Let’s have a chat

Own-pace blocks · Music

Music, built around their instrument.

  • Shared foundations first: pulse, rhythm as fractions, pitch as vibration, listening like a producer.
  • Then a track: drums, guitar, or lyrics and rap.
  • Built to support an instrument teacher, not replace one.
England · United States · International BaccalaureateMapped

At a glance

  • 30blocks
  • 2published sources checked

Music

The foundations.

  • FoundationsPulse, rhythm, pitch and listening, shared by every track.
  • DrumsKit, counting, the basic beat, notation and fills.
  • GuitarTuning, chords, strumming and clean changes.
  • Lyrics and rapSong shape, writing verses and hooks, and production.

Music

Step by step.

Foundations

Shared by every track: pulse, rhythm, pitch and listening

They can:

  • Explain beats per minute as a speed
  • Split a bar into whole, half, quarter and eighth notes
  • Say why a faster vibration gives a higher note
  • Pick out the drums, bass, melody and vocal in a real track
  1. Pulse, tempo and BPMBeats per minute is a speed, like a car's speedometer. Maths: rates
  2. Rhythm is fractionsWhole, half, quarter and eighth notes split a bar like a pizza. Maths: fractions
  3. Pitch is vibration speedFaster vibration, higher note; an octave doubles the frequency. Science: sound
  4. Listening like a producerPick out the drums, bass, melody and vocal in a real track. English: listening

In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map

Drums

A track for drummers

They can:

  • Name the parts of a drum kit and what each does
  • Keep time with a metronome
  • Play the basic rock beat
  • Read drum notation and play a first fill
  • Hold a groove for a whole song
  1. The kit and what each part doesKick, snare, hi-hat, toms, crash, ride
  2. Counting 1-and-2-andKeeping time with a metronome
  3. The basic rock beatKick 1 and 3, snare 2 and 4, eighth notes on the hi-hat
  4. Reading drum notationWhich line is which drum
  5. Your first fillGoing round the toms into a crash on beat 1
  6. Playing along to a real songHolding a groove for a whole track

In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map

Guitar

A track for guitarists

They can:

  • Tune a guitar and sit with good posture
  • Read tab and chord boxes
  • Play E minor, A minor, G, C and D
  • Strum common patterns
  • Change chords smoothly on the beat
  1. Parts of the guitar, posture and tuningStandard tuning: E A D G B E
  2. Reading tab and chord boxesHow guitarists write music down
  3. First chords: E minor and A minorTwo-finger shapes
  4. G, C and DWith E minor, these play hundreds of songs
  5. Strumming patternsDown, down-up, and the common "down down-up up-down-up"
  6. Smooth chord changesChange on the beat without stopping

In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map

Lyrics and rap

A track for writers, from song shape to production

They can:

  • Name the parts of a song and count bars in fours
  • Tell boom bap from trap by tempo and feel
  • Use rhyme and flow to write a 16-bar verse
  • Write a short, repeatable hook
  • Layer and mix a track, and judge one made with an AI tool
All 14 blocks
  1. The anatomy of a songPart 1. Intro, verse, hook, bridge, outro
  2. Bars and counting in foursPart 1. Where a 16-bar verse starts and ends
  3. The drum pattern: kick, snare, hi-hatPart 1. Built in the beat grid
  4. Tempo and feel: boom bap versus trapPart 1. Around 90 BPM versus around 140 BPM played half-time
  5. Rhyme schemes: AABB, ABAB and internal rhymePart 2. English: vocabulary and sound
  6. Flow: syllables on the beatPart 2. Clapping the rhythm of a line before rapping it
  7. A verse is a story in 16 barsPart 2. Uses their story spine from the English stack
  8. Writing a hookPart 2. Short, repeatable, says the main idea
  9. Layers: drums, bass, melody, vocalPart 3. Built up one at a time
  10. Loops and samplesPart 3. Repeating a bar; where sounds come from
  11. ArrangementPart 3. Turning loops into the song structure above
  12. Mixing basicsPart 3. Volume balance so the vocal sits on top
  13. Writing a song brief for an AI toolPart 3. Genre, tempo, structure, mood, their own lyrics
  14. Judge and edit the AI resultPart 3. Did it follow the brief? What would you change?

In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map

Music

Where we take a different approach

  • Music doesn't follow a curriculum here. It follows the instrument.
  • It overlaps England's Key Stage 2 and 3 music in listening, performing, composing and notation. The overlap table shows what it doesn't: staff notation, ensemble playing, improvising and the history of music are not covered.
  • We don't prepare for graded exams. A teacher does that best.
  • We teach how to use AI music tools well, with age rules respected. For example, Suno is for 13 and over.

Music

How it overlaps England’s curriculum.

