Aims and purposes of music
By engaging pupils in making and responding to music, music education offers opportunities for them to:
- develop their understanding and appreciation of a wide range of music, extend their own interests and increase their ability to make judgements about music quality;
- acquire the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to make music, eg in community music making, and, where appropriate, to follow a music-related career;
- develop the skills, attitudes and attributes that can support learning in other subject areas and are needed for employment and life, eg listening skills, concentration, creativity, intuition, aesthetic sensitivity, perseverance, self-confidence and sensitivity towards others.
Content of music at key stage 3
Music teaching in key stage 3 should:
- develop each of the interrelated skills of performing, composing and appraising in all activities;
- extend these skills through applying listening skills and musical knowledge and understanding;
- enable pupils to make connections between all areas of knowledge and musical experiences.
In particular, pupils should acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of:
- how music is constructed, eg the use of musical elements and devices;
- how music is produced, eg the use of instruments, ICT, musical processes and procedures, including relevant symbols and notations;
- how music is influenced by time and place, eg the effect of the occasion, purpose or venue.
Copyright
Many pieces of music that teachers will use while teaching this scheme of work will be protected by copyright, either because the composer or writer is still alive or because he or she died less than 70 years ago. The following information should help clarify the position in relation to the use of copyright music in the classroom.
Copyright provides both the means by which composers are paid for each use of their work, and a framework that encourages investment in new composers. (It is important to remember that the future livelihoods of some of today's schoolchildren will depend on the recognition of the copyright of their creative work - whether musical, literary or artistic - and proper payment being made for it.)
The copyright regime in this country allows teachers a certain amount of latitude in the classroom in recognition of the value of using copyright material in education and of the need for teachers and pupils to have reasonable access to it. The system therefore represents a careful balance between the interests of copyright owners and educationalists.
For the purpose of instruction in the classroom and in their preparations for lessons, teachers may:
- freely transcribe music by hand;
- make copies of short excerpts of musical works (but not whole movements);
- arrange works in a way that is not prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the original composer (subject to crediting the composer and attaching a warning label in a prescribed form);
- do whatever may be necessary to set exams (other than for the purposes of examining a performance of a work).
Music may also be performed and recordings of music played freely in the classroom for the purposes of instruction. However, permission must be obtained prior to any copying, performance or other use of a musical work outside the classroom, either directly from the copyright owner or from a body operating a licensing scheme on behalf of copyright owners.
Further information can be obtained from www.licensing-copyright.org
Progression in music
Level 3 - pupils recognise and explore the ways in which sounds can be combined and used expressively
For example they:
- sing in tune with expression
- perform rhythmically simple parts that use a limited range of notes
- improvise repeated patterns
- combine several layers of sound with awareness of the combined effect
- recognise how the different musical elements are combined and used expressively
- make improvements to their own work, commenting on the intended effect
Level 4 - pupils identify and explore the relationship between sounds and how music reflects different intentions
For example they:
- perform by ear and from simple notations
- maintain their own part with awareness of how the different parts fit together and the need to achieve an overall effect
- improvise melodic and rhythmic phrases as part of a group performance
- compose by developing ideas within musical structures
- describe, compare and evaluate different kinds of music using an appropriate musical vocabulary
- suggest improvements to their own and others' work, commenting on how intentions have been achieved
Level 5 - pupils identify and explore musical devices and how music reflects time and place
For example they:*
- perform significant parts from memory and from notations with awareness of their own contribution, such as leading others, taking a solo part and/or providing rhythmic support
- improvise melodic and rhythmic material within given structures
- use a variety of notations and compose music for different occasions using appropriate musical devices such as melody, rhythms, chords and structures
- evaluate how venue, occasion and purpose affect the way music is created, performed and heard
- refine and improve their work
*Expected attainments for the end of year 9
Level 6 - pupils explore the different processes and contexts of selected musical genres and styles
For example they:*
- select and make expressive use of tempo, dynamics, phrasing and timbre
- make subtle adjustments to fit their own part within a group performance
- improvise and compose in different genres and styles, using harmonic and non-harmonic devices where relevant, sustaining and developing musical ideas and achieving different intended effects
- use relevant notations to plan, revisit and refine material
- analyse, compare and evaluate how music reflects the contexts in which it is created, performed and heard
- make improvements to their own and others' work in the light of the chosen style
*Expected attainments for the end of year 9
Level 7 - pupils distinguish between, and exploit, musical conventions and influences in selected genres, styles and traditions
For example they:
- perform in different styles, making significant contributions to the ensemble and using relevant notations
- create coherent compositions drawing on internalised sounds, and adapt, improvise, develop, extend and discard musical ideas within given and chosen musical structures, genres, styles and traditions
- evaluate, and make critical judgements about, the use of musical conventions and other characteristics and how different contexts are reflected in their own and others' work
Level 8 - pupils discriminate and exploit the characteristics and expressive potential of selected musical resources, genres, styles and traditions
For example they:
- perform, improvise and compose extended compositions with a sense of direction and shape, both within melodic and rhythmic phrases and overall form
- explore different styles, genres and traditions, working by ear and by making accurate use of appropriate notations and both following and challenging conventions
- discriminate between musical styles, genres and traditions, commenting on the relationship between the music and its cultural context, making and justifying their own judgements
Exceptional - pupils discriminate and develop different interpretations
For example they:
- express their own ideas and feelings in a developing personal style exploiting instrumental and/or vocal possibilities
- give convincing performances and demonstrate empathy with other performers
- produce compositions that demonstrate a coherent development of musical ideas, consistency of style and a degree of individuality
- discriminate and comment on how and why changes occur within selected traditions, including the particular contribution of significant performers and composers
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