KS3 Music

Using language to support thinking about music: reviewing and evaluating skills

As already identified, the use of a specific vocabulary is only the first stage of effective language use in music. In broad terms, a musical vocabulary is most critical for types of learning requiring knowledge and comprehension, the starting points of Bloom’s taxonomy for cognitive learning. It is also, however, the building block for a more sophisticated use of language that supports advanced reviewing and evaluating skills, which necessarily require skills in application and analysis. Pupils therefore need opportunities to talk and write about music, sometimes at length, if they are to meet progressively harder challenges in their thinking about music.

Literacy in music (DCSF 0054-2004 G) outlines a series of important principles and strategies for the use of speaking and listening, reading, and writing within music lessons. In the context of the way that these principles and strategies can support the more advanced thinking skills required by the reviewing and evaluating component of the music curriculum, it suggests the following.

• There are constant opportunities to develop talk about music, and these provide a good way of improving pupils’ understanding or evaluative skills. In particular, ‘pupils who engage in exploratory talk are more likely to understand, develop and internalise related concepts’ and ‘in questioning and discussion, [talk allows] pupils increased thinking time’.
• Carefully focused reading activities can be used to enrich musical understanding. Although the range of texts for music is wide (including books on music, texts from the Internet, magazine articles and reviews, CD inlay notes, etc.), ‘rather than simplifying the language we offer pupils, we should be providing strategies to support them in understanding challenging texts’.
• ‘Clearly focused writing activities challenge pupils to make their knowledge and understanding of music explicit – in thus using language as a tool for learning, their level of understanding of music is further developed’.

As an example, pupils are given a structured reading task about African-American music. After listening to and discussing examples of African music, pupils undertake a complex reading activity that requires them to identify those features of gospel, blues and jazz which draw upon the original African tradition. After more listening, pupils are asked to draw upon their reading research and listening to write an entry for an information guide to different styles of music, e.g. Rough Guide to World Music. Following this development of their musical understanding, pupils focus on specific features identified as they prepare performances of African American music.

In working through these activities, pupils are learning about the conventions of different musical styles. Specifically, their study of music is including 'consideration of contextual influences that affect the way music is created, performed and heard’. They are also having to ‘use their existing knowledge and understanding to make sense of a new context’ – a feature of application in Bloom’s taxonomy. Some pupils will also be able to answer questions such as: ‘What is the evidence for … ’ or ‘Can you make a distinction between … ’, questions which address the more advanced cognitive objective of analysis.

All of this clearly helps pupils to develop their reviewing and evaluating skills, as defined by the National Curriculum (2008): ‘pupils should be taught to analyse, evaluate and compare pieces of music’. In addition, they are developing their capacity to learn advanced thinking skills, and by using them in the middle of the unit of work, they are able to apply their learning to consequent practical work.

Task 11: Literacy in music to develop reviewing and evaluating skills (45 minutes)

Consider a unit of work you are currently teaching. Devise for one forthcoming lesson a talking, reading or writing activity that will enable pupils to use language-based learning in order to: develop their thinking and appraising skills to focus more explicitly on aspects of analysis, application or synthesis; improve their musical understanding of the style, genre or tradition being studied. Following the activity, make sure that pupils have the opportunity to apply this thinking and understanding to their consequent or continuing practical work. Can you identify more sophisticated responses in this practical work which reflect pupils’ deeper understanding as a result of the language-based work? Is this something that you could do in all units of work, or does the amount of time taken mean that its use has to be carefully selected to ensure maximum impact?