The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Key Stage 1

Pupils should be taught to:

• use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
• play tuned and untuned instruments musically
• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Listen and Appraise Skills 

Year 1

To learn how they can enjoy moving to music by dancing, marching, being animals or pop stars. 

Year 2

To learn how they can enjoy moving to music by dancing, marching, being animals or pop stars.

To learn how songs can tell a story or describe an idea.

Listen and Appraise Knowledge 

Year 1

To know three songs off by heart.

To know what the songs are about.

To know and recognise the sound and names of some of the instruments they use.

Year 2

To know four songs off by heart.

To know some songs have a chorus or a response/answer part.

To know that songs have a musical style.

Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

Pupils should be taught to:

• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
• improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
• use and understand staff and other musical notations
• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
• develop an understanding of the history of music.

Listen and Appraise Skills 

Year 3

To identify and move to the pulse with increasing confidence.

To think about what the words of a song mean.

To take it in turns to discuss how the song makes them feel.

To listen carefully to other people's thoughts about music. 

Year 4

To confidently identify and move to the pulse.

To talk about the musical dimensions working together in the songs. For example, if the song gets louder in the chorus.

Talk about the music and how it makes them feel.

Listen carefully and respectfully to other people's thoughts about the music.

To talk using musical vocabulary. 

Year 5

To identify and move to the pulse with ease.

To think about the messages of the songs.

To compare two songs in the same style, talking about what stands out musically in each of them, their similarities and differences.

To listen carefully and respectfully to other people's thoughts about the music.

To talk using musical vocabulary.

To talk about the musical dimensions working together in the songs.

To talk about the music and how it makes you feel. 

Year 6

To identify and accurately move to the pulse.

To think about the messages of the songs and discuss these.

To compare two songs in the same style, talking about what stands out musically in each of them, their similarities and differences and why.

To listen carefully and respectfully to other people's thoughts about the music.

To use musical vocabulary when talking about the songs.

To talk about the musical dimensions working together in the songs, using accurate musical vocabulary.

To talk about the music and how it makes you feel, using musical language to describe the music. 

Listen and Appraise Knowledge 

Year 3

To know five songs from memory and who sang them or wrote them.

To know the style of five songs.

To choose one song and be able to talk about it.

To talk about the lyrics of a song and what the song is about.

To talk about the musical dimensions featured in the song and where they are used (texture, dynamics, tempo, rhythm and pitch).

To identify the main sections of the song (introduction, verse and chorus).

To name two of the instruments they heard in the song.

Year 4

To know five songs from memory and who sang or wrote them.

To know the style of the five songs they have learned.

To talk about some of the style indicators of a song.

To talk about the lyrics of the song and how they show what the song is about and why.

To talk about any musical dimensions featured in the song and where they are used (texture, dynamics, tempo, rhythm and pitch).

Identify the main sections of the song (introduction, verse and chorus).

To name some of the instruments they have heard in a song. 

Year 5

To know five songs from memory, who sang or wrote them, when they were written and why.

To know the style of five songs and to name other songs from the other units in those styles.

To talk about some of the style indicators of the songs.

To talk about the lyrics of a song, what they are about and why.

To talk about any musical dimensions featured in the songs and where they are used (texture, dynamics, tempo, rhythm and pitch).

To identify the main sections of the songs (introduction, verse and chorus).

To name some of the instruments they have heard in a song.

To talk about the historical context of the songs and what else might have been going on at the time. 

Year 6

To know five songs from memory, who sang or wrote them, when they were written and why.

To know the style of the songs and to name other songs from the units in those styles.

To choose three or four other songs and be able to talk about them.

To talk about the style indicators of the songs.

To talk about the lyrics, what the songs are about and why.

To talk about any musical dimensions featured in the songs and where they are used (texture, dynamics, tempo, rhythm, pitch and timbre).

To identify the structure of the songs (introduction, verse, chorus etc.)

To name some of the instruments used in the songs.

To talk about the historical context of the songs and what else was going at this time musically and historically.

To know and talk about the fact that we each have a musical identity.