Music Department Resources

This is a website created by music teachers for music teachers. New materials are released monthly and are shaped around what teachers tell us they need most. Everything on the site is continually being tried and tested so that it can be shaped and informed by what’s happening in classrooms up and down the country, right now.

The website contains an ever growing collection of:

• A fully resourced three year KS3 curriculum, focusing on the development of students’ musical understanding through the integration of analytical listening, rehearsing, performing, improvising, composing and arranging.
• Progressive listening homework tasks for KS3, designed to strengthen students’ use of musical vocabulary, confidence in reading and using staff notation, ear training and aural skills.
• KS3 cover lessons, designed in partnership with experienced cover managers, for delivery by non-specialists.
• GCSE composition teaching resources and workshops, designed to provide students with plenty of models, examples and hands-on composing experience, enabling them to generate, develop, and refine well-crafted compositions.
• Element-focused GCSE teaching materials, designed to match the demands of ‘unfamiliar listening’ questions across specifications.
• GCSE cover lessons, for delivery by non-specialists, accompanied by embedded extracts and opportunities to identify specific areas for development.
• AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas and OCR AOS-specific GCSE teaching and revision materials featuring thumbprints of styles and genres, in-context analytical listening, aural perception, ensemble performing, improvising, arranging and composing exercises, ‘free composition’ starting points, and exam-style appraising questions.
• A level aural perception exercises, designed to develop and strengthen students’ skills and experience in melodic and rhythmic dictation, intervals, chords, keys, cadences, and compositional devices.
• A chorale harmonisation course with worked and annotated examples, exercises, test questions and guidance on ways of working both methodically and musically.
• AQA ‘unfamiliar listening’ questions, with embedded extracts and accompanying mark schemes.
• Edexcel ‘section A’ style questions and answers.
• Edexcel ‘section B’ exam-style practice questions for both ‘unfamiliar music’ and set works (Q5 and 6), including opening paragraph material, essay structure hints and tips, research starting points, and wider listening playlists.

   

Who is the website aimed at?

• Experienced educators who know what they’re doing, but are short on time, and simply need to be able to put their hands on dependable, well-crafted materials
• ECTs and those seeking QTS or undertaking ITT courses, who are looking for trustworthy models, supporting guidance and off-the-peg curriculum resources, to get started in the profession
• Mentors, tutors and advisors looking to point trainees and ECTs in the right direction

Contact musicdepartmentresources@gmail.com for further information.