Music - Year 8

Music Overview

Term 1 or 2: Brotherhood of Breath

Learn to groove around a simple bass line and melody, which will include singing, playing a range of instruments and improvising using the hexatonic scale. Based on Duke Ellington’s idea of a Riff Master.

  1. Assessment will be performance based and include written work that has been set for homework.
Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

Structure

Song structure or the musical forms of songs, also known as Form.

hexatonic scale

a scale that is made from 6 notes, often used in African township music.

syncopation

a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.

chords

2 or more notes sounding at the same time

Texture

how many different instruments are playing together

dynamics

How loud or quiet the music is.

Metre

The rhythmic structure, the patterns of accents heard regularly recurring measures of stressed (accented) and unstressed (unaccented) beats at the frequency of the music’s pulse. Metre is notated at the beginning of a composition with a time signature.

Balance

Mixing the levels of two or more instruments so they blend well together.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Play and perform confidently as an ensemble playing instruments musically, fluently and with accuracy and expression. -students will have the chance to improvise and use staff and other notations. -have a deeper understanding of the music they perform and listen to with links to historical features.

Create a supportive community:

Students are encouraged to listen to each other and work together as a large ensemble, which requires excellent team skills.

Term 1 or 2: Film Music ICT

Students will learn about the art of film music and underscore. Using a short clip called "The Box", students will create a sound effect track using orchestral percussion and an underscore creating the mood of the piece.

  1. Students will be assessed using the following criteria.

    -I can create music that relates to a brief with simple use of rhythm and melody.

    -I begin to use some compositional devices in my music .

    -I can layer sounds effectively (harmony) and fulfil the brief.

    -I can create music with expression

    -I can organise ideas musically with a strong sense of structure.

    Listening Responding and Understanding

    -I can describe music I have experienced and can identify basic ideas for improvement.

    -I can identify simple features of music and recall some facts regarding the context of styles of music.

    -I can read some notation and identify and describe musical elements

    -I can identify features of music using accurate musical vocabulary and identify strengths and weaknesses of my own work.

    -I can analyse some techniques and devices using correct musical vocabulary.

Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

Structure

Song structure or the musical forms of songs, also known as Form.

orchestra

A group of performers on various musical instruments, playing together. This usually includes the four families - brass, woodwind, percussion and strings.

Diagetic Sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film.

Sampling

In music this refers to sound that has been used from a previous recording and manipulated to form a new piece.

Sequencing

Using technology to record ideas and arrange them in a particular order

key signature

a series of #'s or b's (sharps or flats) to indicate what notes are in the scale.

expression

The act of communicating emotion in music.

Cadence

A progression of (at least) two chords that concludes a phrase, section or piece of music. Cadences can be defined as Perfect, Plagal, Imperfect and Interrupted. Greek folk music has phrases which end with clear cadences.

Pentatonic scale

a 5 note scale, usually found in South East Asian Music such as Gamelan.

Underscore

Music to accompany a film.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will be working independently and in small groups and learn about new technologies. They will sequence ideas together, which will also support work with programming.

Create a supportive community:

Sharing compositions and peer to peer feedback.

Term 3 or 4: Sequencing Part Two

Building on the sequencing unit in Year 7, students will sequence a popular piece of music and include more layers to their music. Sequencing a piece of popular music on GarageBand offers several benefits, including enhanced creativity, technical skill development, and a deeper understanding of music production. By using GarageBand’s wide range of virtual instruments, loops, and editing tools, students can experiment with different sounds and arrangements, improving their ability to compose and produce music. Additionally, sequencing familiar songs encourages attention to musical detail, rhythm, and structure, while building valuable digital literacy skills in audio editing and music technology.

  1. Students will be expected to do the following. Compose using a range of musical elements (sometimes with adequate coherence) creating musical ideas and developing interest with some success. Satisfactory understanding and increasingly accurate application of key words in response to music heard and studied. Students may have a basic understanding of different forms of notation.
Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Structure

Song structure or the musical forms of songs, also known as Form.

chords

2 or more notes sounding at the same time

Sequencing

Using technology to record ideas and arrange them in a particular order

Texture

how many different instruments are playing together

key signature

a series of #'s or b's (sharps or flats) to indicate what notes are in the scale.

expression

The act of communicating emotion in music.

pitch

how low or high the sounds are

Mickey Mousing

Using music to mimic what is happening in the moving image.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will develop further performance skills and continue to use learning skills that are transferable across all subjects such as resilience, resourcefulness, reflective, responsible and reasoning.

