KS3 Overview

In Ks3 pupils learn basic skills and have taster lessons on a variety of instruments.

In year 7 pupils begin with rhythm and pitch through body percussion and basic keyboard skills, the elements of music are the foundation of the subject and these are taught throughout all topics. Pupils then move onto our Global Cultures unit where they learn about instruments from Brazil through Samba and have the opportunity to play authentic South American instruments. In addition to this they also learn about Chinese music and the pentatonic scale whilst learning to improvise on the keyboard. Year 7 finishes with a compositional unit on Minimalism and Theme and Variations where pupils write and compose their own minimalistic keyboard pieces.

For year 8 pupils start to learn about The Blues, it’s history and links to the slave trade and it’s influence on most popular music today. They improve on their already embedded keyboard skills to play arrangements with their peers and have the opportunity to try guitar, lyric writing and drums.

After this, pupils begin to learn about Film Music and the devices and techniques used by film composers. They have the opportunity during this unit to experiment with music technology resources to compose a short piece of film music.

Finally, year 8 finishes with The History of Pop Music which leads well into year 9 if they were to select this as an options subject. Pupils learn about the history of modern music through from 1940s/50s Rock n Roll to music being made today, they have opportunities throughout this final unit to try new instruments and perform.