Music

MUSIC

“How is it that music can, without words, evoke our laughter, our fears, our highest aspirations?” ― Jane Swan

We give all children the opportunity to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build musical confidence. We aim to help the children develop their understanding, make musical judgements, apply their new learning, develop their aural memory, express themselves physically, emotionally and through discussion and create their own musical ideas. We don’t just want children to learn about music; we want them to become musicians!

We aim to provide children with hands-on, creative and relevant musical experiences, that help to encourage an awareness of their emotions and nurture a positive sense of wellbeing in a supportive and environment. Our music curriculum aims to develop pupils who:

enjoy and have an appreciation for music, across a range of musical styles and genres;
are confident to take part in performances across a range of musical styles;
create and compose music on their own and with others, using appropriate technology;
can explore how music makes them feel and create emotional music responses;
explore how music is created, produced and communicated;
use musical language;
can sing and use their voices;
have opportunities to learn a musical instrument and experiment with a variety of instruments;
listen, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, experiencing the work of great composers and musicians.

We recognise that musical teaching and learning is not neat or linear and that children do not learn in straight lines. Repeating a musical skill doesn’t mean their progress is slowing down or their development is moving backwards, it enables pupils to reinforce musical understanding in order to improve the quality of their musicianship.

We recognise that achieving mastery in Music means gaining both a deeper understanding of musical skills and concepts whilst also learning something new. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills, knowledge and vocabulary taught are progressive from year group to year group. Music teaching will deliver the requirements of the National Curriculum through half termly topics and teachers plan lessons based on our knowledge and skills document and the Charanga scheme of work, ensuring consistency and progression throughout the school.

Musical knowledge can be separated into three domains: tacit, declarative and procedural knowledge...

Tacit: the knowledge gained through experience; it can often be difficult to put into words;

Declarative: this refers to facts or information stored in the memory

Procedural: the knowledge exercised in the performance of a task.

We recognise that music is a specialist subject and not all teachers are musical specialists, so we use the Charanga Musical School package to supplement our music curriculum. The Charanga package enables clear coverage of the music curriculum whilst also providing support and CPD for less confident teachers to deliver lessons. Teachers tailor the units and use the ‘freestyle’ element of the package to provide thematic, cross-curricular lessons that also follow children’s interests. Music lessons are broken down into half-termly units and flexibility is provided to enable teachers to link with other subjects and follow pupil’s current interests. Each unit of work has an on-going musical learning focus and a unit specific focus to enable previous musical skills to be embedded. Music lessons usually follow a specific learning sequence:

Listen and Appraise;
Musical Activities;
Singing and Voice;
Playing instruments;
Composition;
Perform and Share.

Our progression model also follows the same learning sequence to ensure all interrelated elements of music are covered and implemented. The sequence of the curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge and skills over time. There are three pillars of progression in musical education...

Technical: involves skills and competencies that allow pupils to translate their intentions into sound;

Constructive: includes knowledge of how music components come together, both analytically and during the creative process;

Expressive: this area involves the more indefinable aspects of music: quality, meaning and creativity.

Music teaching is practical and engaging. A variety of teaching approaches and activities are provided based on teacher judgement and pupil ability. Lessons typically involve a combination of the following; games, songs, challenges, listening to music and discussing music, playing a range of musical instruments, performing back, and composing music using notation sheets. Open-ended tasks are provided that can have a variety of responses and teachers also differentiate activities using the Charanga Bronze, Silver and Gold challenges. Our mastery curriculum provides further enrichment opportunities throughout the year (see below) for children who show extensive aptitude in music.

Performance is at the heart of musical teaching and learning and all children participate in a key stage performance at Christmas, Harvest, class assemblies and in weekly Choral Worship. Parents are invited and welcomed to watch all of these performances. Music teaching is not only focused on performance but also providing our pupils with an understanding and appreciation for music. Through our music lessons children study a wide range of musical styles and genres from a range of musical periods.

At Claypole, children have the opportunity to discover areas of musical strength, as well as areas they might like to explore and develop in confidence. Music will aim to develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as cultures from across the world. Children will be encouraged to enjoy music, in a variety of ways across the key stages- either as listener, creator or performer.

