Free Music KS3 Teaching Resources for Secondary Teachers

What Pupils Learn in KS3 Music

At Key Stage 3, pupils develop performing, composing and listening skills. They develop vocal techniques. This could involve chants, choral singing or even rap and beatboxing. Pupils learn to perform with instruments and master specific techniques required. They create compositions working within a particular style, genre or tradition of music. At Key Stage 3, pupils identify the use of musical elements, devices (such as ostinato, call and response and cyclic patterns) and tonalities (including major and minor keys and scales).

Pupils at KS3 also learn about Music from different periods of time. They are introduced to the Renaissance period, Blues music, Classical music, scores in films and much more. Theory forms a great part of KS3 music, as well as the practical side. The Music Theory site has lessons, exercises and tools to help aid KS3 classes. As well as covering the basics, the lesson plans also look into scales, chords, intervals and alor more. There are exercises for practical keyboard classes and also exercises for training the ear and site (reading music and defining recorded pieces).

Useful Websites

The websites in this section offer audio clips that can be used in the classroom. Some planning is also available for activities. Audacity and Anvil Studio enable ICT to be used in composing music with pupils being able to record and edit sounds. Classical Archives has a bank of music, information of different periods of musical time and more helpful pages when studying this topic.  There are also fact files on some of the great conductors, composers and musicians from the past few centuries. Each comes with what their works are, what albums they created and also the essential information.

This is invaluable for those wishing to refresh their subject knowledge, provide a starting point for creating paper-based resources or a source that pupils can be directed to in order to consolidate learning independently.