Music - KS3

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Students at SJB study music to have a lifelong appreciation for music of different cultures and genres. Fun and enjoyment are at the heart of our curriculum and students will develop confidence, analytical skills and to collaborate through performance and composition work. 

Below you can find the key documents that we share with students. These provide an overview of what we study, when in the key stage and how we assess students.

Music Curriculum Map

Catholic Social Teaching Principles Year 7 Assessment Framework

Year 8 Assessment Framework

Year 9 Assessment Framework

Please click below to find out more about what our students learn in each year group.

Topic 1 - Singing and Musical Basics:

Students start with whole class singing and singing in parts before learning about pulse and rhythm

Topic 2 - Fanfares:

Students learn about Remembrance Day and the significance of music and compose their own short fanfare using treble clef notation

Topic 3 - Joseph:

All students sing and perform songs from 'Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat' in our annual Year 7 concert

Topic 4 - Overtures:

An introduction to the bass clef and playing hands together on the keyboard

Topic 5 - Djembes:

Exploring the world of rhythm through West African drumming

Topic 6 - Pentatonic Tunes:

Students learn to play 'Amazing Grace' and compose a short pentatonic melody

Topic 1 - The 4-chord Song:

Students learn how to play chords and perform a mashup of songs using the same chords

Topic 2: The Planets

Students compose a piece of music to represent the planet Pluto on GarageBand 

Topic 3: Gamelan

Students explore the music of Indonesia in a whole class topic using the Gamelan

Topic 4: Ode to Joy

Students revisit hands together playing on the keyboard

Topic 5: Reggae

Students learn about the history of Reggae music and how to play a typical Reggae style piece

Topic 6: Steel Pans

Students end Year 8 by playing collaboratively as a class

Topic 1 - Hooks and Riffs:

Students learn what makes a good hook and create their own

Topic 2 - Blues and Jazz:

Students learn about the importance of the influence of the Blues and Jazz music and perform a 12-bar Blues piece

Topic 3 - Film Music:

Students delve into the world of film music, beginning to analyse what makes it successful. Students will then compose their own piece of film music to accompany a short film trailer

Topic 4 - Samba:

Students revisit rhythm, though more complex now, and play Brazilian Samba music collaboratively

Topic 5 - Ukulele:

Students finish their KS3 journey with ukuleles, working in groups to perform a song of their choice at the end of the year

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