Music courses offered in Stage 5, Years 9 and 10.
Year 9 and Year 10 Elective Music
This is offered as a 100 hour School Certificate course. Students complete two semesters of Music study in either Year 9 or Year 10.
Students enter either the normal strand for students with minimal prior musical experience or the extension strand for students with substantial prior experience in music. Both classes study the same topics and the same general principals of music, however the extension class studies the musical concepts at a more advanced level.
There is more opportunity for individual study paths in the extension class, catering for students' prior experiences in music and their individual interests.
CM101
This is the first semester of Music study. Students are reintroduced to the concepts of music covered in Years 7 and 8. Fundamental concepts and skills are revised and built upon to undertake a more in-depth study of music. Classroom learning activities incorporate the learning experiences of performing, composing and listening.
Performing
Students learn the guitar as their performing instrument. Basic skills from Year 7 are revised and further skills and techniques focused on playing chords and strumming patterns are taught. Students learn some simple songs based on these techniques and gradually build up a repertoire of chords and strumming techniques. Students are assessed regularly on their progress in learning set songs.
In the second half of the semester, students are given the opportunity to select a song or songs of their choice to learn. They are supported in practising and applying the techniques they have learnt earlier in the semester.
In the extension class there is more opportunity for students to spend their performance time learning and practising repertoire of their choice on their preferred instrument.
In this class, students are able to choose either individual performance options or to practise and perform as part of an ensemble. Students are encouraged to perform for each other and to take advantage of performance opportunities at assemblies and other public venues.
Composing
Students complete a major composition assignment as well as short class activities focusing on rhythm and pitch. Students are encouraged to experiment with sound and style to create their own original compositions.
The major composition task is focused on the popular music genres studied in listening lessons this semester. Students create their own song or instrumental piece to express an idea, feeling or general mood. This is an initial composition exercise in creating an original piece of music that shows unity within its overall structure. Students are encouraged to reflect on their use of the concepts of music in their piece of music and to experiment with different ways of expressing their musical ideas.
Students are also taught how to read and write musical notation throughout the semester. The fundamental concepts of notation are taught and built upon gradually throughout the semester. Students are encouraged to notate their own compositions as far as possible. Regular practice in class is provided for the building of notation skills.
Listening
The topic of Contemporary Popular Music Genres including the study of Australian music and musicians is studied. The concepts of music are revised from Year 7 study and rapidly built on to provide students with the skills to analyse music in greater depth.
The main characteristics and elements of several popular music genres are studied in class with particular emphasis on the use of the concepts of music and the differences and similarities between musical genres.
Students are encouraged to given extended oral and written responses to develop their higher order thinking skills and the intellectual quality of their answers. Analytical skills are focused on and students are encouraged to think independently and to express original thoughts and ideas.
Research tasks and assignments focus on developing students' knowledge and understanding of the set topics. Students have the opportunity to choose their own topics of interest when undertaking research tasks.
CM102
In this semester, students consolidate and continue to build on the performing, composing and listening skills studied in the first semester.
Performing
The instrument studied this semester is the keyboard. Fundamental skills are taught and a simple repertoire is built.
Students begin with learning some scales, arpeggios and basic fingering patterns and practise these in some simple songs using both the right and left hands. These skills are sequentially developed to extend into more advanced repertoire.
The series A Dozen A Day is used for technical skill development and several songs are learnt. By the end of the semester, students have a repertoire of several songs and an understanding of scales and chord structure. This provides them with the skills to learn simple songs of their choice.
In the extension class there is the continued opportunity to focus on repertoire and the instruments of choice of individual students. Keyboard skills will be taught to all students, however, students have the option to spend some of their performance time exploring and developing their own repertoire.
Composing
Composition tasks focus on developing the skills gained in the first semester of music study. Students create their own original composition experimenting with the use of the concepts of music to express their ideas.
Compositions are either in the form of a song or an instrumental piece. A set structure is given for each task and students are able to explore their ideas within the given structure.
- Students are encouraged to explore the ideas of unity and contrast within their piece or song.
- Students are encouraged to reflect on their use of the concepts of music within their composition and to extend upon the skills learnt in the first semester.
Study of musical notation is continued in this semester. Further aspects of notation are introduced and regular exercises and opportunity to practise notation skills are provided.
Exercises involving numeracy skills are used and further fundamentals of harmony and music theory skills are taught. Scale and chord structure is focused on and this is reinforced through keyboard lessons. In the extension class, key structure and the concepts of diminished and augmented chords are also taught.
Listening
The topic of Western Classical Music is taught. This is an overview of the main characteristics of the musical genres from Medieval music through to 20th Century classical music genres.
Students follow a timeline of musical genres and study the main features of each. Short research tasks are given focusing on different aspects of the musical periods.
The use of the concepts of music within each of the musical periods and genres is focused on and students continue to develop their skills in analysing the concepts of music within the musical examples studied. This is a continuation of preparation for HSC Music study in which the concepts of music are a central aspect of music study.