KS3 Music

a professional development programme

Providing varied musical challenges

Establishing criteria for success

A key factor in effective creative learning is the recognition of success. If pupils are clear about the purpose of their work, they should be equally clear about the success of their outcome. In order to meet a challenge or fulfil a brief, they need to be able to ask themselves: ‘How will I know when I’ve got there?’ As in any assessment process, clear learning outcomes help them to do this, but the process depends upon the existance of a clear progression in the learning challenge. The progression should identify not only musical attributes but also creative and thinking ability.

Progression in musical learning is exemplified clearly in the National Curriculum (2008) attainment target, through the different levels. The development of creative and thinking skills is implicit within the levels. For example, here is the progression identified for improvisation skills:

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

improvise repeated patterns

improvise melodic and rhythmic phrases as part of a group performance

improvise melodic and rhythmic material within given structures, use a variety of notations

improvise and compose in different styles and genres, using harmonic and non-harmonic devices where relevant, sustaining and developing musical ideas and achieving different intended effects

create coherent compositions drawing on internalised sounds … adapt, improvise, develop, extend and discard musical ideas within given and chosen musical structures, styles, genres and traditions

Teachers’ planning for Key Stage 3 will need to identify not only the types of musical challenge that will allow pupils to make progress, but also the types of thinking they will need to employ in order to meet those challenges.

Case study 6

Year 7 challenge

Using acoustic and electronic sound sources, create a soundscape for an atmospheric storyline.

The musical challenge for pupils here is to apply their (new) knowledge and understanding of sound sources to a specific purpose within an implied structure. The musical thinking required is at a largely representational level, in response to a fairly straightforward problem: ‘How can I use different acoustic and electronic sounds to fit well with this story‘’

If you want to know more about using audio recording software, you can go to the Practical Support Pack module called Discovering processing effects.

Year 9 challenge

Use acoustic and electronic sound sources to create a short ‘sound portrait’ of one of the characters in this story (play, film, etc.).

The musical challenge for pupils here is to analyse the chosen character, analyse the types of sounds that might be used, and synthesise these into an effective piece of music. This will require them to draw upon all their musical learning experience from Key Stage 3 and beyond, and use those higher level thinking skills to solve the problem: ‘How can I use different acoustic and electronic sounds, together with live sound processing techniques, to portray an abstract character‘’

Sharing the purpose of these challenges with pupils will help them to gain ownership of the ‘big picture’ in their musical learning, and enable them to more easily make connections between areas of learning.

Equally, it is possible to identify progression in the challenge of abstract musical thinking, as shown in the next case study.

Case study 7

Year 7 challenge

The composer’s notebook contains the following ideas:

  • a short diatonic scale (D E F G A) notation
  • a melodic idea in graphic notation notation
  • a rhythmic ostinato notation
  • ‘something calm and something exciting’
  • a piece of text: ‘And my world changed at that moment’

Year 9 challenge

The composer’s notebook contains the following ideas:

  • two scales (Dorian and Raga Dhani)
  • a melodic ideanotation
  • a rhythmic ostinato notation
  • an arpeggio riff notation
  • a more complicated bass riff
  • three chords – Cm, Am and C notation
  • ‘something about growing or fading’
  • a piece of text: ‘Let earth grow warm and wake’

Learning outcomes for tasks based on this understanding of progression should not only identify whether pupils have achieved a task, but also with what quality it has been achieved. Setting clear learning objectives for both music and creativity or thinking provides the basis for establishing these success criteria. Meeting creativity objectives will help pupils to judge their work not only in terms of whether it fulfils its purpose, but particularly in relation to its originality and value. Thus pupils can develop their own criteria for judging success and effectiveness. You can read more in Unit 5: Challenge in music about how to plan for quality of musical outcomes and how to focus on imagination and creativity in order to facilitate progression in musical understanding.

Task 11: Focusing on progression and quality (One lesson)

During a lesson in which your pupils are involved in an individual or group activity, try asking questions based on the principles of progression and quality described above.

For example:

‘So you’re working on … but tell me what you think makes a good…?'

‘How do you think you’ll know when you’ve got it right?’

‘What do you think makes your work original?’

Pupils’ responses to these sorts of questions can be very revealing. If pupils were unclear in their answers, consider the possible reasons for this, and how you might amend your planning or teaching accordingly.

 
Department for children, schools and families Creative tecahing and learning

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