Music

Department Vision

The WGSB music curriculum aims to provide all pupils with a high-quality music education which engages and inspires children to develop a life-long love of music, increases their self-confidence, creativity, and imagination, and provides opportunities for self-expression and a sense of personal achievement. We offer opportunities for students to develop their talents in all aspects of music including composition, singing and appreciation. 

The students will develop an ability to listen to, and appreciate a wide variety of music, including different styles, periods and cultures

The students will have opportunities to explore and express ideas and feelings about music, in a variety of ways, for example through singing.

The students will explore a range of musical elements, for example: pitch, tempo and dynamics.

Encourage active involvement in creating and developing musical ideas using voices and instruments – both tuned and un-tuned.

Help the students develop self-discipline and creativity.

Enable all students to have access to music and to develop an enjoyment of music which will always be part of their lives.

“The Music Department is an alternative universe where pupils are often unrecognisable from who they are outside of it. The shy become confident. The agitated become calm. The lonely become included. The quiet become heard, and the lost become found. Music reveals the real child.”

 V Fleischfresser

Year 7

Year 7

 

Topic

Learning outcomes

Term 1

Building bricks and the elements of music

Elements of music 

Whole-class rhythm games  Listening activities focussed on the different elements 

Key word and Italian terms 

Graphic scores 

The Keyboard 

 

Term 2

Music notation and Keyboard skills

keyboard skills workbook 

Intro to music software 

 

Learning to read and write the pitches of the treble clef

Learning to play simple pieces at the keyboard, reading from stave notation

Practising rhythmic dictations (applying the theory) Practising pitch dictations (applying the theory) 

 

Term 3 & 4

Rhythm and time signatures

Rhythm and time signatures  

Whole-class rhythm games

Listening activities

Learning note-values

Learning about time signatures

Learning to add bars to musical extracts

Practising rhythmic dictations (applying the theory). 

Dotted rhythms 

 

Term 5 & 6

Sonority city

Layout of the orchestra  

Instruments and their families -Texture and Timbre 

Tuned and untuned percussion 

Continued practising of rhythm/pitch dictation 

Instrumental ‘show and tell’ 

 

Year 8

Year 8

 

Topic

Learning outcomes

Term 1

Pentatonic scales and

Improvisation

Call and response 

Intro to African American Spirituals 

Sibelius notation task 

Learn to play the pentatonic scale on the keyboard 

Compose a pentatonic melody at the keyboard

 

Term 2

The Blues

Learn to play the 12 bar blues on keyboards 

Learn about triads 

Learn to play the pentatonic Blues scale (C Eb F F# G) on the keyboard 

Compose a simple pentatonic Blues scale melody at the keyboard 

Wilmington blues 

Improvisation 

 

Term 3

Off beat - Reggae

Exploring the origins Reggae and syncopation 

Primary triads I  IV & V 

Bass lines in Reggae songs 

Hooks and riffs 

Exploring Lyrics  

Creating a Reggae arrangement 

 

Term 4 and 5

Chromatic and major scales

Tones and semitones 

Learn about major and minor 

Chromatic scales 

Listen to examples of pieces in major and minor keys 

Drones 

 

Term 6

Keyboard

Major/minor tonality 

Pavan for jack point class performance 

 

Year 9

Year 9

 

 

Topic

Learning outcomes

Term 1

Popular song

Song structure 

Music Genres 

Key terms 

Note and rest values 

Basic guitar riffs 

 

Term 2

Samba

Instruments, Structure and Texture of samba music 

Ostinato, cyclic and poly 

Rhythms 

Call and response 

Composing samba rhythms 

 

Term 3 and 4

Soundtracks

Film/TV Music 

Composing for film 

Using DAWS software 

Effect of music on film 

Performing Bond themes on the keyboard. 

 

Term 5 and 6

Video game music

Perform some well-known game music on keyboards 

Sound effects 

Composing for different genres of video game