Music

 

Curriculum intent

At Hayes School, our commitment is to provide moments of joy, support pupils to thrive beyond our gates, and nurture community and character through a curriculum that is conceptual, inclusive and responsive. Our values — kindness, endeavour, inclusivity and responsibility — shape every aspect of this curriculum. They ensure that every pupil, particularly the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, is known, supported and challenged to achieve highly and to flourish in school and beyond.

 

Purpose

At Hayes, we want every student to know the power of music: to experience music ‘from the inside’ as performers and creators, and to understand how music fits into the world at large. We aim to give students the knowledge and skills they need for music to play a positive part in the rest of their lives, whether this involves performing, creating, or appreciating. Some of our students have gone on to be professional performers and composers; however, all Hayes students gain an appreciation of how music works, its power and place in everyday life, and how music fits into the world.

 

Key Concepts the underpin the Music Curriculum
  1. Pitch and time
  2. Ways of fitting notes together
  3. Structures; the balance between unity and variety
  4. Social and historical context

 

Key Skills that underpin the Music Curriculum
  1. Instrumental Skills
  2. Vocal Skills
  3. ICT Skills
  4. Audience Awareness
  5. Teamwork
  6. Aural Skills

 

Academic end points
Year 7 By the end of Year 7, students will understand the fundamentals of the ways in which pitch and time are organised in music. They will be able to construct and play major and minor chords on the keyboard and ukulele, performing music with a limited range of chords with accuracy and fluency. They will be able to sing with accuracy and expression in large and small groups, holding a melodic part with others. They will have an understanding of how to present a performance, and respond appropriately as an audience member. Year 7 students will be able to improvise effective melodic and rhythmic phrases within identified styles and structures. They will be able to combine given musical material into a composition or arrangement that demonstrates an understanding of how notes are combined, and consideration of unity and variety. By the end of Year 7, students will be able to read standard rhythm notation and chord boxes with good accuracy, and will have a basic understanding of standard pitch notation, as well as playing simple music by ear. They will have listened to a wide range of music from different cultures and periods of history, and will be able to identify and describe musical features using appropriate terminology selected from the ‘Mad T-shirt' musical dimensions, showing an understanding of where music fits into a range of cultures.
Year 8 By the end of Year 8, students will be able to play a wider range of chords fluently, with an increasing awareness of voice leading through use of inversions and bass line patterns. They will sing more complex songs, and explore a cappella textures and holding an individual part in a small group. Through the Four Chord project and the 12-bar blues project, students will develop their knowledge of chords, keys, and textures. They will be able to manipulate a more sophisticated range of given material and combine this with original ideas to create music with a good balance of cohesion and variety. Year 8 students will be able to play more complex music by ear, from standard notation, and chord boxes. They will have an increasing understanding of how to present a performance, and respond appropriately as an audience member. By the end of Year 8, students will have listened to an increasing range of music from different cultures and periods of history, and will be able to identify and describe musical features increasingly accurately using appropriate terminology selected from the ‘Mad T-shirt' musical dimensions, showing an understanding of where music fits in to an increasing range of cultures. They will be increasingly independent in using their musical knowledge to source listening and performing materials themselves in accordance with their interests.
Year 9

By the end of Year 9, will be able to perform confidently on keyboard, ukulele, guitar or bass, playing appropriate parts in a range of music with some accuracy and sense of style. They will have a well-developed understanding of how to present a performance, and respond appropriately as an audience member. Through the musical theatre and cover versions projects, students will gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which the features and context of styles have changed over time, identifying and evaluating musical features and attempting to make objective judgements. The songwriting ‘culmination project’ allows students to explore creative ideas more freely within stylistic conventions.

