Lower key stage 2

Listening and Appraising

National Curriculum Objectives

  • listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
  • appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians

Year 3

Listen

  • To listen carefully and clap back longer rhythms accurately.
  • To sing back notes of a short and simple phrase.
  • To notice and explore the way sounds can be combined and used expressively.
  • To analyse pieces of music from different composers and comment using appropriate musical vocabulary.

Appreciate

  • Recognise and identify instruments being played.
  • Comment on likes and dislikes.
  • Recognise how musical elements can be used together to compose music.

Year 4

Listen

  • To recognise a rhythmic change to a short phrase played twice and to be able to describe how it changed.
  • To listen to a short piece of music and identify certain features, such as use of dynamics, changes to dynamics, and tempo.
  • To begin to use Italian musical terms to describe sounds.
  • To comment on musicians use of technique to create effect.

Appreciate

  • Begin to recognise numbers of instruments and voices being played.
  • Compare music and express growing tastes in music.
  • Explain how musical elements can be used together to compose music.

Performing

National Curriculum Objectives

  • Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression

Year 3

Vocal

  • Practice singing in tune.
  • To sing in unison, becoming aware of pitch
  • Begin to pronounce the words in a song well.
  • Start to show control of the voice.
  • Perform songs from memory with increasing confidence.

Instrumental

  • To perform simple rhythmic and musical parts, beginning to vary the pitch with a small range of notes.

Year 4

Vocal

  • Practice singing songs from memory, in tune with accurate pitch and awareness of others.
  • Perform melodic and rhythmic parts with control and awareness of others.
  • Perform songs from memory, following a conductor or direction and communicating to an audience.
  • Sing in unison maintaining the correct pitch and using increasing expression.

Instrumental

  • Maintain a simple part within a group beginning to show musical expression by changing dynamics.
  • Play notes on instruments with care so they sound clear.

Composing

National Curriculum Objectives

  • improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
  • use and understand staff and other musical notations (transcribe)

Year 3

Compose

  • Compose music that combines musical elements.
  • Carefully choose sounds to create an effect, specific moor or feeling.
  • Order sounds to help create an effect.
  • Create short musical patterns with long and short sequences and rhythmic phrases.
  • Improvise using simple rhythms and pitches (C, D, E ,F, G)

Transcribe

  • Record a composition in any way appropriate that recognises the connection between sound and symbol (e.g. graphic/pictorial notation).

Year 4

Compose

  • Compose music that combines layers of sound and show awareness of this effect.
  • Use sound to create abstract effects. (dynamics)
  • Recognise and create rhythmic patterns with a range of instruments.
  • Create rhythmic (ostinato) accompaniments for melodies.
  • Carefully choose, order, combine and control sounds with awareness of their combined effect.
  • Improvise using simple rhythms and pitches (C, D, E ,F, G, A)

Transcribe

  • To begin to learn to read music – standard notation.
  • Know how many beats in a minim, crotchet and semibreve and recognise their symbols.
  • Use Staff and musical notation when composing work.
  • Know the symbol for a rest in music, and use silence for effect in my music

Elements of music

Years 3 and 4

Main focus

  • Pulse
  • Rhythm
  • Pitch
  • Dynamics
  • Tempo
  • Structure

Introduce

  • Formal notation

Musical understanding

National Curriculum Objectives

  • develop an understanding of the history of music.

Year 3

  • Begin to know about the different purposes of music throughout history and in other cultures.
  • Compare contemporary music to music in history.

Year 4

  • Understand the different purposes of music throughout history and in other cultures (see music scheme for content differences to year 3).
  • Understand that the sense of occasion affects the performance.

Vocabulary Progression

Year 3

Structure, intro/introduction, verse, chorus, improvise, compose, pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, hook, melody,
texture, structure, electric guitar, organ, backing vocals, hook, riff, melody, Reggae, pentatonic scale, imagination, Disco.

Year 4

Keyboard, electric guitar, bass, drums, improvise, compose, melody, pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, texture, structure, compose, improvise, hook, riff, melody,
solo, pentatonic scale, unison, rhythm patterns, musical style, rapping, lyrics, choreography, digital/electronic sounds, turntables, synthesizers, by ear, notation, backing vocal, piano, organ, acoustic guitar, percussion, birdsong, civil rights, racism, equality.