A Pupil’s Journey in Music at Thurnham

Vocabulary

Children at Thurnham develop a wide musical vocabulary to include: pitch, rhythm, volume, dynamics, pulse, duration, tempo, timbre, texture. 

Singing

A child at Thurnham will begin their journey with a breadth of familiar nursery rhymes and experience singing as a group. They will be able to recall lyrics and start to recognise the pitch within songs. In year 1, they will then progress to singing in smaller groups and be able to show the changes in pitch using hand movements. By the end of their time in Thurnham, the children will learn and experience singing in a round. The children will also know how to use simple accompaniment to their singing, such as the use of a percussive instrument. All children will have many opportunities to perform as part of Harvest and Easter worship as well as Christmas nativity performances and carol services.

Listening

Children begin by listening and using a broadening vocabulary to describe what they hear and what they like or dislike. In year 1, this develops into expressing their ideas and likes about a piece of music. By year 2, the children can identify instruments and compare different pieces of music. Children will have experience of a wide range of music genres and periods, from Mozart to The Beatles.

Composition

To begin their journey, children will explore creating music through play and may create their own words to familiar tunes. Children progress in year 1 to combining different sounds using a variety of instruments to create different effects. By the end of year 1, children begin to explore notation in formal and informal ways. As part of composition in Year 2, the children incorporate different dimensions of music and think about how these relate to the composition tasks. They continue to develop notation of their ideas.