By the end of Year 9, students will have listened to a very wide range of music from different cultures and periods of history, and will be able to identify and describe musical features accurately using appropriate terminology selected from the ‘Mad T-shirt' musical dimensions, showing an understanding of where music fits in to an increasing range of cultures. They will be confident enough in their musical knowledge and experience to embrace unfamiliar musical styles with openmindedness and some understanding. They will be able to interpret freely-available online lead sheets and sheet music well enough to be able to develop their musical skills and pursue their own interests independently.
Year 10 By the end of Year 10, students will have deepened their understanding of the musical dimensions through a reinvestigation of the ‘Mad T-shirt' concepts. They will have practised a range of compositional approaches in a way that enables them to make informed decisions about the way that they wish to produce their GCSE free composition, together with its style and structure. They will be continuing to develop their instrumental/vocal skills in conjunction with their individual peripatetic teacher and extra-curricular activities. Through work on AoS2 (Concerto Through Time), AoS5 (Conventions of Pop) and AoS4 (Film Music), students will have applied their ‘Mad T-shirt' knowledge and terminology to a range of styles within their cultural and historical contexts, identifying and analysing characteristic features of familiar and unfamiliar music.
Year 11 By the end of Year 11, students will have demonstrated a high level of competency in performing, composing and listening. They will have performed as a soloist and as part of an ensemble, showing accuracy, control and expression. They will have produced a free composition and a composition to a brief, showing an awareness of stylistic conventions, structure, texture, and development of ideas. Through work on AoS3 (Rhythms of the World), and further work on the other AoS, students will demonstrate analytical skills and an understanding of a wide variety of cultural contexts. They will be able to use musical terminology accurately to describe the features of familiar and unfamiliar music, and relate these to characteristic features of each of the styles studied. Through the study of the AoS, they will develop an increasing understanding of the ways that notes can be put together in different ways in a range of styles. By the end of Year 11, students will have enough musical experience and understanding to embark on a range of post-16 courses of study, and pursue their own musical interests independently.

 

Music Music Tech
Year 12 By the end of Year 12, students will have continued to develop their instrumental/vocal skills in conjunction with their individual peripatetic teacher and extra-curricular activities. They will have studied a range of music from the Western classical and popular traditions using scores, lead sheets and aural analysis, using an increasing range of terminology to describe features and identify characteristics. Students will learn the conventions of Western tonal harmony including the principles of tonality, chord voicing, and voice leading, and will demonstrate this by using a range of standard harmonic progressions to harmonise melodies. They will also explore various creative approaches to free composition, to a point where they can make decisions about their own free composition, its style and structure. They will make connections between the styles studied, and begin to develop a deeper understanding of musical conventions and functional harmony. By the end of Year 12, students will learn the principles of signal path and the basics of analogue and digital sound capture and manipulation. They will know how to record a range of instruments using correct microphone placement, and be able to edit their recordings and apply effects and processing effectively. They will learn how to use a range of functions within Logic software for sound recording, sequencing, sampling, and synthesis. They will have a broad understanding of the relationship between recording technology and musical styles over the last hundred years, and be able to identify and describe the sonic features of a range of familiar and unfamiliar music using specific technical terminology.
Year 13

By the end of Year 13, students will be able to perform complex music on their chosen instrument/voice with a high level of accuracy and expression. They will be able to compose music which demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of stylistic conventions, together with skilled manipulation of harmony, texture, sonority, melody and rhythm. They will be able to harmonise chorale melodies in the style of J.S.Bach with an excellent understanding of stylistic voice leading and chord voicing. They will have an advanced understanding of a range of musical styles, and will be able to accurately to identify and describe the details of familiar and unfamiliar music, using a sophisticated range of musical terminology.  They will use conventional musical notation fluently, both to communicate their own musical ideas and to analyse the music of others. 

Beyond musical competence, we encourage students to be open minded about musical traditions, to be curious, reflective and resilient learners and to equip them with the skills to support them in their future musical lives. We are very proud of the way in which our students have a portfolio of musical competencies by the end of their GCSEs, and by the end of A Levels, students are fully fledged musicians.

By the end of Year 13, students will have an advanced understanding of sound recording, and will be able to select and position microphones appropriately for a range of instruments/voices in order to capture sound with fidelity and a minimum of noise. They will be able to edit and mix recordings, apply appropriate effects and processing, and create finished multi-track recordings of near-professional quality. They will be able to use technology creatively, including sampling and synthesis, to manipulate sound and compose music to a brief. They will have a detailed understanding of the relationship between recording technology and musical styles over the last hundred years, and be able to identify and describe the sonic features of a wide range of familiar and unfamiliar music using specific technical terminology.

Beyond technical competence, we encourage students to be open minded about musical traditions, to be curious, reflective and resilient learners and to equip them with the skills to support them in their future musical lives. We are very proud of the way in which our students have a portfolio of musical competencies by the end of their GCSEs, and by the end of A Levels, students are ready to tackle degree courses or jobs in sound engineering, sound design, music production or commercial music.

Click here to visualise the Music learner journey

Click here to view the Music Development Plan