Music
At Queen Emma we follow the National Curriculum for Music and to provide our children with a wide range of musical experiences. Initially our children learn to use their voices expressively and creatively as well as playing tuned and untuned instruments. As they progress through the school, they all have the opportunity to learn the recorder, ukulele, glockenspiel and some children learn other instruments through additional lessons. They have opportunities to listen to, and evaluate, the music of a variety of composers and musicians from different periods of history and genres of music. They also have the opportunity to create their own music, developing an understanding of pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations. We also enjoy celebrating children’s achievements by encouraging them to perform to an audience. In addition, the children develop their skills in our weekly music assembly and through performing in school productions.
Yearly Overview
| Autumn | Spring | Summer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y1 | Long and short sounds. Christmas Concert | Pulse. Pitch | Pitch |
| Y2 | Exploring duration. Exploring pulse and rhythm (ocarina and glockenspiel) | Exploring timbre. Tempo and dynamics. Exploring instruments and symbols | Exploring sounds, timbre of different materials (ocarina and glockenspiel) |
| Y3 | Recorders | Recordings Composition | Sea shanties. Recorders |
| Y4 | Recorders. Rhythmic patterns. Composing raps | Melodies and scales. Recorders | Descriptive sounds. Listening and understanding |
| Y5 | Recorders Listening and understanding Music | Glockenspiels. Beats | African drumming. Egyptian music |
| Y6 | Swing and big band music. Song cycle performance | Ukuleles and glockenspiels. Beat | Tuned instruments, ukulele and glockenspiels. Performing |
For more information please click on the link to view our Music Policy on our Policies page.
Choir
KS2 children may be involved in a Middle Years and Later Years choir. Children develop their understanding of musical notation and part singing. They are encouraged to develop their confidence through singing together, helping in music assemblies and performing to an audience.
For the past two years, Queen Emma has been involved in Singfest, which enables choirs from different schools to have an opportunity to learn about and perform Opera, as well as other genres of music. In the Autumn term, two professional opera singers visited the school and performed to and with the children to inspire them. So far, they have taken part in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and more recently, ‘Orpheus and Eurydice.’
Additional Lessons
There are currently opportunities for children to learn piano, violin, guitar and ukulele through additional lessons. Please see the ‘Clubs’ area of the website for contact details of the relevant teachers.
Examples Of Learning
Year 4
In music, Year 4 put into practise our understanding of the pentatonic scale by using just 5 notes to work out the tune for a song we had learnt. We then played it on the glockenspiels as the class sang along! What fun!
Year 5
Year 5 have been using the glockenspiels in music lessons. The children have been learning to play some simple tunes: ‘Hot Cross Buns’ and ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’. We have also been using the musical alphabet and have learnt the phrase ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Food’ to help us remember some notes of the treble clef.
Year 6
This year the children were lucky enough to have a visit from the Academy of Ancient Music, who performed to the whole school and provided workshops for Year 5 and 6. The children learned about the life and music of Henry Purcell, one of England’s most important composers. There was dancing, composing, singing and dressing up, and the response from both children and staff was extremely positive.