Contents
Unit 1: Night and Day
This unit looks at how different composers have used the elements of music to describe different times of the night and day through music from different times and places. It develops awareness and understanding of the elements of music providing pupils with a foundation of musical vocabulary to describe a variety of music. During this unit, pupils will explore how the elements of music can be adapted and manipulated to create a composition describing morning and sunrise and perform and listen to morning and night music. The final project is a group composition in 3 sections inspired by dawn.
Element Focus – Pitch, Texture , Timbre & Dynamics
Key Vocabulary:
PITCH – highness or lowness of a sound (high/low; getting higher/lower)
TEMPO – speed of the music (fast/slow; getting faster/slower)
DURATION – length of a sound
DYNAMICS – volume of the music (loud/soft; getting louder/softer)
ATTACK AND DECAY – how a sound begins and ends (start/stop/crisp/sudden/fade)
TEXTURE – how much sound we hear (think/thin)
TIMBRE – tonal quality unique to each instrument
SILENCE – the opposite of sound
NOCTURNE – a piece of music with a slow, dreamy mood, often written for the piano describing night
SERENADE – a piece of music designed to be played at night outside by a small group of instrumental players
Example of a final project
A group composition in 3 sections inspired by dawn.
Unit 2: Rhythm and Pulse
This unit develops pupils’ awareness of the importance of pulse as a fundamental upon which music is built and performed. Through the integrated activities of performing, composing and listening, pupils will begin to develop their own feeling for and awareness of a regular pulse. Pupils will be able to make a clear distinction between pulse and rhythm and learn to use rhythm grids as a method of recording rhythms. Pupils are introduced to note values and notation and compose, perform and notate their own rhythm compositions including time signatures and the grouping of note values into bars to form regular units.
Element Focus – Rhythm, Texture
Key Vocabulary:
BREVE – A musical note worth eight beats (often used in older, medieval music)
CROTCHET – A musical note worth one beat
MINIM – A musical note worth two beats
OSTINATO – A short repeated musical pattern. Can be rhythmic or melodic of both.
PAIR OF QUAVERS – Worth one crotchet beat and it’s formed by two quavers
PULSE – A regular beat that is felt throughout much music
QUAVER – A musical note worth half a beat
REST – A silent beat
RHYTHM – A series of notes of different lengths that create a pattern. Usually fits with a regular beat or pulse
SEMIBREVE – A musical note worth four beats.
Unit 3: Form and Structure
This unit begins by exploring question and answer phrases as one of the simplest types of musical structures. Pupils learn about call and response and how musical question and answer phrases balance with each other to form a complete structure. Pupils move onto explore Binary Form exploring how musical contrast is achieved between two different sections and develop this into Ternary Form by repeating the first section at the end to form a musical “sandwich”. Finally, pupils look at Rondo Form as a type of recurring musical structure and add contrasting melodic improvisations to a recurring “A” section. Throughout the unit, pupils listen to examples of music based on each of the musical structures they are exploring and compose and perform within these forms. Particular emphasis in this unit is placed on staff notation and melody writing skills and pupils are encouraged to use staff notation or letter names when notating compositions.
Element Focus – Pitch, Texture, Melody &
Key Vocabulary:
BINARY/AB – a way of organising the sections in a piece of music, so that the section section contrasts in some way to the first.
CALL AND RESPONSE – one person plays or sings a musical phrase, then another person/group responds with a different phrase which in some way copies or answers the first.
DRONE – continuous pitched note(s) sounding through the music. Very long note(s) or pattern of repeated notes, most common drone notes are 1st and 5th notes of the scale.
FORM/STRUCTURE – the overall organisation of a piece of music into phrases or sections.
HARMONY – the effect produced by two or more pitched notes sounding at the same time.
MELODY – a tune or succession of notes, varying in pitch that has an organised and recognisable shape.
OSTINATO – a repeated musical pattern. An ostinato can be rhythmic or melodic; usually short.
PHRASE – a short section of music, often only a few notes which together form a musical strcutre.
QUESTION AND ANSWER – (see call and response above).
RONDO/ABACADA…. – a way of organising a piece of music into different sections with a recurring section (A) which is repeated between contrasting “episodes” – B, C, D etc.
TERNARY/ABA – a way or organising the sections in a piece of music, so that the first section repeats after the middle section.