Create a supportive community:

Working in bands, students will continue to develop team skills, co-operation and support each other throughout the band process.

Term 3 or 4: Axis of Awesome

Using the I V VI IV chord progression, recreate vocal and band arrangements of well known pop tunes. Students will perform these acapella and on instruments.

  1. Assessment will be based on performance, and listening and appraising using the following criteria.

    -Play and perform confidently in a small ensemble using voice, playing instruments musically, fluently and with accuracy and expression.

    -create an arrangement that is based on the chord progression given.

    -use staff and other relevant notations appropriately and accurately

Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

chords

2 or more notes sounding at the same time

arrangement

creating a new version of an existing piece of music

rhythm

Sound organised over time.

dynamics

How loud or quiet the music is.

expression

The act of communicating emotion in music.

pitch

how low or high the sounds are

sequence

a succession of musical chords that are often repeated throughout a pop song

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Studnets will need to use the following learning attributes: responsible, resourceful, reasoning, resilience and reflective.

Create a supportive community:

Working in small groups, students will need to be supportive of each other and co-operative in order to achieve a musical outcome.

Term 5 or 6: Whole Class Performance

As a whole class, we will perform a version of Take On Me, using a wide range of instruments, focusing on ensemble playing and developing instrumental skills.

  1. -Play and perform confidently as an ensemble playing instruments

    musically, fluently and with accuracy and expression.

    -students will have the chance to improvise and use staff and other

    notations.

    -have a deeper understanding of the music they perform and listen

    to with links to historical features

Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

Structure

Song structure or the musical forms of songs, also known as Form.

key signature

a series of #'s or b's (sharps or flats) to indicate what notes are in the scale.

Tone

a whole step between notes, e.g. C to D

semitone

a half a step between notes e.g. C to C#

dynamics

How loud or quiet the music is.

expression

The act of communicating emotion in music.

Metre

The rhythmic structure, the patterns of accents heard regularly recurring measures of stressed (accented) and unstressed (unaccented) beats at the frequency of the music’s pulse. Metre is notated at the beginning of a composition with a time signature.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will develop listening and performing skills and learn to work as a whole class ensemble. They will continue to develop note reading skills and the importance of following a steady pulse.

Create a supportive community:

Working together as a whole group.

Term 5 or 6: Blues Music

“Learning about blues music using GarageBand and technology allows students to explore the genre’s unique musical characteristics, such as the 12-bar blues structure, improvisation, and expressive techniques. With GarageBand’s built-in instruments and loops, students can experiment with creating their own blues tracks, gaining hands-on experience with chord progressions, scales, and rhythm patterns. This integration of technology not only deepens their understanding of blues music but also helps develop music production and editing skills in a digital environment.”

  1. Students will be assessed using the following criteria. Compose using a range of musical elements (sometimes with adequate coherence) creating musical ideas and developing interest with some success. They will satisfactory understanding and some accurate application of key words in response to music heard.
drone

a long sustained note

Jor

The formal section of a piece of Indian classical music, often comes after the alap section.

alap

The first section of a piece of Indian classical music, which is improvised.

sitar

an Indian stringed instrument, often plays the melody or raga.

Raga

a scale pattern which form the basis for melodic ideas in Indian music.

Pitch-bend

Players often bend the strings while playing to give a pitch bend.

Improvisation

Music ideas that are not prepared.

Call and Response

Responding to ideas given by another player.

Sarangi

A violin-type instrument.

Bansuri

A flute-type instrument.

12-Bar Structure

A common form in blues music consisting of 12 measures (bars) divided into three four-bar sections, typically following a I-IV-V chord progression.

Chord Changes

The point in music where one chord shifts to another, critical in creating the harmonic structure of blues.

Call and Response

A musical structure where one phrase (the call) is answered by a second phrase (the response), common in blues vocals and instruments.

Improvisation

The spontaneous creation of melodies or solos, a key feature of blues where musicians often improvise over the 12-bar progression.

Blues Scale

A six-note scale often used in blues melodies and solos, consisting of the minor pentatonic scale with an added flat fifth.

Walking Bass Line

A bass pattern that moves steadily in a rhythm, often playing one note per beat and outlining the harmony in blues.

Pentatonic Scale

A five-note scale often used in blues, rock, and jazz improvisation, which forms the basis of many blues melodies.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will learn about musical influences from different parts of the world, develop independence and sequencing of ideas.

Create a supportive community:

An appreciation for different cultures and how they influence our own culture.