Music - Year 11

Music Overview

Term 1: AOS3 - Africa, African drummingCentral & South America.

Students will work towards their final assessment on Solo Performance and look at a range of musical styles from around the world. They will begin their set composition by OCR.

  1. Solo Performance Final Performance Recording - this is worth 15% of final grade.
Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Structure

Song structure or the musical forms of songs, also known as Form.

Meter

How beats or pulse in music are divided up

Bass Pan

The largest Steel Pan within a Steel Band ensemble playing the lowest pitch and playing the bass note, often the root of the chord often using dotted rhythms.

Cello Pan

The second largest Steel Pan within a Steel Band ensemble playing the chords, melody or bass. The Cello Pan is also known as the Guitar Pan and often plays the third and fifth notes of a chord on offbeats.

Conga

A pair of tall, narrow single-headed drums played with the hands on a stand which the musician has to stand to play used in Calypso and Samba.

Cuica

A Brazilian friction drum used in Samba music with a large pitch range, produced by changing the tension on the head of the drum. The tone/timbre/sonority of the Cuica produces a high-pitched squeaky sound.

Djembe

A skin-covered African hand drum shaped like a large goblet made out of single tree trunk hollowed out. The skin is made from goatskin and rope is used to tighten the skin to tune the drum to the appropriate pitch.

Guiro

An open-ended hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stuck along the notches to produce a “ratchet” sound/timbre/sonority.

Repinique

A small drum used in Samba bands and Samba music, similar to a snare drum but taller, that is usually played with one stick and the bare hand. It has a more metallic tone than the snare drum and can be used to play solo cues in call and response patterns.

Son Clave

A rhythm used in Samba music originating from Son music played by the Claves, but in Samba used as a rhythmic ostinato. There are two main variants of Son Clave, known as 2:3 and 3:2.

Steel Pan

Steel Pans are made by cutting oil drums into different sizes and then beating the tops into concave bowls. Each individual note is then beaten into a small area of the bowl.

Surdo

A bass drum used to make the beat of Samba music. Surdos keep a steady beat and alternate between higher and lower pitches. A smaller Surdo often plays an important role within the ensemble.

Syncopation

A way of changing a rhythm by making some notes a bit early, often so they cross over the main beat of the music on the “weaker beats”.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Prepare for solo performance exam, building confidence and learning new concepts about world rhythms.

Create a supportive community:

Building confidence and learning key words.

Term 2: AO3 - Indian Music, Bhrangra, Greek Music, Palestinian and Israeli Music. Begin group performances.

Studying rhythms of the world and general musical features from India, Greece, Palestine and Israel.

  1. Assessment will be throughout the term through regular homework quizzes and the Mock Exams.
ornamentation

a way of decorating a melody

Agogo Bells

A cowbell with two pitches, one high and one low, played with a wooden stick and hand-held. The bells can also produce a sound by squeezing them so that they strike each other.

Articulation

How smoothly or “spikily” something is played e.g. Legato means played smoothly often shown by slurs, Staccato means played short and sharp often shown by dots above or below a note, Accents (>), Sforzandos (Sfz or Sf).

Bouzouki

A stringed instrument that has three or four pairs of strings tuned either to the same note, or an octave apart to give the Bouzouki its distinctive timbre or sonority. It is most often used as a melody instrument and often plays distinctive slides.

Cadence

A progression of (at least) two chords that concludes a phrase, section or piece of music. Cadences can be defined as Perfect, Plagal, Imperfect and Interrupted. Greek folk music has phrases which end with clear cadences.

Chaal

The rhythm on which Punjabi Bhangra is based consisting of a repeated eight note pattern in 4/4 metre. The Chaal rhythm is “swung” (as in Blues music) and has a triplet feel (dum-di, dum-di, dum-di, dum-di).

Cross-Rhythms

The effect produced when two “conflicting” rhythms are heard together.

Dhol

A type of drum used in Bhangra music (smaller than the Dholak) and played with the hands, often slung from the shoulder. The Dholakplays more complex rhythms and decorated parts along with the Dhol.

Harmony

The sounding of two or more musical notes at the same time. Harmony can be described as Diatonic, Chromatic, Consonant, and Dissonant, the use of a Pedal Note or Drone and different types of chords.

Irregular Metres

Time signatures where there are an odd number of beats per bar e.g. 5/8 or 7/8, often used in Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern folk music.

Metre

The rhythmic structure, the patterns of accents heard regularly recurring measures of stressed (accented) and unstressed (unaccented) beats at the frequency of the music’s pulse. Metre is notated at the beginning of a composition with a time signature.

Microtonal

A type of Harmony used in Arabic folk music and Punjabi Bhangra where the intervals between notes of a scale (or mode) are smaller than a semitone, often a “quarter tone” giving 24 notes in an octave. Microtonal music can sound “strange" or "exotic".

Raga

A type of scale, mode and melody used in Indian Classical music each with a particular mood and associated with a particular time of day. Also the name given to a complete piece/performance of Indian Classical music.

Tabla

A pair of small drums used in Indian Classical music and Punjabi Bhangra placed side by side on the floor in front of the player. Their main role is to keep the time, but they sometimes interact with the soloist and have short solos.

Tala

Indian classical music is based on rhythm patterns called Talas (single Tala) - a repeating rhythm pattern usually played by the Tabla.

Wazn

A traditional Arabic rhythm pattern.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

A greater understanding of cultures and influences on music and lifestyles from around the world.

Create a supportive community:

Working together and an understanding of different cultures.

Term 3: AOS3 - World Rhythms AOS2- Concerto Through Time

Students continue learn about Eastern Mediterranean & Middle East, Greek, Palestinian & Israeli Music. They will review AOS2, Concerto Through Time.

  1. Regular exam style questions will be set based on AOS3 and AOS4.
Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

Timbre

the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness.

Composition

a piece of music

Meter

How beats or pulse in music are divided up

hit points

when an event takes place in a film

Diagetic Sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film.

Sequencing

Using technology to record ideas and arrange them in a particular order

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students continue to practice exam questions and gain a deeper understanding of cultures from around the world. They will work on answering questions and developing group performance skills.

Create a supportive community:

Students work together for their group performance.

Term 4: Composition Two and Group Performance

Students focus on completing their group performance and composition set by OCR. They will also work through AOS2 to AOS5 through listening exercises.

  1. Final assessment of Group Performance and Composition Two. Both are 15% each.
Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

chords

2 or more notes sounding at the same time

key signature

a series of #'s or b's (sharps or flats) to indicate what notes are in the scale.

arrangement

creating a new version of an existing piece of music

rhythm

Sound organised over time.

articulation

The way notes are played or sung.

dynamics

How loud or quiet the music is.

expression

The act of communicating emotion in music.

tempo

The speed of music.

pitch

how low or high the sounds are

ornamentation

a way of decorating a melody

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students work towards a deadline and complete coursework.

Create a supportive community:

Working in groups, students complete their group performance. They will support each other throughout the process and develop a range of learning skills.

Term 5: Exam Revision

This term students will focus on the 40% listening exam and revise all the AOS.

  1. Mock Exam
Melody

a sequence of single notes, also known as a Tune.

Rhythm

a strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Harmony

Groups of notes played together, also known as chords.

orchestra

A group of performers on various musical instruments, playing together. This usually includes the four families - brass, woodwind, percussion and strings.

chords

2 or more notes sounding at the same time

Timbre

the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness.

Diagetic Sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural
Develop the individual:

Students will work through exam techniques that they will be able to transfer to other subjects.

Create a supportive community:

Students will support each other and share learning techniques.