VOCALS & SINGING

During Level 1 reception will learn the importance of warming up their voices, how to stand, projecting instead of shouting and how much breath they need to sing. Pupils will also learn what call and response is and create their own call and response to be sung over an instrumental.

Within this level pupils will focus on listening to the music and eachother when singing. Pupils will sing songs with dynamic and tempo changes and learn to adapt to those changes. Pupils will learn the essential steps towards good diction and learn why it is important when people are trying to learn your song. Pupils will sing along to songs with different textures to the melody and evaluate how easy or hard the found it.

In becoming a performer pupils will learn about performing a song as a whole. They will look into what could happen with energy levels throughout a performance and how to treat others when performing. Pupils will learn what solos and duets are and build up to being confident enough to perform both.

Pupils will draw on their learning from levels 1 - 3 and learn how to lead a performance. Pupils will learn what a conductor does and conduct a performance of their own. Pupils will learn to make decisions about the speed and volume to which a song is performed to. Pupils will also take on different roles within their final performance such as conductor, soloist, duets and action leaders.

Pupils will learn the importance of warming up and cooling down before and after singing. They will learn how to breath within a song without ‘snatching’ breath and how posture can help with our breath. Pupils will also learn the keyword diction and see how useful it is, they will also investigate when it’s used and when it’s dropped and the reasons behind this.

Pupils will use their knowledge from Lite level 1 to combine their keywords into musical phrasing. Pupils will perform vocal exercises to build on their pitch matching skills and their responses to changes in dynamics and tempo within a song. Pupils will also learn more technical keywords such as crescendo and diminuendo and be taught how to perform these using visual cues. Visual cues will also be brought into performances by the leader to change tempo and overall dynamics.

Pupils in Keystage 2 will learn a number of keywords that will help them control their voice, their pitch and their breathing. Where as in lower levels pupils have been taught the keywords and how they affect your singing, Keystage 2 pupils will be taught how the keywords link together to help with the overall sound and precision of singing. Pupils will learn about different techniques that songs use the keep them interesting such as verses, choruses and call and response.

From level 1 'Controlling our voices' pupils know the fundamentals of best singing practise, this level moves on to different types of songs singers can perform such as rounds and partner songs. Pupils will learn to listen to each other when they are singing but must also learn the hard skill of singing something different to the group next to them. This may sound simple but it is a hard skill to master. Pupils will learn about harmonies and listen to some examples before trying a simple three part harmony within their classes. Pupils will also learn about voice classification and what their own vocal range is.

Pupils will learn how singing has changed throughout time and how different genres require different singing techniques. Pupils will learn new keywords and practice specific songs from each genre. Pupils will practice singing scales to help them improvise, singing words at a fast tempo/rapping, singing in harmony in an a capella group setting and vocal projection for singing pop ballads.

The focus will be on pupils’ stage etiquette, singing as a group, the roles within a choir and singing in parts. This will be the first time the pupils will be singing in harmony. Pupils will practise singing in parts together and singing out of parts to get them used to listening to others whilst focusing on their own melody line. This is a very hard skill but with practice can be achieved.