Model Music Curriculum Key Stage 3
Links to suggested listening (tip - include one of these as a part of the lesson)
National Music curriculum:
appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
Genres
Hip Hop
The song comes from the album '3 Feet High and Rising'.
De La Soul's concept of the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" (an acronym standing for "da inner sound, y'all") stood them apart from traditional rap and hip hop with it's often confrontational lyrics.
The lyrics were surreal and strange, the music sampled psychedelic, doo-wop and children's music in addition to the usual funk and soul of the genre at that time.
De La Soul were one of the most original hip hop groups of the era.
Disco
"Lost in Music" is a song by American vocal group Sister Sledge, released in July 1979.
Described as a "very Chic tune" with "sparse, elegant instrumentation" and a "fascinating" hook.
Richard Smith from Melody Maker wrote, "'Lost in Music' was a slice of pure pop heaven. A song about the simple thrill of going out dancing, every bit as thrilling as the feeling it was trying to describe".
Funk
Containing one of the best-known riffs in popular music, this song from 1972 originated in a jam session with guitarist Jeff Beck. It features Stevie Wonder playing Hohner Clavinet and Moog synthesizer over the drums (played by Jeff Beck), with only a tenor sax and trumpet as accompaniment.
90s Indie
Paranoid Android is notable for its departure from standard verse–chorus song structure.
The music of Radiohead has as much in common with Progressive Rock of the 1970s as it does with punk and New Wave.
Whilst sounding distinctly British, Radiohead did not fit under the 'Brit Pop' umbrella.
Rock
Although much is made of the video, this song (written by bassist John Deacon) is essentially a 12-bar blues of 3 verses, a bridge and no choruses.
Known as a rock band, 'I Want To Break Free' is more of a 'pop' production; the drums are electronic and it has a synthesizer solo, rather than the usual electric guitar.
Power Ballads
From the soundtrack of the film 'The Bodyguard', this song is a classic of glossy pop/soul production by David Foster and his wife (at the time) Linda Thompson.
Whitney Houston, from a family of singers, sang in church before becoming a session performer and backing singer.
Rock
The combination of acoustic guitar and the recorders (played by bassist John Paul Jones) are very much in step with elements of the British folk music scene of the time, which had a slightly 'medieval' sound.
After two verses an electric twelve-string guitar (Fender Electric XII) enters the mix, and an electric piano replaces the recorders but it isn't until two minutes later that bass guitar and drums enter. There is a further increase in tempo and volume around the 6 minute point.
Jazz
The song, originally written for Ella Fitzgerald, was first recorded in 1955 by Julie London, with only an electric guitar and double bass acompaniment.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song with a jazz quartet of piano, drums, guitar and double bass, which was released in 1961. The two versions - although similar - have very different qualities.
Fitzgerald was sometimes called the "First Lady of Song", because of her tone, precision of timing and intonation and improvising ability.
Blues
Billie Holiday wrote this song with Arthur Herzog Jr in 1939 and recorded it in 1941 with Eddie Haywood and his Orchestra.
She wrote the lyrics after an argument with her mother over money, and they speak of how money can be more important than people, relationships and even the bible.
Born in 1915, Holiday had a difficult childhood, but she began singing in nightclubs at the age of 14, and began her recording career in 1933.
Rock & Roll
Twist and Shout was a hit for The Isley Brothers in 1962, but the more widely-known version by The Beatles was recorded in 1963 and was a track on their 'Please Please Me' album.
The album was recorded in one day. John Lennon was suffering from a cold, so they recorded 'Twist and Shout last, at 10pm that night. The song was recorded in one take. Lennon later said that singing it "... nearly killed me... every time I swallowed it was like sandpaper".
The recording featured bass guitar, drums, two electric guitars, lead vocals and two backing vocals, all recorded live.
The Western Classical Tradition and Film beyond the 1940s
20th Century
This piece from the soundtrack of 'Watership Down' features a harp and solo flute.
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20th Century
'The Italian Job' is a stylish action film from 1969 about a bank robbery in Italy.
Composer Quincy Jones was an American jazz musician who had become involved in writing film soundtracks in 1964. In 'The Italian Job', he draws on his wide expeience in jazz and as a producer, writer and arranger of pop music.
The music features harpsichords and Hammond organs, choral arrangements, lush strings, songs (collaborating with English lyrcist Don Black) - such as the one in the clip - and much more.
20th Century
American composer John Williams has written the soundtracks to well over one hundred film.
In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams's score to 1977's 'Star Wars' as the greatest film score of all time. It has certainly become iconic.
The score contains many 'themes' that are associated with certain characters or places. There are references to the work of many classical composers such as Holst, Prokofiev and Stravinsky
Listen to The Imperial March here
20th Century
In 1997, Emma Portman became the first female composer to win an Academy Award for her soundtrack to 'Emma'.
