Term

Topic

Specific Knowledge

Specific Skills

Autumn 1

The Blues

·         History of the Blues

·         How Blues shaped modern jazz and popular music

·         Chords I, IV and V

·         The 12-bar blues

·         Blues singing styles

·         Improvisation in the Blues

·         The Blues scale

·         Blues lyrical structure

·         Typical Blues instruments

·         Swung and syncopated rhythms

·         Chords I, IV and V on the piano

·         Chords I, IV and V on the ukulele

·         Keyboard and Ukulele technique

·         Singing using an appropriate tone

·         Using improvisation in singing

·         Playing the Blues scale

·         Using the Blues scale to improvise

·         Extending the 12-bar Blues into your own performance

·         Keeping your part of the texture in a group performance of the Blues

Autumn 2

Samba

·         Cultural awareness of Samba

·         Names and roles of the Samba instruments

·         Syncopated rhythms

·         Calls and responses

·         Improvising rhythms

·         Pitched elements of Samba

·         Bass lines and chord patterns

·         Following cues from a Samba leader

·         Performing on Samba percussion instruments using correct technique

·         Learning and being able to perform complex syncopated rhythms

·         Learning melodic/chordal/bass aspects of the texture

·         Keeping your part of the texture in a class performance of Samba

Spring 1

Music and Technology

·         Understanding Logic Pro

·         Using pre-recorded loops

·         Recording audio

·         Selecting software instruments

·         Identifying different ways of getting sound into Logic

·         Identifying how technology has contributed to different styles of music throughout the 20^th/21^st centuries

·         Samples

·         Copying and looping material

·         Using the grid and metronome to keep music in time

·         Creating a musical collage from loops and samples

·         Introducing your own music using the MIDI keyboard

·         Creating longer pieces with effective structures

Spring 2

Tonality

·         Conventions of different styles of music eg. Classical and Pop

·         Semitones and the layout of the keyboard

·         Major and Minor tonalities

·         How chords are built from a scale

·         Chord patterns

·         How melodies are composed from a scale

·         How chords and melodies work together

·         Atonal music

·         Identifying major and minor scales and chords

·         Working out the notes of scales and chords

·         Playing well-known keyboard melodies

·         Putting chords to melodies

·         Playing chord patterns to vary the texture

·         Composing own melodies with chords

Summer 1

Performing Popular Music

·         Conventions of different styles of music eg. Classical and Pop

·         The structure of pop songs

·         Common instruments and textures in pop songs

·         The use of chords I, IV, V and vi in pop songs

·         How the chords relate to other music (Blues, Classical etc) already covered.

·         How musical elements contribute to different pop styles

·         How to play chords I, IV, V and vi on the keyboards and ukulele

·         Learning musical material by ear

·         Singing and performing in a group

·         Group rehearsal skills

·         Performing to an audience

·         Reviewing own and peers’ performances

Summer 2

Music and Technology 2

·         Synthesisers and their development

·         Drum machines

·         MIDI and the MIDI keyboard

·         Creating tracks and choosing instruments

·         Recording past work (eg. 4 chord songs or the blues) on the keyboard

·         Using synthesisers to create textures

·         Re-recording missing parts of well-known songs

·         Selecting different synth textures

·         Using automation

·         Creating a Dance Music version of our 4-chord songs using synths, drum machines and loops