  • 14 covered differently
  • 4 not covered
All 18 statements
StatementWhere we teach itCoverage
KS2-M-01: Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control.M-DRUMS-6, M-GUITAR-6, M-RAP2-2Covered differently Playing is instrument-led (drums or guitar). Voice work is rap flow and hooks rather than singing.
KS2-M-02: They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.M-RAP1-1, M-RAP3-3Covered differently Song structure and arrangement build composition. Reproducing sounds from aural memory is not named.
KS2-M-03: play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expressionM-DRUMS-6, M-GUITAR-6Covered differently Solo playing along to real songs is planned. Ensemble playing is not, and is best left to a teacher.
KS2-M-04: improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of musicM-RAP3-2, M-RAP3-3, M-RAP2-3, M-RAP2-4, M-RAP1-4Covered differently Writing verses and hooks, building a beat and arranging loops are composing. Improvising is not planned.
KS2-M-05: listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memoryM-FOUND-4Covered differently Listening like a producer builds attention to detail. Recalling sounds from memory is not named.
KS2-M-06: use and understand staff and other musical notationsM-DRUMS-4, M-GUITAR-2Covered differently Drum notation, guitar tab and chord boxes are taught. Staff notation is not planned.
KS2-M-07: appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians-Not covered Only a few styles are planned (boom bap and trap beats, rock drumming, guitar chords). A wide range of traditions and great composers is not.
KS2-M-08: develop an understanding of the history of music-Not covered The history of music is not planned. Flagged for the architect.
KS3-M-01: Pupils should build on their previous knowledge and skills through performing, composing and listening.M-DRUMS-6, M-GUITAR-6, M-RAP3-3, M-FOUND-4Covered differently Performing, composing and listening are all present, led by the instrument track.
KS3-M-02: They should develop their vocal and/or instrumental fluency, accuracy and expressiveness, and understand musical structures, styles, genres and traditions, identifying the expressive use of musical dimensions.M-RAP1-1, M-RAP1-4, M-FOUND-1Covered differently Structure and two genres are taught. Fluency depends on the instrument teacher. Wider styles and traditions are not planned.
KS3-M-03: They should listen with increasing discrimination and awareness to inform their practice as musicians.M-FOUND-4, M-RAP3-6Covered differently Listening like a producer, and judging an AI-made track against a brief, build discrimination. The range of music is narrow.
KS3-M-04: They should use technologies appropriately and appreciate and understand a wide range of musical contexts and styles.M-RAP3-1, M-RAP3-4, M-RAP3-5, M-RAP3-6, M-RAP1-4Covered differently Beat building, mixing and AI music tools are all covered, with age rules respected. A wide range of musical contexts is not.
KS3-M-05: play and perform confidently in a range of solo and ensemble contexts using their voice, playing instruments musically, fluently and with accuracy and expressionM-DRUMS-6, M-GUITAR-6Covered differently Solo performing is planned. Ensemble playing is not.
KS3-M-06: improvise and compose; and extend and develop musical ideas by drawing on a range of musical structures, styles, genres and traditionsM-RAP3-3, M-RAP1-4, M-RAP3-2Covered differently Extending ideas through structure and two genres is planned. Improvisation and wider traditions are not.
KS3-M-07: use staff and other relevant notations appropriately and accurately in a range of musical styles, genres and traditionsM-DRUMS-4, M-GUITAR-2Covered differently Drum notation, tab and chord boxes are taught. Staff notation is not planned.
KS3-M-08: identify and use the interrelated dimensions of music expressively and with increasing sophistication, including use of tonalities, different types of scales and other musical devicesM-FOUND-1, M-FOUND-2, M-FOUND-3, M-GUITAR-3, M-RAP1-4Covered differently Tempo, duration (rhythm as fractions), pitch and some minor-key chords are taught. Scales and a wider range of tonalities are not.
KS3-M-09: listen with increasing discrimination to a wide range of music from great composers and musicians-Not covered Great composers are not planned. Listening skills are in Listening like a producer.
KS3-M-10: develop a deepening understanding of the music that they perform and to which they listen, and its history-Not covered The history of music is not planned. Flagged for the architect.

Music

How we checked.

  • England's programmes of study are the spine. Each objective is checked against United States and International Baccalaureate.
  • 2 published sources, listed in the PDF.
  • Last checked October 2026.

Changes ahead

  • England's reformed national curriculum is due from September 2028. We will check the overlap table again when it is published.

PDF

Get the detailed map

The full year-by-year objectives, mapped against England, the US and the IB, with the sprint plan and every source we used.

We’ll email you a private link. It works for 7 days.
Which maps?
We keep your email for up to 12 months so we know who asked, then delete it. We won’t add you to any list unless you tick the box. Privacy notice

Other stacks.

Want to see where your child would start?

Let’s talk it through. We’ll show you how the blocks and the maps work.

Let’s have a chat