Music

Why do we study music?

Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. Music can bring communities together through the shared endeavour of singing, playing musical instruments solo and in a group, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing.

The sense of achievement in performing or hearing your composed piece of music gives a real sense of satisfaction and well-being. Studying a musical instrument is fun, good for your wellbeing and is a workout for the whole brain and this increased efficiency in brain function can be applied to non-musical tasks too, often helping to create better problem solvers and improving memory recall.

You can find your own musical paths when you study music and develop ways to express yourself through composing, understanding how composers and songwriters work and how they make their music so special. With the development of music technology, you are no longer limited to the instruments you can play, opening up new exciting career possibilities in the ever-expanding music industry regardless of background, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Music at The Heath aims to harness the sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of the school community, enriching each student while strengthening the shared bonds of support and trust which make a great school

• Students will gain an aural knowledge of some of the great musical output of human civilisation.
• Students engage with creative musical processes through improvisation and composition within different musical genres to expand their musical horizons.
• Students build an understanding of how the elements of music work and how they shape the music we create and listen to. This enables pupils to use these fundamental tools to express themselves musically.
• Students gain a knowledge of an increasing range of notes and improve their fluency in music notation in a variety of forms. Notation can grant access to a lifelong passion for music making if this skill is nurtured and at the Heath.
• Students gain an ability to discuss objectively and subjectively the music we hear and create.