Music

KS3

Music in years 7, 8 and 9 is all about “Musical Understanding”.

The curriculum covers the three areas of Performing, Composing and Reviewing & Evaluating, but the emphasis is not on pupils merely learning to play an instrument. Music is about learning to THINK like a musician.

The students study an enormous range of topics designed to prepare them for the transition to GCSE and enhance their enjoyment of music in their everyday lives: Baroque, Classical and Romantic music; twentieth century styles; jazz, rock and contemporary club dance; folk, fusion and world music.

KS4

In Years 10 and 11 City Boys’ offers the Edexcel GCSE in Music.

It is an incredibly broad and engaging syllabus that requires all students to offer coursework in the areas of performing (both solo and with others) and composing, as well as to take a listening exam based on a series of set works drawn from the last 400 years: Western Classical music 1600-1899; Music in the 20th century; Popular music; World music.

The Music Department is also pleased to offer extra-curricular opportunities on a variety of instruments through local peripatetic agencies and through the “Vox Pops” choir. In 2010 City Boys’ took part in the Portsmouth Schools’ Music Festival at the Portsmouth Guildhall.