Portman describes her piece as 'purely classical', using 'nothing that you wouldn't find in a symphony orchestra'.
She uses different orchestral instruments to represent the different characters in the film.
21st Century
Chinese-American composer wrote the score to the film 'Hero' in 2002. Influenced by American composers such as Steve Reich, John Cage and Meredith Monk, he had previously written more experimental works for 'organic' instruments made from paper, stone and even water.
'For The World' is dominated by a solo violin, and the overall sound is very suggestive of Chinese classical music.
The Western Classical Tradition up to the 1940s
Renaissance
English composer William Byrd was born in Essex in (approximately) 1540. By the time of his death in 1623, he had written around 470 pieces.
Written in 1605, 'Ave Verum Corpus' is a motet - a sacred choral piece sung in several parts. At that time, Catholicism was not permitted, and sacred songs and prayers should have been in English, not Latin. Byrd had become Catholic in the 1570s - a risky thing to do.
Baroque
One of the most famous pieces of music written for the organ and easily recognised as a horror film cliché, this piece by Johann Sebastian Bach was written sometime between 1704 and 1750. It was first published in 1833.
The piece begins with the toccata section - a fast composition designed to show off the player's ability - before moving into the fugue, which is a piece which uses counterpoint and polyphony in repeating themes.
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Baroque
First performed in 1742, 'Sinfony' from Handel's 'Messiah', is an instrumental piece.
It was written in the style of a 'French Overture' (which has a slow opening followed by a fugue), in the key of E minor for two oboes and strings.
The fugue section is more lively than the slow introductory section, and features themes that recur throughout the 'Messiah'.
Classical
Written in 1787, this piece opens with what is splendidly known as a 'Mannheim rocket', which is 'a swiftly ascending passage typically having a rising arpeggiated melodic line together with a crescendo'.
This, the first movement, is perhaps the best-known part of the work. The piece was originally written for two violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass, although today it is more likely to be performed by a full string orchestra.
Classical
In this, the finale to his 1824 'Symphony No.9', Beethoven approaches the notion of 'universal brotherhood'.
Although themes from the previous movements appear, they are 'rejected' and a new theme - 'Ode To Joy', based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller - is introduced.
The poem is directly responsible for the rhythm and structure of the music, as well as the uplifting, 'joyous' sound of the piece.
Romantic
This is the last piece from the 1828 song cycle 'Winterreise' ('Winter Journey') by Franz Schubert, that set to music 24 poems by the German poet Wilhelm Müller.
By the time he wrote 'Der Leiermann' ('The Hurdy-Gurdy Man'), Schubert was dying of syphilis, and it is widely supposed that the figure of the old street musician in the song personnifies death itself.
Winter comes at the end of a year, and is frequently used to symbolise the end of life, and in this, the final part of his 'Winterreise', Schubert is somberly asking the mysterious street musician:
"Strange old man, shall I come with you? Will you play your hurdy-gurdy to accompany my songs?"
Romantic
'Die Walkure' ('The Valkyrie') from 1856, is the second of four operas that together make up 'The Ring Cycle' ('Der Ring des Nibelungen') and is based on Norse mythology.
The Valkyrie are the daughters of the Norse god Wotan. The ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ evokes them surging across the skies on their flying horses, collecting the bodies of warriors killed in battle to carry them to Valhalla.
It's easy to picture them emerging from the clouds accompanied the strident, rhythmic trombones, bassoons and strings and swirls of higher woodwinds, before the brass enters to play the main melody.
Perhaps one of the most famous uses of the tune has been in the film 'Apocalypse Now', where it is played from speakers on American helicopters attacking a Vietnamese village.
20th Century
This song has become very well-known thanks to it's association with football, thanks to Luciano Pavarotti's performance at the 1990 World Cup.
The song is originally from 'Turandot', a three-act opera set in China, written by Giacomo Puccini in 1924 but left unfinished due to his death.
‘Nessun Dorma’ ('None Shall Sleep') are the Princess Turandot’s words to Calaf (‘The Unknown Prince’). In this aria, Calaf pictures the princess in her room; he begs the stars to fade, and repeats three times ‘Vincero’ (I will win).
20th Century
Born in 1892, French composer Germaine Tailleferre wrote her 'Pastorale for Piano in D Major' in 1919.
She was part of a group of young composers known as 'Les Six', whose music was were influenced by day-to-day life, and composers like Ravel, Stravinsky and Satie.
This short modernist piece has time signatures that shift between from 5/8 to 6/8 before ending in 3/8, and uses polytonality to create evolving harmonic textures.
