Music and the new
curriculum 2014
Subject specific guidance produced by the Wandsworth Music
Curriculum Development Group
Guidance Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Music history and repertoire
Notations
Inter-related dimensions
Instrumental learning
ICT
Assessment and progression without levels
Omissions
Further resourcing
Music history and the
musical canon*
The new curriculum makes various references to the history of music and
the works of great composers and musicians.
•
Purpose of study: ‘As pupils progress, they should … listen with
discrimination to the best in the musical canon.’
•
Aims: ‘All pupils should perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions,
including the works of the great composers and musicians.’
•
KS2: ‘Pupils should be taught to appreciate and understand a wide
range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different
traditions and from great composers and musicians.’
* Canon: a collection of music (or literature or art) that is permanently established as being of the highest quality. There are,
of course, value judgements to be made in compiling such a list, which is why the ability to articulate why you have chosen
music for your curriculum is so important.
Music history and the
musical canon cont.
The curriculum development group (CDG) highlighted the importance of:
•
Ensuring that a range of musical genres and styles is included within curricular and
other provision (e.g. assembly music). E.g. western classical, modern, popular
and world cultural traditions should all feature in a progressive music plan for KS1
and KS2.
•
Planning for the development of pupils’ oracy and critical thinking skills so that they
are able to articulate their responses to music. E.g. embed opportunities for
partner talk and / or Philosophy4Children (P4C) strategies within music lessons.
•
Creating opportunities for pupils to engage in a detailed study of ‘great’ works,
perhaps through an orchestral outreach programme.
The final outcome should be that pupils are confident to feel ownership of and critically
engage with all kinds of music and to articulate their views about the music they listen
to, with understanding of its context and meaning.
Notations*
References to notation in the new curriculum:
•
•
Aims: understand how music is created, produced and communicated,
including through … appropriate musical notations.
KS2: use and understand staff and other musical notations
Note the importance of:
• The plural ‘notations’. This means that pupils should have the opportunity
to learn about staff (traditional) notation and also other forms, e.g. graphic
notation which uses pictures, shapes and symbols to record musical
ideas or rhythm grids used to represent beats and rhythms.
• The absence of a mention of notation at KS1. We strongly advise the
introduction of some forms of notation from Y1 in order to ensure the
progressive development of skills and understanding. Staff notation can
be simplified and graphic notation can easily be used by young children
to represent the sounds they play.
* Notation is any way of representing sound visually. The traditional form that uses five lines (stave), crotchets
and quavers, etc., is called staff notation.
Examples of graphic
notation:
Examples of ways into understanding staff
notation for younger children:
Notation shows the pulse or beat
Notation shows the rhythm of the words
Notation shows high & low pitch
This example shows how children can
begin to read rhythm notation by learning
traditional songs or rhymes.
This example shows how
syllables can be used to
chant rhythms.
Examples of rhythm grid notation:
These examples show
how computer
programmes can be used
to develop notation skills.
E.g. Charanga, Groovy
Music by Sibelius or
2Simple Music Toolkit.
Inter-related Dimensions
This is a new term that refers to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pitch (high and low)
Duration (long and short)
Dynamics (loud and soft)
Tempo (fast and slow)
Timbre (the quality of the sound, e.g. rough or smooth)
Texture (the number of layers in the sound, e.g. thin or thick)
Structure (how musical ideas are organised, e.g. verse & chorus)
Appropriate musical notations (how music is written down)
In the previous music curriculum, these dimensions were called ‘musical
elements’. The terminology has changed to emphasise the way that all
these aspects of music connect to each other.
It is important that individual elements are not taught in isolation, but
rather that links are made continuously between these different musical
characteristics. This may have implications for the organisation of
schemes of work if pupils currently learn about one musical element at a
time.
Instrumental Learning
The new curriculum stands alongside the National Plan for Music
Education, 2011, in clearly stating the aim:
‘that all pupils have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument … and
have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence.’
At KS2, pupils should be taught to ‘play and perform in solo and ensemble
contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with
increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.’
•
•
•
Solo and ensemble: this means creating opportunities for pupils to sing or play instruments on
their own as well as in small groups, classes or phases.
Singing and playing instruments is a requirement at KS2. This could include orchestral
instruments or instruments such as the recorder, ukelele or ocarina that lend themselves well to
primary tuition. It could also include tuned percussion instruments, such as xylophones and
glockenspiels.
Progression: Pupils must be given opportunities to make progress. This means careful reconsideration of one-off workshops or short courses of tuition that only last one term, for
example. It also means exploring the possibility of continuing small group tuition for children who
wish to progress beyond an initial year of learning or embedding ongoing opportunities to play
tuned percussion, for example, within the curriculum scheme of work.
Music and technology
The new curriculum makes scant reference to the role of technology:
‘The NC for music aims to ensure that all pupils learn to … use
technology appropriately.’
Ofsted strongly advises that schools should use technology to ‘promote
creativity, widen inclusion, and make assessment more musical by:
• Significantly improving the use of music technology to record, store, listen
to and assess pupils’ work
• Placing greater emphasis on pupils’ musical development through the use
of technology – with the acquisition of technical skills and knowledge
supporting, rather than driving, musical learning
• Making more creative and effective use of music technology to support
performing and listening work.’
(Ofsted Report 2012: Music in Schools: Wider Still, and Wider)
Further helpful information and resources can be found at
www.teachingmusic.org.uk. Visit the ‘ITT Primary Music & Guidance’
resources by clicking on the blue square icon to the right of the home page.
There is a whole section on Music Technology there.
Assessment and Progression
without Levels
Schools will wish to develop their own systems of recording summative
assessments across non-core subjects, however, more important than this is
to develop high-quality formative assessment within every music lesson.
For example:
 Listening to a group of pupils composing a piece using classroom
instruments, and helping them structure their piece of music.
 Discussing with pupils what atmosphere is created by a piece of music
they are listening to.
 Helping a group of pupils sort out where to breathe in a song they are
rehearsing.
Martin Fautley, Reader in Education at Birmingham City University, has
written extensively about AfL in music and his work can also be found at
www.teachingmusic.org.uk.
Omissions
 Broader cultural emphasis that is inclusive of modern
forms of music making likely to be valued and relevant
to pupils
 Use of notation at KS1
 Music and technology
 Responding to music through different media, e.g. art,
movement or drama. However, this is essential to
achieve a deeper, critical understanding of music,
particularly for younger children.
Further Resources
 www.teachingmusic.org.uk
 www.tes.co.uk: join the primary music resources group
 dstowe@wandsworth.gov.uk: David Stowe is the Head of
Wandsworth Schools’ Music Service and can signpost you to
borough-wide music provision.
 www.musicforchange.org or www.inspire-works.co.uk: high-quality
world music workshops for schools
 www.cavatina.net: Free chamber music concerts for schools
 London Symphony Orchestra; Wigmore Hall; Southbank Centre;
Royal Opera House: all offer schools’ concerts and orchestral
outreach programmes.