Children leave us being able to:

reflect on music listened to and discuss its parts using terms such as pitch, duration, timbre, dynamics and texture;
sing and feel a pulse;
have played and performed instruments including their voices, in solo and ensemble contexts;
have improvised and composed music for a range of purposes;
have recorded their musical compositions using staff and other notation;
appreciate a wide range of high-quality music drawn from diverse traditions and local musicians;
have an understanding of how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives.

Vocabulary

Useful hyperlinks

Virtual Orchestra
Virtual Keyboard
Virtual Xylophone
Virtual Native Flute
The Music House
The Orchestra – Instruments
Learn about instruments
Early Instruments
BBC Musical Mysteries – KS2
BBC Music Games
Creating Music
Musical Instruments Word Search
Y4 Playground Games
Y4 Painting with Sound
Y4 Moods
Y4 Setting the Scene
Y4 BBC – Moods
i-board Humpty Compose
Science of Music
Creating Music
Musical Instruments Word Search

Helpful Music Games

There are many reasons to learn how to play a musical instrument. Learning an instrument can be a great way to work out your brain and improve your memory, and if you learn one as a child, the benefits last a lifetime. Practicing an instrument is also a way to improve your time-management skills and learn how to efficiently use the free time in your day. Studies have shown that instruments also boost your coordination, reading comprehension, and mathematical skills, giving you big benefits in all aspects of life. Playing an instrument can also be your ticket to a brighter future because it opens up many career and hobby opportunities.

If you are not able to learn an instrument in person, there are many online resources that will help you learn the basics. Studying online is an excellent way to learn how to read sheet music. It's also an easy way to practice ear training, which is a way to recognise music notes just by listening to them. There are many online games to learn the history of instruments and understand how to play them. In many cases, it may be very helpful to develop a basic understanding of how an instrument works before attempting to play it. Guitar players can watch how chords are formed, while pianists can learn the correct way to place their hands on the keys. It may also be useful to understand how an individual instrument adds to an orchestra, and there are several games that allow you to listen to each instrument separately. Musicians who want to practice tempo will often find an online metronome to be just the ticket. Online metronomes are helpful because you can practice keeping a steady tempo, building up speed until you are comfortable. By using these online resources, musicians can easily increase the speed and accuracy at which they play:

Instrument Storage Room

Click on each musical instrument to learn more about its history and how it sounds. Explore brass, woodwind, and string instruments.

Guitar Tuner

This tool makes it easy to tune the strings on a guitar. Simply click on the notes and then adjust your strings until both notes sound the same.

SFS Kids: Fun and Games With Music!

The San Francisco Orchestra offers several musical games to help kids learn about instruments and composition. Discover fun facts about composers, music, and instruments here.

Musical Notes

Click each piano key on the keyboard and learn the corresponding musical note.

Virtual Keyboard

Play around with this virtual instrument to create your own songs. The keyboard can play different instrument sounds, and it also includes drum beats and a mode that makes it easy to play chords.

Musical Orchestra

Slowly build an orchestra by identifying the correct musical instrument based on its sound.

My Metronome

This online metronome includes several sheet music scales for practice, including those for the flute, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and many more.

Musical Theory and Ear Training

These interactive activities are a fun way to learn about musical score composition, chords, and scales.

The Web Metronome

Adjust the number of beats, tempo, and accent beats with this metronome game. There is a desktop and mobile version available for download.

Playing With Music: Scales

Use the clarinet, oboe, or marimba to create a melody using the number keys on your keyboard.

String Thing

Place and adjust the strings and percussion sounds to make a tune with this fun game. Players can learn about how adjusting the strings on an instrument can make different sounds.

Compose Your Very Own Music

Drag whole, half, and quarter notes to the staff to create your own music. You can choose between "beginner" and "advanced" versions and send the finished composition to your friends.

Notessimo

Add instruments to the staff, then hit the play button to hear your composition. Experiment with different rhythms and combinations of instruments to create different sounds.

Name That Note

Learn to identify the different notes on a musical staff by playing this game.

Online Metronome

Practice slow, moderate, and fast tempos with this online interactive metronome.

Tonic Tutor

Refresh the page to discover a new music game!

Compose Music

In this game, drag notes onto the staff and create your own musical score.

Parrot Phrases

This call-and-response game is a fun way to practice the piano and learn about musical notes.

Whack-A-Note

Identify the right note and click it as fast as you can!