MUSIC

Music at Leigh Academy Tonbridge will focus on many different types of world music, including music theory knowledge and understanding of specific instruments with a high proportion of the lessons being based on practical activities.

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Music is a universal language which stems from a multitude of cultures and societies. It was one of our earliest forms of communication. Music education should aim to engage and inspire pupils to develop both a love of music and their talent as musicians and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.

Students need to engage with music as a subject and have a meaningful modern experience with music delivered in a 21st century way. We have invested in the latest technology so that students can access all areas of music, making it relevant to them as to how they listen to, create and access music.

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe”
Lao Tzu

Module 1, 2 & 3: Musical Foundations
This unit looks at how we talk about music, how to read musical notation, and performance skills on keyboard.
Module 4, 5 & 6: Music for Media
This unit discusses how music shapes our understanding of film and TV. Students learn techniques for composing music to film.

Module 1 & 2: West African Music
This unit explores the music of West Africa through singing, drumming and composition.
Module 3 & 4: The Blues and Protest Music
Building on the knowledge of West African music, this unit looks at how music developed in the USA and formed part of the Civil Rights Movement.
Module 5 & 6: Reggae
Continuing the discussion of the importance of African heritage to modern music, this unit looks at the development of Reggae and the first use of remix in the modern era.

Modules 1 & 2: Rock ‘n’ Roll
This unit builds on the knowledge of year 8 to discuss how Black American influences became mainstream in the 1950s and 60s.
Modules 3 & 4: Samba and Afrobeats
This unit looks at how cultural heritage is used throughout the modern music industry.
Modules 5 & 6: Disco and Sampling
This unit investigates the roots of sampling and electronic music in disco, before switching to the modern day use of technology.

Performing:

3 mock performances for solo – Christmas, Easter and Summer.

Composition:

Working on Free composition. Mocks in October and February, with real submission in May.

Listening and Appraising:

5 out of 8 set works:

AOS3-Music for Stage and Screen: Defying Gravity and Star Wars

AOS1-Instrumental Music 1700-1820: Brandenburg Concerto No.5 and Pathetique Sonata

AOS2-Vocal Music: Killer Queen

Mock exam summer

edexcel gcse music information

Performing:

Real solo performance in October. Ensemble performance – mock December and February, real submission Easter.

Composition:

Composing to a brief. Mock December, real submission Easter.

Listening and Appraising:

AOS2-Vocal Music: Music for a While (Purcell)

AOS4-Fusions: Afro Celt Sound System and Samba Em Preludio

Extended response question, general listening, dictation practice.

Mock exams December and February. Final exam summer.

edexcel gcse music information