This is a KS3 sow which introduces students to film music, in particular composing music for a scary scene. It teaches techniques such as chromaticism, ostinato, pedal, drone, cluster chords and unclear tempo and how to create these using music ICT software. There is a written SOW, powerpoints for 6 lessons, videos of the techniques, success criteria, help sheets, existing scary songs written out (good for the start of SOW or cover) and a number of logic/garageband examples with the techniques in. This techniques link in with many of the GCSE specs and key words that students are expected to know.

This unit of work introduces students to playing the keyboard. It takes them through how to position their hands, learn warm ups and scales, learning a pieced and learning how to read the notes on the staves. This includes a written Scheme of work, 7 powerpoints, keyboard scores such as twinkle twinkle little star, Fur Elise and scales and warm up exercises. This also includes videos for helping to learn the notes of the stave and grade descriptors.

This is a KS3 scheme of work which introduces students to composing through learning about the Carnival of Animals by Saint-Saens. It introduces students to the different elements of music and gets them composing their own music to fit with a chosen animal. This includes a written sow, powerpoints, musical scores, a quiz, audio examples of a range of animal compositions, peer assessment sheets, a video of the Swan being played and worksheets.

This is a written SOW plus powerpoints and resources for a KS3 scheme on African Drumming. This works well with year 7. It gives activities and instructions for teaching a series of 6 lessons on African Drumming as well as powerpoints and resources that can be used to aid with the teaching of this unit. This explores some of culture and history of African Drumming- in particular Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast, and students also learn basic techniques of drumming, rhythmic devices and are introduced to note values and rhythmic notation. This includes 6 powerpoints, a video on basic rhythmic values, rhythm cards a rhythmic piece of music for students to learn (rhythm rumble), written SOW and links to online African Drumming videos.

This is a curriculum overview for KS3 It has 6 suggested half-termly scheme of work topics for each year group- 7,8 and 9. Each topic has a rough outline of what it involves, key words (linked to OCR GCSE listening spec) how it will be assessed, as well as a levels overview for parents and how parents can support their child at home. If you are interested in delivering any of these sows of work and would like resources such as a written sow, powerpoints, scores, listening activities, videos etc then send me a message or check my shop as I am in the process of uploading them- all for a great price :)

These are my arrangements of Fur Elise, Swan Lake theme and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for easy piano- they have left and right hand parts written out with letter names above the notes for those who don’t read music. Very popular with KS3 students.

This is a complete unit of work all about Classical Music. The aim of this unit is to introduce KS3 pupils to Classical Music in a fun and engaging way to give them an appreciation of the genre and knowledge of it to ready them for GCSE. The unit gives a brief history of Classical Music and gets students playing famous Classical pieces- in particular in the Hall of the Mountain King. Fur Elise, Suprise Symphony and Danse Macabre scores are also included as piano scores. Students also learn about rhythm and pulse, dynamics, pitch and texture- key words they will need to GCSE. This scheme can be approached in different ways and is versatile- I have taught this using ICT and music software such as garageband, keyboards or using a range of instruments such as tuned percussion and guitars. The unit includes a written scheme of work, 7 powerpoints, a video with fun info about Classical Music and piano scores for In the Hall of the Mountain King, Danse Macabre, Fur Elise and Suprise Symphony.

This is my arrangement of James Bays’ ‘Hold back the RIver’ for easy piano- with letter names written above notes to help those who don’t read music.

This unit of work is aimed at introducing KS3 students to structure and form and composing their own ideas. It goes through key structures such as binary, ternary, arch, rondo and theme and variation with examples and opportunities to compose in those forms- this fits in with the knowledge needed for GCSE and covers many of the key words that will be needed for the listening and appriasing papers. This unit includes a written Scheme of work, 6 powerpoints with success criteria and logic file/mp3 examples of each structure.

This is a version of Amazing Grace written out for piano. There is a primo part which is the main melody with chords/bass notes as well as an accompaniment part with chords and bass. Letter names are written above notes for those who don’t read music.

