Ballet and Club Dance. They explore the features of each dance that make it unique and complete performing and composing tasks
• Unit 4: Contemporary music of the world; students explore a range of music from around the globe, including traditional and contemporary music. They discover main features through listening, performing and composing tasks. Areas to study include Reggae, Indian Music, Afrobeat, Minimalism and Expressionism

Teaching groups

Year 9 students are taught in mixed ability groups of around 20.

Assessment

Assessment is in line with School and National Policy and uses the GCSE grades.

How to support at home

• Many students will work on their songwriting or performance at home, writing lyrics, melodies or just generally playing around with chords and riffs and this is to be encouraged
• Some students will use other music technology programmes at home and this is also good for developing new skills. Where students produce music at home, they are encouraged to bring a recorded sample of music, so that they can share their experiences and expertise
• Encourage students to participate in extracurricular clubs:
  • Lower School Choir – no audition necessary. Everyone is welcome
  • Lower School Orchestra – all string, woodwind and bass players
• All players are encouraged to participate, whether they have lessons in School or out of School