Learning and undertaking activities in music contribute to achievement
of the curriculum aims for all young people to become:
- successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
- confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling
lives
- responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
The importance of music
Music is a unique form of communication that can change the way pupils
feel, think and act. Music forms part of an individual's identity and positive
interaction with music develops pupils' competence as learners and increases
their self-esteem. It brings together intellect and feeling and enables
personal expression, reflection and emotional development. As an integral
part of culture, past and present, music helps pupils understand themselves,
relate to others, and develop their cultural understanding, forging important
links between the home, school and the wider world.
Music education encourages active involvement in different forms of music
making, both individual and communal, helping to develop a sense of group
identity and togetherness. Music can influence pupils' development in and
out of school; it can help foster personal development and maturity, a sense
of achievement and self-worth, and the ability to work with others in a
group context.
Music learning develops pupils' critical skills: their ability to listen,
to appreciate a wide variety of music, and to make judgements about musical
quality. It also increases self-discipline, creativity, aesthetic sensitivity
and fulfilment.
Key concepts
There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of music. Pupils
need to understand these concepts in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge,
skills and understanding.
Integration of practice
- Developing knowledge, skills and understanding through the integration
of performing,
composing and listening.
- Participating,
collaborating and working with others as musicians, adapting
to different musical roles and respecting the values and benefits others
bring to musical learning.
Performing, composing and listening
Performance, composing and listening are interrelated. Pupils should be
encouraged, for example, to develop listening skills through performance
and composition activities. Knowledge, skills and understanding in each
of these areas should be developed interactively through practical music
making.
Participating, collaborating and working with
others
Music is a social experience where each performer and listener contributes
to the whole experience. Music activities help pupils develop as effective
team workers and participators by providing opportunities to play a full
part in the life of their school or wider community through performance.
Cultural understanding
- Understanding
musical traditions and the part music plays in national and
global culture and personal identity.
- Exploring how ideas, experiences and emotions are conveyed in a range
of music from different times and cultures.
Understanding musical traditions
The way we respond to music is determined to a large extent by our culture
- we need to learn how and why music is different if we are to appreciate
unfamiliar music.
Critical understanding
- Engaging with music, developing views and justifying opinions.
- Drawing on experience of a wide
range of musical contexts and styles to inform judgements.
Wide range of musical contexts
Pupils' awareness and experience of a wide range of music should be broadened
through the key processes of performing, composing and listening.
Creativity
- Using existing musical knowledge, skills and understanding for new purposes
and in new contexts.
- Exploring ways music can be combined
with other art forms and other subject disciplines.
Combined with other art forms
This includes music linked to video, film, dance or drama.
Communication
- Exploring how thoughts, feelings, ideas and emotions can be expressed
through music.
Key processes
These are the essential
skills and processes in music that pupils need to learn to make
progress.
Essential skills and processes
These should be seen as interrelated processes that enable the development
and demonstration of musicianship and musical understanding.
Performing, composing and listening
Pupils should be able to:
- sing in a solo or group
context, developing
vocal techniques and musical expression
- perform with increasing control of instrument-specific techniques and
musical expression
- practise, rehearse and perform with awareness of different parts, the
roles and contributions of different members of the group, the audience
and venue
- create,
develop and extend musical ideas by selecting and combining
resources within musical
structures, styles,
genres and traditions
- improvise, explore and develop musical ideas when performing
- listen with discrimination and internalise and recall sounds
- identify the expressive use of musical
elements, devices,
tonalities
and structures.
Group context
This includes singing unison and part songs.
Developing vocal techniques
This might include using the voice to make music in a variety of ways,
including different singing styles, rapping, beatboxing, choral singing,
scat singing, chant and other vocal styles from around the world.
Create, develop and extend
This includes composing original music, arranging existing musical ideas
and creating new pieces using a range of existing material.
Musical structures
Musical structures include popular song structures, binary form, ternary
form, rondo, raga and 12-bar blues.
Styles, genres and traditions
Different types of music across time and place (styles), music for different
purposes (genres), and ways of working and producing music that may reflect
a specific cultural or social function (traditions).
Musical elements
Musical elements include pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture
and silence.
Musical devices
Musical devices include repetition, riff, ostinato, call and response,
canon, sequence, inversion, cyclic patterns and ornamentation.
Musical tonalities
Musical tonalities include major and minor keys, atonality, modulation
and different types of scales.
Reviewing and evaluating
Pupils should be able to:
- analyse, review, evaluate and compare pieces of music
- identify conventions and contextual influences in music of different
styles, genres
and traditions
- communicate ideas and feelings about music using expressive language
and musical vocabulary to justify their opinions
- adapt their own musical ideas and refine and improve their own and others'
work.
Styles, genres and traditions
Different types of music across time and place (styles), music for different
purposes (genres), and ways of working and producing music that may reflect
a specific cultural or social function (traditions).
Range and content
This section outlines the breadth of the subject on which teachers should
draw when teaching the key concepts and key processes.
The study of music should include:
- performance
activities in a range of contexts within and beyond the classroom
- a range of live and recorded music from different times and cultures
- a
range of classical and popular traditions and current trends
in music that reflect cultural diversity and a global dimension
- staff
notation and other
relevant notations in a range of musical genres, styles and
traditions
- the consideration of contextual
influences that affect the way music is created, performed and
heard
- the use
of ICT and music technologies to create, manipulate and refine
sounds
- the role of music and musicians in society, the music industry and of
artistic
and intellectual property rights.
Performance activities in a range of contexts
For example student concerts, public concerts, assemblies, rehearsals,
and formal and informal external events. This might also include online
performance events.
A range of classical and popular traditions
This should include music of the western classical tradition as well as
music from other national and cultural traditions, for example folk, jazz,
contemporary and 20th-century popular music, and music for film, television
and the stage.
Staff notation
This should include gaining an understanding of, and using, traditional
staff notation in a range of musical styles (including contemporary and
popular music).
Other relevant notations
Other notations, where relevant to particular styles of music, could include
graphic notation, tablature, chord symbols, notation for percussion instruments
and lead sheets.
Contextual influences
This includes historical, social, national or political contexts, the
purpose of different types of music, the roles of performers, composers
and audience, and the influence of developments in technology.
Use of ICT and music technologies
This includes the use of ICT and music technologies to control and structure
sound in performing and composing activities and developing pupils' own
ideas within and beyond the classroom.
Artistic and intellectual property rights
This includes pupils' own work and the work of others.
Curriculum opportunities
During the key stage pupils should be offered the following opportunities
that are integral to their learning and enhance their engagement with the
concepts, processes and content of the subject.
The curriculum should provide opportunities for pupils to:
- develop individual performance skills both vocal and instrumental, including
the use of music technology
- develop listening and aural perception skills in practical activities,
including composing and performing
- develop creative and compositional skills, including song writing, arranging
and improvising
- work with a range
of musicians and watch and listen to live musical performances
where possible, to extend pupils' musical learning
- work individually, in musical groups of different sizes and as a class
- build on their own interests and skills and develop music
leadership skills
- make links between music and other subjects and areas of the curriculum.
A range of musicians
These could include instrumental tutors, community musicians, professional
artists, amateur musicians and students from peer groups and other groups
in the school. This might also include web-based learning opportunities.
Music leadership skills
This includes taking different roles and responsibilities, such as organising
musical activities or events or being the leader or director of a performance.