This resource provides a range of scales all starting on C. For each scale you have the musical notation, letter names written above as well as intervals written below (tones and semitones) This works well if you are teaching KS4/5 about scales and want them to be able to play through them in order to get used to how they sound. As they all start on C, it allows the learner to understand the differences between each scale and the tone/semi tone patterns written below mean that students can try to transpose the scale to start on a different note. Major Minor -natural/melodic and harmonic Major/ Minor Pentatonic Whole Tone Chromatic Dorian Mode Blues

This is a unit of work for KS3 all about Blues Music. Note: This uses the same files as my other Blues Unit of Work upload- however it does not contain the tutorial videos. This unit has a practical approach and can be taught in a range of ways. I have done it just using music ICT software and midi keyboards, using live instruments when students work on their own e.g. pianos or live instruments where students work in groups on a range of instruments such as bass, piano, guitar and drums. This teaches some history and context as well as the main techniques of Blues- walking bassline, 12 bar blue chord sequence, improvising using the blues scale. It also has a few lessons on learning The Entertainer which I have found students enjoy learning. There is also a score for So What by Miles Davis in case you need an extra song to play. Included in this unit is a written scheme of work, 6 powerpoints and worksheets for learning the bassline, 12 bar blues chords, blues scale, So what by Miles Davis and The Entertainer by Scott Joplin.

This is a unit of work for KS3 all about Blues Music. It is the same as my other Blues unit but also includes video tutorials. This unit has a practical approach and can be taught in a range of ways. I have done it just using music ICT software and midi keyboards, using live instruments when students work on their own e.g. pianos or live instruments where students work in groups on a range of instruments such as bass, piano, guitar and drums. This teaches some history and context as well as the main techniques of Blues- walking bassline, 12 bar blue chord sequence, improvising using the blues scale. It also has a few lessons on learning The Entertainer which I have found students enjoy learning. Included in this unit is a written scheme of work, 6 powerpoints, 8 video tutorials for walking bassline, 12 bar blues chord sequence, blues scale and the Entertainer as well as a levels demonstration video. I have also included some resources for the Miles Davis song ‘So What’ as this has proved popular in the past as a Blues piece for students to learn.

These are 10 Classical Songs written out for Ukulele- (can also be used for a melody instrument that uses the treble clef) This uses treble clef notation and also has ukulele tab aswell as the notes labelled. They are also colour coded in case you want to stick small dots onto your ukuleles which I have done in the past to help learners.

This is a bundle of 4 work sheets for use with your GCSE students, in particular for composition in a Popular Song style. The composition audit is a good way to assess what students know about basic composition skills at the start of the year and is formatted in a traffic like system. The composition top tips is a 1 page hand out for students which gives some ideas on what to include for a melody, drum beat, chord sequence and bassline- for a pop style song in particular. What should I include in a pop song composition gives a range of features that you would expect to have in a Popular song, broken down into texture, structure, melody, timbre, rhythm and metre, tonality, harmony, dynamics and melody. This is a good guide for students and can aid in planning lessons on the different areas. **Composition check list **is a good task to do with students when they are trying to develop their pieces- it is a tick sheet activity, with questions around the layers, structure and contrast and development that they have in their piece. It also gives some further ways that they can develop their piece.

This bundle of resources centers around learning the flat and sharp key signatures (up to four flats and sharps) This is particularly useful for GCSE students. The keys and key signature pp can be covered in 2-4 lessons and teaches students how to recognise the sharp and flat key signatures with top tips for doing this and chances to practice. There are two homework worksheets- to help students revise and remember what they have learnt about the flat and sharp key signatures. There is also a key signature game- which has the name of each key in bold for you to cut out and place around the room. You can then test students by asking them for example " which key has 2 sharps?" and getting them to move around the room to find the correct key. The excel spreadsheet contains scales written in letter form e.g. CDEFGABC and colour coded, for every note of the scale. This is a good way for students to get used to what notes are in each key, through playing them. There is also an extra **powerpoint for revision or homework **which asks students to create their own revision aid for the key signatures- this is a good way to consolidate the learning.

This is a powerpoint with help on how to answer the long answer questions and the different types that may come up. It mostly uses extract from the GCSE Music OCR Complete Revision & Practice book but if you don’t have that you can find the extracts online- I will update to incude the titles of the songs when I am back at work.

My arrangement of Mission Impossible for piano. Great if you are studying film music or irregular time signatures!

This is a simple listening assessment for year 7 students based on the Schindler’s list theme tune. It is a good way to assess what students know already and give students a baseline listening grade.

This is a duet version of River Flows in you by Yiruma which I have arranged. The primo part follows the main tune and broken chords using both hands much like the original at around a grade 3/4 standard The secondo part plays chords and bass using both hands at around a grade 2/3 standard, This works well for GCSE ensemble performances. Notes are written above all notes to help those who don’t read music.