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20th Century
English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was inspired by the poem 'The Lark Ascending' by George Meredith. Originally composed in 1914, it is his re-worked 1920 version for orchestra and solo violin that is most well-known.
The solo violin is used to represent the flight of the lark and it's song. Larks nest in meadows, their take-off is slow, flying in circles until they reach heights of over 100 metres, where they hover and sing their mating song.
Because it was written on the eve of The First World War and only first performed in 1920, it has been associated with a feeling of loss and 'nostalgia for a ... lost age of innocence.'
20th Century
William Blake's poem 'Jerusalem'' written in 1804, was an anti-establishment, pacifist protest about the hypocrisy of using Christianity as a veil for creating an Empire built on slavery and warfare.
The meaning of the poem has been largely forgotten; i was set to music by Hubert Parry in 1916, to use as a patriotic song to inspire British troops in the First World War.
Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen said she wanted to challenge tradition: “There are stops and starts and bright colours. There’s dissonance too and I refer to the blues.” Her version is a tribute to 'The Windrush Generation' - immigrants who came to the UK after the Second World War.
Genres
Brazil, Samba
The Sérgio Mendes recording is a cover of the 1963 original by Jorge Ben, although it is the Brasil '66 version that is more widely known. The title translates as 'Yeah, right!' or 'No way!'.
Mendes combined jazz with bossanova music from his native Brazil. Bossanova itself was a combination of Brazilian samba music.
India, Bollywood
"Munni Badnam Hui" (meaning 'Munni was defamed') is from the movie 'Dabangg'. The song is sung by Mamta Sharma and Aishwarya.
The track is said to be inspired by an old Bhojpuri folk song "Launda Badnaam Hua Naseeban Tere Liye".
The song was very popular, with it's raunchy nature, tempo, and "nonsensical" lyrics". It has also been controversial as well as used for political purposes.
India, Classical
Rag Desh is a late evening rag associated with the monsoon season, night time etc.
The rag or rāga, is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and has no equivalent in classical European music.
Each rāga is an array of melodic structures with musical motifs, considered in the Indian tradition to have the ability to "colour the mind" and affect the emotions of the audience.
Japan, Taiko
Kodō is a professional taiko drumming troupe from Japan. They have had a role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad.
'Zoku' was composed by band member Leonard Eto.
Although in Japan, taiko refers to any kind of drum, outside of Japan, the name is used to describe a particular family of drum - the wadaiko.
Middle East, Folk
'Sari Galin' is the name for a number of folk songs popular among the people of Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and eastern Anatolia (in present-day Turkey).
Ilgar Moradof wrote the music (with Azeri, Armenian and Persian lyrics) for this song from 'Endless Vision', a collaborative album by musicians Hossein Alizâdeh (from Iran) and the Armenian, Djivan Gasparyan.
Portugal, Folk
Fado (meaning "destiny", or " fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins.
Fado is commonly regarded as a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain traditional structure. It is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and with a sense of resignation, fate and melancholy.
Amália Rodrigues was known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen of Fado"). She was instrumental in popularising fado worldwide and remains the best-selling Portuguese artist in history.
Indonesia, Gamelan
'Wayang Sasak' from the island of Lombok, which lies directly east of Bali. Wayang Sasak mixes Javanese-style puppets, Islamic stories, and Balinese and Sasak musical styles.
The piece probably originates in the 16th century, when Islamic missionaries arrived from Java. They used music and shadow puppets to illustrate their stories, to convert the population to Islam.
Jamaica, Reggae
Bob Marley is considered one of the pioneers of reggae, mixing elements of several Jamaican musical styles. He was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style and was responsible for opening Jamaican culture to the rest of the world.
'One Love' was originally written and recorded in 1965, but it is the 1977 recording for the 'Exodus' album with which we are most familiar. The album's sound has been described as being rooted in the blues and soul, with elements of British rock with "a reggae façade", and features elements of pulsating bass beats, pianos and funk with a fluid bass, characteristic drumming and guitars with the inclusion of trumpets in the title track.
Ireland, Folk
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound - almost entirely instrumental and largely built around Maloney's uilleann pipes - has come to symbolise traditional Irish music. They are regarded as having helped popularise Irish music around the world.
Written by tin whistle player Seán Potts and named after his grandfather’s home at No 6, The Coombe, Dublin, where many musicians would gather and play traditional music.
Zimbabwe, Choral
Insingizi are a vocal trio from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, whose performances are filled with harmonious a cappella singing, traditional chants, hand percussion, and dance.
'Ujona Uyabaleka' tells the story of Jonah and the whale with typical three-part harmony, call and refrain, ostinato percussion accompaniment and vocalising as the narrative of the story progresses.