Music

Year 10 began the academic year with a review of content learnt in Year 9 and then worked on putting their musical vocabulary to practice with examined material. They have focused on 3 set works so far: Afro Celt Sound System – Release, Beethoven - Pathetique, John Williams – Star Wars. A lot of lessons have been dedicated to composition, where students have picked a stimulus of their own choosing and written a piece of music influenced by that specific style of writing.

Year 11 have continued to work on their set works which they started in Year 10 and are now at the stage where they have covered all 7 set works in detail. There main focus this year has been on performance and composition. They have been working on a composition set by the exam board on top of their free composition which they started in Year 10. They have also completed a solo and ensemble recording for the course.

Key Stage 5

At the beginning of the course, Year 12 got straight into analysing the set works from the exam board using the musical terminology which they developed in GCSE. They have studied pieces by the Beatles, Debussy, Berlioz, Stravinsky and Anoushka Shankar. Whilst analysing these pieces aurally, they have also been working on their essay writing skills and writing critical essays on why these selected pieces are important to Music history. They have also been working on their compositional writing skills and developing their ability to write music in an idiomatic way.

Year 13 have been working hard on their analytical skills based around 13 set works. Like in Year 12, there has been a focus on critical writing skills for these pieces. They have continued to work on a composition based around a stimulus of their choosing and also working towards a 6 hour composition exam. Year 13 also have a 8 minute recital of a range of pieces for their chosen instrument.

How I can help my child learn in Music?

✓ Test your children on their knowledge of the key musical elements. These can be found in their google classroom. You can also listen to the set work they are studying with them and get them to talk about what is going on in the music using the key musical elements.

✓ Support your children with ensuring they are doing practice on their instrument each week to work towards their performance exam.