Year 9 — Music

Term 1, 2 & 3: JJMusical devices & features of film music – Leitmotifs Musical

Musical devices and features of film music – Leitmotifs.

Students will perform a number of Leitmotifs from James Bond theme. They will explore syncopation, chromatic movement, layering and sequences through a series of 4 themes.

Students will compose music for a film clip.

Students will learn about how music adds to the emotional quality of films and games. They will compose, refine and record pieces with a sense of time, mood and intention. They will download a movie/game clip on to their iMacs and replace the original soundtrack with their own composed work, whilst maintaining the emotional qualities and intentions of the director.

Perform a series of leitmotifs from the James Bond theme.

Compose music for a Sci-Fi film clip which contains a large number of music ingredients/compositional devices. The aim will be to compose incidental music which will enhance the emotional impact the visual experience has to the viewer.

Leitmotif

A leitmotif or leitmotiv is a "short, constantly recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of idée fixe or motto-theme.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

It helps students understand the importance of emotional qualities in music compositions. Students will realise how important the job of a film music composer is.

Create a supportive community:

Students work with others to analyse films and games and realise the impact certain motifs have on their social behaviour.

Term 4: Waltz

Waltz music

Students will study the origins and culture of the waltz dance style, its musical characteristics including: instrumentation, tempo, structure and melody. They will learn how the music and dance steps work together, they will learn about venues and occasion, they will learn about the use of Music technology and they will study about famous composers and performers.

Perform Blue Danube by Strauss using appropriate musical devices.

For Blue Danube: students will be assessed on accuracy of the rhythmic feel (3/4) and accuracy of pitches.

time signatures

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are to be contained in each measure (bar) and which note value is equivalent to one beat.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

It helps each student explore the social conventions under which music is perfomed and/or experienced.

Create a supportive community:

Students will work and dance in partners, in order to demonstrate understanding of the rhythmic effect for each style.

Term 5 & 6: Pop songs & Arrangements

Pop songs and arrangements & Compose a pop ballad.

Students will explore the genre of popular song, learn how different artists and groups have created different musical arrangements of the same song. They will learn about different musical devices used in popular songs including how the different structural elements are sequenced horizontally to produce the classic form of a popular song, as well as how different textural layers combine vertically showing awareness of the different parts used in a popular song. Pupils explore hooks and riffs and learn about their function within popular songs.

Perform and compose a pop ballad.

Arrangement

An arrangement is a musical reconceptualization of a previously composed work. It may differ from the original work by means of reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or development of the formal structure.

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

It helps students understand that creativity does not always come from intiating something from scratch but instead developing an already existing idea further.

Create a supportive community:

Encourage students to exchange and explore own ideas and those from established composers.