Aim

• To learn about music through composing, performing and listening activities
• To listen to a variety of both western and world music
• To improve keyboard skills
• To read and write basic music notation (notes and rhythms)
• To work with others in developing their musical skills

Topics covered

There are six units of work in Year 7 which aim to progress all students from those with no prior experience of music to those who are talented multi-instrumentalists.

• Unit 1: Baseline assessment and stomp; all students do a practical, musical assessment that tests musical memory, rhythm, and coordination
• Unit 2: Musical elements/scary music; the musical elements are the building blocks on which all musical activities rely. Students put the knowledge they have gained of the musical elements into practice through a “Scary Music” composition that will coincide with Halloween
• Unit 3: Steel pans and boomwhackers – ensemble skills; focusing on practical percussion skills in a whole class setting using steel pans and boomwhackers
• Unit 4: Heart and soul (The 4-chord trick); pupils learn to play heart and soul and other pieces on the keyboard with different challenges given to individual students based on their needs and abilities. They also learn the 4-chord pattern that accompanies it and see how it is used by many pop composers
• Unit 5: Instruments of the orchestra/the planets; students learn about the instruments that make up the orchestra by studying the masterpiece, “The Planets” by Gustav Holst
• Unit 6: Music tech 1 – sequencing; pupils get an introduction to the world of music technology by learning how to input and manipulate music into a DAW

Teaching groups

Year 7 students are taught in mixed ability groups with a maximum size of 24.

Assessment

Assessment is in line with School and National Policy and uses the GCSE grades. Students are assessed in the first term on listening and practical activities and this provides the basis for their Key Stage 3 target level.

How to support at home

• Ensure students have a pencil and rubber for the lesson
• Encourage students to practice keyboard skills at home if they have a keyboard
• Listen to lots of different styles of music at home
• Support and encourage students to practice regularly if they have instrumental or vocal lessons, by listening to them play occasionally and taking an interest in the music which they are working on for their lessons
• Encourage students to learn the basics which they need for the lessons at home if they do not already know them. For example, notes on music lines, note lengths, music vocabulary, and notes on the keyboard
• Encourage students to participate in extracurricular music clubs:
  • Lower School Choir – no audition necessary, everyone welcome
  • Lower School Orchestra – all string, woodwind and brass players
• All players are encouraged to participate, whether they have lessons in School or out of School