Year 8
Notation and Keyboard Skills Part 2
Upon starting Year 8 we will continue to sing in every lesson as we did in year 7.
We are going to start the year by further developing our knowledge of music notation. This will include starting to read the bass clef. We are also going to continue developing our skills on the piano that we began in year 7.
We will further explore harmony, looking at chords, tonality, scales and how this affects musical moods.
We will start to use chord inversions and begin to move our hands more around the keyboard.
The Blues and Music Technology: Sequencing and Production
We go back in time and explore the history of Blues music. We start by looking at how the music evolved from the spirituals of slavery to our modern understanding of Blues.
We then study the key features of Blues music, looking at the 12 Bar Blues structure, walking bass lines, blues scales, improvisation, call and response, lyrics, etc. We also learn how to play a Blues song incorporating these different elements.
We aren't quite ready to leave the blues yet so students will spend a few week using our technology suite to sequence a Blues Performance incorporating chords, bass line, rhythm and improvised melody.
Programme Music
At this stage we are going to explore programme music. We will look at how music has been used to portray moods, images, people and stories through history.
We will use the skills we have learned thus far to create a piece of music to show a particular person or image. This composition will include choosing appropriate chords, tonality, melody, sonority, etc. to reflect your person/image.
Film Music
Students will use the skills the have learned throughout this year in a culminating film music project. They will use music technology to create a piece of music to reflect a film clip.
They will also learn about important composers to the genre as well as what techniques need to be used to create an effective piece of film music. We will focus on the idea of leitmotifs and characterisation through music.