Music
Music is unique as an aural art form that develops cognitive, kinaesthetic, empathetic, and aesthetic capacities in students. It is an integral part of culture, society, and personal identity. In Music, students learn about principles, practices and approaches to music making, and develop a critical understanding of self and perspectives on the world. The critical study of music engages in research, development of technical skills, communication and involves students in debate on contemporary issues. Through listening, performing, composing, presenting, and producing, students develop an informed appreciation of music. This course has been written with open expectations around prior technical skills. This is intended to increase access to students from a wide range of musical backgrounds, traditions, and experiences. Teachers will make judgements and form expectations in line with the achievement standards but apply them to a wide range of music making activities.
Music is unique as an aural art form that develops cognitive, kinaesthetic, empathetic, and aesthetic capacities in students. It is an integral part of culture, society, and personal identity. In Music, students learn about principles, practices and approaches to music making, and develop a critical understanding of self and perspectives on the world. The critical study of music engages in research, development of technical skills, communication and involves students in debate on contemporary issues. Through listening, performing, composing, presenting, and producing, students develop an informed appreciation of music. This course has been written with open expectations around prior technical skills. This is intended to increase access to students from a wide range of musical backgrounds, traditions, and experiences. Teachers will make judgements and form expectations in line with the achievement standards but apply them to a wide range of music making activities.
In Music, students learn as artists and develop the necessary skills for making, interpreting, and responding to a variety of music genres. They apply the creative process, elements of music, meta-language, symbols, theory, and aural skills to communicate their ideas and understanding to develop their overall musicianship. Students conduct in-depth creative inquiries into creativity, communicating meaning, music in context, and improvisation and variation. They apply their learning to their own music making.
Students engage in experimentation and creative risk taking, work collaboratively, independently, and collectively to achieve creative goals. They learn to use a variety of technologies to create and communicate their ideas and experiences. They develop transferable skills for further work and study, such as intercultural awareness, research skills, critical and creative thinking, and problem solving in range of contexts.
Studying senior secondary Music provides students with a suite of skills and understandings that are valuable to a wide range of further study and careers. Music enables students to become citizens who are better informed about the world around them and who have the critical skills to evaluate and communicate with an increasingly globalised and technology-driven society. It provides a foundation in music knowledge, understanding and skills for those students who wish to pursue further Music related studies. The transferable skills developed by the dynamic and collaborative processes of creativity assist students to follow pathways that engage with the broader community both in the arts and a wide range of professions.
The Music course is written under The ARTS Framework 2021: BSSS ARTS Framework
Achievement Standards for ARTS courses can be found within the Framework.
Through the study of the Arts, students learn to express their ideas, thoughts and opinions, as they discover and interpret an increasingly complex technological and interconnected world. The subjects in this Learning Area share common understandings and broad conceptual underpinnings and imperatives.
Creativity in Music
Students learn about creativity in music by exploring a range of techniques and strategies musicians use in the creative process. They make informed personal interpretations in performances, compositions, and criticism to evoke responses from target audiences. Students make music to express their understanding of the world through interpretation, performance, production, and composition in authentic contexts.
Communicating Meaning in Music
Students learn about how meaning is communicated in a variety of musical genres by analysing musical works and performances that have made a difference. They explore technical skills, stage craft and production elements for communicating their ideas to a target audience to shape response, provoke, inform, or entertain. Students apply techniques to communicate their understanding of themselves and the world through music.
Music in Context
Students explore the works of musicians from different times and places to understand the way social, historical, political and/or cultural contexts have shaped music and impacted audiences. Students create music drawing on forms, styles, and techniques from a variety of contexts. They develop insights into intercultural understanding and ethical approaches to music reproduction.
Improvisation and Variation in Music
Students learn about improvisation and variation through a range of musical genres. They explore how musicians adapt ideas, arrange, improvise, and create variation in music. They consider regulatory and ethical issues associated with using the works of others. Students create music that explores a variety of interpretations of an idea, context, mood, or emotion. They develop skills in adaptability, resilience, critical analysis, and versatility.
Independent Study
An Independent Study unit has an important place in senior secondary courses. It is a valuable pedagogical approach that empowers students to make decisions about their own learning. An Independent Study unit can be proposed by an individual student for their own independent study and negotiated with their teacher. The program of learning for an Independent Study unit must meet the unit goals and content descriptions as they appear in the course. Students must have studied at least THREE standard 1.0 units from this course. A student can only study a maximum of one Independent study unit in each course. An Independent Study unit requires the principal’s written approval. Independent study units are only available to individual students in Year 12. Principal approval is also required for a student in Year 12 to enrol concurrently in an Independent unit and the third 1.0 unit in a course of study.
