All NSW public schools need to plan curriculum and develop teaching programs consistent with the Education Act 1990 (NSW) and the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) syllabuses and credentialing requirements.

Scope and sequences form part of the ongoing documentation or evidence schools maintain to comply with the department’s policy, policy standards and registration requirements.

Developing a robust scope and sequence has many benefits and may help teachers and schools to:

• promote high expectations for student learning
• identify opportunities for explicit teaching
• create opportunities for students to receive feedback on their learning
• systematically plan for and undertake assessment
• collect and use data to monitor achievements and identify gaps in learning
• differentiate curriculum delivery to meet the needs of students at different levels of achievement
• collaborate with other teachers to plan for quality teaching and learning.

Sample scope and sequence

The sample scope and sequence (DOCX 49 KB) has been provided to assist teachers in planning and structuring their Stage 6 music 2 programs and units of work.

Sample assessment tasks

• Sample assessment task – Preliminary composition and portfolio (DOCX 89 KB)
• Sample assessment task – HSC performance (DOCX 91 KB)

Performance

Students will develop knowledge of skills and understanding when performing:

• music of various genres and styles representative of the topics studied
• original compositions
• music studied in listening activities where appropriate
• accompaniments of class or other school music making activities
• improvisations
• using different types of technology.

Composition

Students will develop knowledge of skills and understanding in composition when:

• improvising
• experimenting
• using different types of technology
• structuring
• notating.

Musicology

Students will develop knowledge of skills and understanding in composition when:

• expanding their abilities to read and interpret musical notation appropriate to various media, styles and periods
• identifying and commenting on the following concepts and their relationships:
  • duration (rhythm, tempo, metre, beat)
  • pitch (melody, tonality/atonality, harmony)
  • dynamics and other expressive techniques
  • tone colour
  • texture
  • structure.
• understanding of:
  • period
  • style
  • genre
  • cultural contexts.
• making judgments in relation to:
  • style and aspects of style
  • unity
  • contrast.

Aural

Students will develop aural skills when notating, recognising, analysing and commenting on:

• duration (rhythm, tempo, metre, beat)
• pitch (melody, tonality/atonality, harmony)
• dynamics and other expressive techniques
• tone colour
• texture
• structure
• style and aspects of style
• unity
• contrast.

Stage 6 music online learning sequences

Student guided online learning sequences to support learning from home or in the classroom.

The Stage 6 music projects online resource contains a self-guided project and two units of work on Baroque rocks and the Australian composition Eliza Aria.

Baroque rocks allows Music 1 or Music 2 students to complete a group or individual project on Baroque music that could take from 2-4 weeks.

Eliza Aria allows Music 1 or Music 2 students to complete online work for the topic of Australian Music or for Music 2 mandatory topic Music of the Last 25 years (Australian focus). This also could take 2-4 weeks to complete. An Eliza Aria Answers (DOCX 70.91 KB) is an accompanying teacher resources that provides answers to various questions asked in this unit.

The final module is a self-guided project for students undertaking the Music 1 Stage 6 syllabus topic of An instrument and its repertoire.

HSC resources – music of the last 25 years (Australian focus)

[A]part – Ellen Kirkwood

This resource explores the work '[A]part' (2017) by Australian composer Ellen Kirkwood. It is written for Sirens Big Band and soloists Gian Slater, Sandy Evans and Andrea Keller. This work is Kirkwood’s response to growing issues in a rapidly changing world such as the wonder and malignance of the internet, the refugee crisis, greed, and climate change. This resource focuses on part 1 of the work which is titled ‘[A]part 1 – The Internet: wonder and malignance’. The activities contained in the resource provide students with opportunities to explore the musical concepts and compositional techniques that Kirkwood has utilised to represent the context of the work.

• '[A]part' learning guide (DOCX 882 KB)
• '[A]part' score resource (PDF 746 KB)
• '[A]part 1 – The Internet: wonder and malignance' audio recording

Death in Sidmouth – Jim Coyle

This resource explores the fourth movement of Australian composer Jim Coyle’s ‘Death in Sidmouth’ titled ‘November’ with text by English poet Thomas Hood. Compositional features used within the work including atonality, string techniques, modes, dissonance, rhythmic ostinatos and angular melodic writing, form the basis of the classroom activities contained within the unit. This resource contains a full listening guide according to the concepts of music, learning activites, classroom arrangements of the work, extension activites and literacy tasks.

• 'Death in Sidmouth' learning guide (DOCX 37 MB)
• 'Death in Sidmouth' score resource (PDF 380.6 KB).

Diminishing species – Jessica Wells

This resource explores the work 'Diminishing Species' by Australian composer Jessica Wells, performed by Australia's leading art music ensemble, 'Ensemble Offspring'. This engaging work for marimba, two guitars, bass clarinet, violin, piano, double bass and percussion represents the extinction of animals in the 1990's through the manipulation of musical concepts including pitch, texture, tone colour and dynamics and expressive techniques. This resource contains sequenced learning activities in performance, composition, aural and musicology, and explores the musical features of the work through the concepts of music.

• Diminishing species’ learning guide (DOCX 28.1 MB)
• Diminishing species’ score resource (PDF 372 KB).

Bend/Boogie/Break – Holly Harrison

This Stage 6 HSC music 2 resource for the mandatory topic explores the work 'Bend/Boogie/Break' by Holly Harrison performed by Ensemble Offspring.

• Bend/Boogie/Break resource booklet (DOCX 3801 KB)
• Bend/Boogie/Break score booklet (PDF 571 KB)

Other Voices – Cat Hope, Tristan Coelho and Fiona Hill

Other Voices is a performance, recording and education project based on three new electroacoustic works for flute and electronics by Australian composer/educators Cat Hope, Tristan Coelho and Fiona Hill. It provides access points for young composers, performers and their teachers to explore the potential for combining electronic music with instruments and voice.

Assessment in the HSC

The Assessment in the HSC resource is designed to provide Stage 6 teachers with opportunities to develop their understanding of the assessment requirements for the practical and performance works in the HSC music 1, music 2 and music extension courses. It has been written to support and compliment the NESA Creative Arts Assessment and Reporting in Stage 6 music 2 advice and requirements.

• familiarise themselves with the requirements of each practical and performance component
• develop their understanding of the language of the NESA assessment criteria for each of the practical and performance works
• develop confidence in applying assessment criteria through identification and analysis of work sample characteristics
• assist Year 12 students in making informed choices when selecting course options
• build student confidence and knowledge of success in each practical and performance work.

Useful links

• BBC music is an interactive site including music radio and television programs on demand.
• Big ears is an online aural drill for practising interval recognition. Suitable for Stages 4 to 6.
• Glencoe online contains five interactive music projects with background information, worksheets, composition activities and links. Covers a range of styles including hip-hop and west African drumming. Uses streaming audio. Suitable for Stages 4 to 6.
• Finale notepad is a free download which provides an easy introduction to computer music notation. A simpler version of the full Finale program, it is available for Windows and Macintosh. Finale is easy to use – notes are dragged and dropped onto the staff, lyrics can be added, the music can be played back, printed and saved. Suitable for Stages 3 to 6.