Music

Unit 1 – Find Your Voice – Understanding the Elements of Music through singing.

• Beats / Rhythm 
• Tempo 
• Pitch 
• Structure 
• Texture 
• Dynamics

Unit 2 – Rhythm

• Reading rhythms 
• Performing rhythms 
• Note durations 
• Metre 4/4 and 3/4 
• Individual performance 
• Ensemble performance 

Unit 3 – Keyboard

• Good technique 
• Note placement 
• Treble clef C-G 
• Individual performance 
• Ensemble performance 
• Following rhythms and pitch on the treble clef 

Unit 4 – Drumkit Skills

• Development of individual performance
• Parts of the drum kit 
• Following simple rhythms on a drum kit 
• Drum notation 
• Keeping a steady beat 

Unit 6 – Ukulele

• Simple chord progressions
• Chord placements 
• Following and performing chord positions 
• Individual performance 
• Ensemble performance 
• Chords I IV V in C major 

Unit 1 – Textures and Layers

• The different contextural layers in a rock band
• Vocal melodies 
• Chord progressions on Ukulele 
• Chord progression on keyboard 
• Individual performance 
• Ensemble performance 
• Follow and perform simple drum rhythms 

Unit 2 – Introduction to Song Writing

• Popular song chord progressions 
• Compose pop song chord progression 
• Adding in a bass note 
• Rhythmic patterns 
• Pentatonic scale and melodic lines 
• Syncopated and upbeat strumming patterns 
• Ensemble performance

Unit 3 – Hooks and Rifts (Exploring repeated Musical patterns in songs)

• Hooks, riffs and ostinatos in different styles of music 
• Why a songwriter would include a hook or riff in their song development of keyboard and notation skills through playing hooks and riffs 
• Development of keyboard technique such as change of hand position and adding in of the left hand 
• How to use a DAW to create a riff  
• How and why a composer might use music tech to produce a track

Unit 4 – Offbeat (Exploring syncopation and stylistic features of Reggae)

• The origins of Reggae 
• Bob Marley and his influence of Reggae music 
• Contextural layers within a reggae song  
• Offbeat rhythms 
• Riffs, syncopated basslines, skank guitar rhythms 
• Chords I IV and V 
• Development of keyboard, ukulele and vocal skills 
• Ensemble and individual performance 

Unit 5 – The Blues (Exploring the stylistic features of the 12 bar blues)

• The origins of the Blues through slavery / worksongs 
• 12 Bar Blues Chord progression (I IV V)
• Syncopated rhythms 
• Walking basslines 
• AAB lyric structure 
• Blues scale improvisation 
• Whole class and small group ensembles  

Unit 6 – EDM (Exploring Electronic Dance Music)

• Influential producers in the industry 
• The job role of a producer 
• Stylistic features of EDM 
• How to create a piece of EDM using a DAW 
• Structure and balanced phrasing

Unit 1 – Musical Theatre (introducing Musical Theatre as a genre)

• Different types of Musicals 
• Different types of songs in a Musical 
• Prologues, action songs, character and comedy songs 
• Roles and responsibilities of the MD 
• Vocal techniques 
• Elements of music within songs 
• Different styles of music ie Blues/Motown/RnR 

Unit 2 – Film Music (Developing skills on software through a new genre)

• The job of a film score composer 
• Diegetic/Non diegetic/Mickey-Mousing/Foley 
• How a composer uses the elements of music to create atmosphere 
• How to create incidental music on a DAW to a given scene 

Unit 3 – Hip Hop (Introducing a new style of Music and exploring its cultural and stylistic features) 

• Vocal performance 
• Influential hip hop artists 
• Rap from Hamilton 
• Rhyming patterns 
• Stylistic features of hip hop (cultural and musical) 
• Composition of a hip hop track featuring the stylistic features 

Unit 4 – The 4 Chord Trick (Exploring 4 chord pop songs through performance and critical listening)

• 4 chord harmonic sequences 
• Textures and contextural layers  
• Development of Band skills (Uke/Keys/Drums/Vox) 
• Following a lead sheet 
• Key of G/Em 

Unit 5 – Composing a 4 Chord Song (Composing within a small group to create a stylistically accurate pop song)

• Stylistic features of Popular songs 
• Structure 
• Harmonic sequences 
• Development of performance skills 
• Melodic shape / composition techniques such as repeptition, sequence and conjunct melodies 
• Lyrics writing 

Unit 6 – Producing a 4 Chord Song (Composing within a small group to create a stylistically accurate pop song)

• Stems and midi files 
• Job roles of producers and sound engineers 
• Music Tech devices such as splice/mixing / reverb/panning/phasing/automation 
• How to use a midi keyboard 
• How to create a remix 

Unit 7 – Band Skills Project 5 – Use Somebody C/Em/F/Am

• Developing band skills on all instruments 
• Developing Ensemble performance on chosen instrument 
• Developing Individual performance on chosen instrument
• 8/8 rhythm 

Unit 8 – Listening/Research

• How music and instruments have developed from the 1960’s through to the present day
• How music influenced fashion and teenagers 
• Recognising and understanding key features of a variety of genres. 

Unit 1 – Introduction to Music Theory

• Pitch (treble and bass)
• Rhythm
• Primary chords (root and first inversion)
• Time signatures
• Scales

Unit 2 – Melodic Devices and Chords

• Melodic device keywords
• What makes a good melody
• Adding chords to a melody
• Using notation software
• Improvisation on the Blues scale
• Composition

Unit 3 – Harmony and Tonality

• Primary and secondary chords
• Degrees of the scale
• Major, minor, atonal
• Key signatures up to 4 sharps and flats
• Composition

Unit 4 – Structure and Style

• Binary/Ternary/Rondo forms
• Verse/Chorus forms
• Strophic/ through composed forms

Unit 5 – Texture, Timbre and Dynamics

• Homophonic/polyphonic/unison/Melody and Accompaniment
• Sonority
• Italian terms for dynamics and tempo

Unit 6 – Composition

• Writing strong melodies
• Finding chords and harmony
• How to use melodic and harmonic devices

Unit 1 – AoS 1 – The Western Classical Tradition

• Musical forms and devices
• The Eras of music from Baroque to 20^th Century
• Key features and ensembles of each of the Eras
• The development of the orchestra
• Badinerie

Unit 2 – AoS 2 Music For Ensemble

• Sonority
• The orchestra
• Brass / Jazz / Big bands
• Pop ensembles
• Vocal ensembles (SATB)

Unit 3 – AoS3 – Film Music

• Leitmotif
• The inter-related dimensions of music
• The effects of music on a film scene

Unit 4 – Aos 4 – Popular Music

• Popular chord progressions
• Sonority and Instrumental techniques
• Riffs
• Popular song styles (Rock/Pop/Ballad)
• Africa