Music

National curriculum objectives

perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Key stage 1 Pupils will:

use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
play tuned and untuned instruments musically
listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Key stage 2 Pupils will:

play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music § listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
use and understand staff and other musical notations
appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
develop an understanding of the history of music.

Musical ideas at home

KS1

Play pulse games – can you clap along to the beat of the music? Can you tap your feet along? Think of different actions you could practise to the beat of the music?

Find out your families favourite pieces of music and listen to them. Which instruments can you hear? What do you like about them?

Listen to nursery rhymes and sing along https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx

Listen to and sing along to these whole school favourites –

Yellow Submarine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWdC8dBrq0I

I can see clearly – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGW7ZLoqoLE

Wonder – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJQAECg4xk

Here comes the sun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26OJntemUfQ&t=2s

KS2

Simply listen to your favourite music from different eras and genres and discuss with your child – this could be in the background to learning, in the car, during meal times etc. Discuss and share your favourite music!

Watch the videos on https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks2-music/zfv96v4 and learn about different composers

Ask children to actively listen to music you have selected. Useappropriate musical vocabulary to familiarise children with the elements of music. Good starting points might involve children talking about:

Tempo (Fast or Slow)

Dynamics (Loud or Quiet)

Pitch (High or Low)

Mood

Ostinato (This is a repeated musical phrase sometimes called a ‘riff’

Practise these clapping games -

Don’t Clap This One Back’ claps a rhythm and the children (in unison or individually) copy the rhythm. If you plays the agreed ‘forbidden rhythm’ however, the children must not copy you

‘Two in a Row’ Clap a rhythm. The children copy. This continues until the you clap the same rhythm twice in succession. The object of the game for the children is to spot repeated rhythmic phrases and not copy you when these occur.

Listen and sing along to these whole school favourites

I can see clearly – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGW7ZLoqoLE

Wonder – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJQAECg4xk

Pompeii – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JENMXlwFVQ

Flashlight – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdheWX4oO1A

The eye of the tiger - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibq9lBRdGk8

There are plenty of amazing educational videos on Youtube that can be used as part of learning at home (and also inside the classroom). Why not take advantage of these free resources to help your children discover more about a wide range of subjects and topics?

RelaxDaily has an extensive collection of calming music that your children can play as part of mindfulness activities, or when they are working on other educational tasks.
Kidz Bop produce child-friendly versions of popular songs. Can your children learn some of the lyrics or dance along with the moves shown in the videos?
Classical Kids Storytime features children’s stories that are accompanied by classical music.
Free School has playlists to teach your children about Beethoven and Mozart.