Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)
At Key Stage 3, students are exposed to a variety of musical styles. In each year a western classical style, a popular style and a world style are studied.
Year 7 students study: The Elements of Music; Pop Song Singing; Instruments of the Orchestra, Keyboard Skills,Baroque and World Music
Year 8 students study: Grade 1 music theory; Musical Theatre; Film Music; Blues; Improvisation; Classical Variations and Ukulele
Year 9 students study: Song writing; Film music; Cover Band; Minimalism and Electronic Dance Music
Students learn about these styles through both performance and compositional tasks using software such as Noteflight and CuBase. These tasks allow students to build up a strong theoretical understanding, including understanding notation, as well as a wide musical vocabulary with which to appraise the music. This curriculum prepares all students to go on and study music at GCSE and A level.