Music

At Queens Park Academy, we aim for children to develop a rich and ambitious musical knowledge while they learn with us. Musical ‘knowledge’ has been described as knowing how to make music, knowing musical practices with critical insight and knowing how music enriches the inner life: in summary music making and music thinking. Our PKC music curriculum, which is informed by the Model Music Curriculum, develops musical knowledge within this conceptual framework. Our music curriculum is more than just knowing ‘facts’. We believe that an understanding of music can only begin to develop where the language of music is explored through experience.

In this curriculum, such experience is developed through singing, listening, composing and performing. These musical practices are woven throughout the curriculum and are carefully sequenced so that pupils can build knowledge and technical skills through practice. This allows them to begin to develop their own expressive intentions through music.

Beginning to understand the language of music might be described as becoming more ‘musical’. This is the aim of this curriculum. As such, each unit has a musical focus, such as pulse, rhythm, tempo, pitch, timbre, dynamics, form/structure, texture or harmony or a combination of these. Pupils may explore how music is constructed using the elements of music by listening analytically or using them to build their own compositions.

Experience of, understanding and use of these elements build gradually throughout the curriculum. For example, in year one children begin to understand pulse by marching. By the time they reach year 6 they have progressed to learn the difference between simple and compound metre.

It is recognised that children’s understanding of and proficiency in practising music builds with repeated experience of how the different elements of music combine. As such, these elements are woven throughout the curriculum so that children can begin to build more and more confidence in their musical practice.

The different genres of music which are explored in the curriculum introduce them to the wonderfully diverse story of music and build pupil’s declarative knowledge of musical culture and history. Music is drawn from a variety of traditions, including western and non-western classical music, folk, and a variety of modern traditions including rock, pop and jazz. Pieces are drawn from all over the world and from periods spanning six centuries.

Each unit, over the course of six lessons, follows the same structure.

• At first the children listen to and encounter music which will form the focus of their musical learning. This is not a passive exercise: they are encouraged to actively engage with the area of musical learning which will be the focus of the unit.
• They then explore the key musical ingredients and cultural context of the piece of music through active music making.
• Practising, improvising and/or composing then allows them further to experience and investigate the key musical focus before performing the music they have made to their peers.
• Evaluation of their own and others’ performances concludes the process.

Lesson 6 of each unit has an emphasis on practising for performance, performing and evaluating that performance. The lesson is intended for the children to practise, allowing them to build on their knowledge and technical skills to be able to perform with increasing confidence and expression.

Each lesson starts with singing as this is the essential basis of musical learning. Songs are generally revisited over the course of a unit, from unit to unit and across year groups to allow for repeated practice of familiar material, allowing children to build their singing skills. Elements of the songs chosen often relate to the musical focus encountered in the rest of the lesson.

Finally, each lesson includes an element of working with others. This is central to musical practice and may be experienced as a whole class or in smaller groups which are introduced as the children get older and can manage social cooperation with more efficacy.

Music Development Plan 24-25