Year 7 Young Achievers Music

Year 7 Young Achievers Music have been working well for the first part of Term 1. Over the first few weeks they worked on some basic guitar skills with Mr Marcus Beeby in my absence. We will come back to guitar next term and it is something that a lot of students will probably choose to continue as their instrument of focus for the next two years.

At the moment, however, we are looking at the drum kit, rhythmic notation and the concept of 'Duration'. In Music, Duration refers to the length of individual notes and how they are combined to represent elements such as beat, tempo, metre and rhythm. Learning about Duration will lay a solid foundation for future development on a range of instruments and other sound sources.

We are very lucky to have one lesson a fortnight in the computer room. During this lesson we will be using the computers to create musical notation, electronic music compositions and a range of other digital resources to help develop musical literacy and understanding. Students can access all of the online resources we will be using from anywhere in the world via a range of devices. We have all connected via a Google Classroom group to help share ideas and access appropriate links.  I will be adding more sites and links to this group as the year goes on.

A lot of parents often ask me why I don't give homework in Music, and the reason for this is quite simple. Students studying Music at school actually have homework every night - and that is to practise the performance skills taught in class for at least 10-15 minutes. Playing a musical instrument or singing is not something that can be crammed overnight. It takes a long time to develop the muscle memory and coordination required to play a pattern on the drum kit, or to be able to strum a range of chords in time with your favourite song, or to sing in tune and be able to express the emotion of that song.

Please encourage your child to engage in some musical practise at home on a regular basis, because even if they aren't a very musically minded individual, the benefits of engaging in musical activities can be seen across a range of learning areas.  

Mr Damien Clift - Head Teacher CAPA