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To understand how to maintain the pulse using the voice and body

To understand the difference between on and off beats

To explore on and off beats in different musical styles

To understand syncopated rhythms

To explore ostinatos

To understand polyrhythms

Duration

To classify instruments

To imitate world percussion using sound sources in the home

To enhance a performance using sound sources at home

To understand the role of percussion in programmatic music

To compose rhythmic ostinato patterns

To structure a piece of music

Timbre 3

To learn ostinato patterns inspired by West African drumming

To structure and perform a piece inspired by West African drumming

To understand how rhythmic cycles feature in Indian classical music

To perform a ṭukḍā in a rhythmic cycle

To explore key characteristics of Samba

To understand the different elements of a Samba performance

Rhythm 3

Recognising melody

Constructing and playing a melody using a scale

Magical stories and tone poems

Melody and tonality

Spreading the news and telling a tale - the passing down of tunes in folk song

Renaissance and Baroque variations, opera arias and jazz scat - show off that melody!

Tonality

Binary form

Ternary form

Sonata form

Sonata and rondo form

Rondo form

Musical structures recap

Structure

Exploring recitative and arias

Introducing Gamelan - a review of polyrhythms

Gamelan - interlocking melodies

Composing a gamelan ensemble piece

Pulse and rhythm - Ghanaian rock game

Graphical notation and Djembe rhythms

Putting it all together - interlocking melodies, polyrhythms and structuring scores.

Beat, pulse, rhythm, structure

Part singing: rounds and partner songs

Two-part singing: rounds and partner songs

Singing and playing simultaneously: three note melodies

Part singing: adding a rhythmic ostinato accompaniment

Layering part-singing: adding a three note melody

Rehearsing and evaluating an ensemble piece with a thick texture

This unit focuses on adding vocal and instrumental layers to songs. Pupils rehearse contrasting songs in parts and become confident holding the pitch and pulse of a line before layering this into four and five part textures with added tuned percussion accompaniments.

Sing, play, perform: adding tuned accompaniment to part-singing

United by song in the sports arena

Songs uniting a crowd

Celebrating through song

How singing affects our mood

The power of singing together

Singing to affect an audience

This unit investigates the power of music to unite people. Pupils explore how song is used in sacred spaces, sports arenas and live concerts. Pupils study songs with unity as their common theme and use the lyrics to guide an effective, emotive performance.

Singing together: how songs unite us

The key features of minimalism

Creating and notating a repeating minimalist cell

Adding more minimalist cells to create a thicker texture

Building a minimalist piece

Notating a minimalist piece

Rehearsing, performing and appraising a minimalist performance

This unit introduces minimalism with its repetitive, hypnotic, short musical cells. Pupils will use Terry Riley’s In C to inspire their compositions. Working in groups, pupils will create short musical cells and decide how to use these to create and rehearse a larger minimalist piece.

Compose and rehearse: creating and combining minimalist cells

Introducing beatboxing vocal percussion

Layering beatboxing vocal percussion sounds

Rehearsing a texture of two or more parts

Improvising using beatboxing techniques and vocal sounds inspired by nature

Improvising a beatboxing film score

Evaluating and performing a beatboxing film score

This unit introduces beatboxing as a vocal art form. The sounds of the drum machine are recreated using vocal percussion alongside other beatboxing influences including the sounds of nature. Working in groups, pupils build texture with multilayered vocal sounds.

Playing together: discovering different vocal timbres

Identifying major and minor tonalities

Minor melodies and the minor pentachord

Reading the five note minor pentachord scale

Reading and playing minor melodies

Composing and notating a minor melody

Reading and performing minor melodies

In this unit, pupils learn songs and listen to music that has a minor tonality. Pupils learn the toneset for the minor pentachord (la, ti, do, re, mi) and use this to compose a minor melody. An analysis of Benjamin Britten’s Old Abram Brown inspires the shaping of the pupils' compositions.

Compose and Create: composing a minor melody on a stave

What is syncopation?

Singing and playing syncopated rhythms

Layering syncopated rhythms to accompany a song

Syncopated rhythms in jazz

Creating and rehearsing a syncopated performance - building a tight ensemble

Syncopation performance and reflection

This unit introduces pupils to the term syncopation through adding syncopated rhythms to songs. Pupils learn how to feel the offbeats through movement and experience how straight rhythms and syncopated rhythms feel different. Syncopated rhythm patterns form an accompaniment to a range of songs.

Singing for performance: syncopation in songs

Music

Choose a previously released unit (6)

These lessons will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

Choose a unit (6)