Music

Students will develop their understanding of the Musical Elements by performing and composing music. All students will learn to the play violin in whole classes [The ‘First Access’ Scheme] delivered by professional musician Mr Taylor from Forest Arts Centre and Mrs Duckett. Half termly performances, listening tests and ‘BIG WRITES’ will assess and monitor progress.

Students will develop an understanding of the rich diversity of British folk music as they perfect the ability to perform as an ensemble, sing and compose as a group. They will compose and perform pieces of music from the Western Classical tradition as they learn how to identify, relate and compare specific devices/elements to their origins. Students will study the music from Indonesia in particular Gamelan. Year 8 students will also study Jazz and blues music including their origins, compositional techniques and performing styles. Using GarageBand, Year 8 students learn to compose using Music Technology and experiment with different timbre and 20th Century compositional techniques.

Students will be following the BTEC Level 2 Award in Music course. Students will be expected to perform two contrasting pieces on their chosen instrument. Both performances have to be recorded and presented with practice diaries that show the development of performance techniques and progress.
Students will also compose music for TV commercials using industry standard Logic Pro X software.
Students will also prepare for and sit a one-hour written exam that assess their knowledge of the music industry.
In addition, students will plan, prepare, promote and deliver a music product – a CD entitled ‘Now That’s What I Call Grace!’ This will demonstrate their knowledge and skills designing, recording and promoting their CD from inception to final product.

The BTEC Music qualification leads directly onto A-Level / vocational music courses. Careers in the music industry are varied and include performers, composers, technicians and management roles.

Employability Skills:

The multi-disciplinary skills taught are much sought after by employers and music graduates make up a large proportion of many key sectors including finance, law and consultancy.

A range of skills are developed during the course, including working as a team (in musical ensembles), the application of IT (music software) and communication and literacy (analysis of musical scores and being able to write descriptively about music). Regular opportunities are also created for reflection (self and peer assessment of work).

Students study Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Music (Composing). They develop skills in composing using Logic Pro X, Music for the moving image and develop skills in using notation packages.