Music
The Importance of Music
Music is a subject that can be accessed by everyone and one that celebrates the creativity and emotion within each of us. It is a universal form of communication that can affect and change the way we think, feel and act. While clearly having its own intrinsic worth as a subject of study, music is an expressive art form that can help children to develop their self-confidence and to feel part of a group or community.
We provide opportunities for children to play in small groups or ensemble which helps to foster essential life skills such as co-operation, mutual support and respect and commitment. We also organise and collaborate in projects to enable children to share their musical skills at different events both inside and outside of school. Music also provides opportunities for pupils to develop the key skills of perseverance, problem solving and communication through sharing ideas, improving and appraising their own work and achieving their desired intentions when composing and performing.
Music Vision Statement
At Crawford Village Primary School, our vision is to give children a music curriculum that ensures every child fulfils their musical potential. Music is embedded as a part of school life and our aspiration is that children have the opportunities to become real musicians. We provide a progressive and enjoyable curriculum that enables each pupil to grow and flourish musically at their own pace, to develop the ability to express ideas, thoughts and feelings through music and fosters a passion for music in children of all abilities. We also strive to offer a variety of opportunities for children to celebrate their talents, both within school and the community therefore deepening their participation and love for music in a wider context.
Our curriculum
Our music curriculum is taught progressively through three interrelated pillars:
- Technical —
Competence in controlling sound (instrumental, vocal or with music technology).
Use of a communication system, such as staff notation or guitar tab.
- Constructive —
Knowledge of the musical elements/interrelated dimensions of music in performing, composition and listening/appraising.
Knowledge of the components of composition.
- Expressive —
Musical quality.
Musical creativity.
Knowledge of musical meanings across the world and time.
The pillars of music are developed through the curriculum which progressively builds the following key substantive concepts:
- Listening and appraising — exploring feelings and emotions in response to music, giving opinions, identifying instruments, structure and musical features.
- Performing (controlling sounds through singing and playing) — singing (developing pitch, melody, rhythm and control individually and as part of a group), playing instruments, practising, presenting, recording and evaluating.
- Composing and improvisation (creating a developing musical ideas) — notating, representing sounds through symbols, standard and non-standard notation.
- Musicianship — understanding and using the interrelated dimensions of music such as pulse/beat, rhythm, pitch, melody, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture and structure.
Children make use of the knowledge and skills by also exploring the following disciplinary concepts:
- Chronology, continuity and change — the history of music and changes over time.
- Similarity and difference — comparing pieces of music, identifying common/different styles and techniques.
- Significance — significant composers/musicians, pieces of music and musical movements and periods.
- Communication — written, oral and creative expressions using musical terminology, responding, performing, refining, describing, experimenting and exploring.