Year 10 Music

STUDENT ACTIVITIES WORKBOOK

2024

Name: ______________________________________________________
Music Teacher: __________________________________________
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Class: ________________________________________________________
Contents Page
Course Overview Page 3

Composition activities Page 4

Performance activities Page 8

‘Musical Me’ activity Page 11

DAW Unit Standard activities Page 13

Notes and Planning Page 18

COURSE OVERVIEW
Music education explores, challenges, affirms and celebrates unique artistic expressions of self, community and culture. ....
Learning in, through and about Music stimulates creative action and response by engaging and connecting thinking,
imagination, senses, and feelings.1

In this course you will engage with Music in a number of ways. You will explore creativity, develop confidence in performing,
learn some of the language of music, and consider where music comes from and how it can be understood.

You will undertake learning activities from all stands of the Music curriculum:

Understanding Music in
Developing Practical Developing ideas in Music Communicating and
Context
Knowledge (PK) (DI) Interpreting (CI)
(UC)
Students will identify and Students will apply Students will express, Students will prepare,
describe characteristics of knowledge of the elements of develop and refine musical rehearse, and present
music associated with a music, structural devices ideas using the elements of performances of music using
range of sound and technologies through music, instruments and performance skills and
environments, and explore integrating aural, practical technologies, and represent techniques, and then reflect
ideas about how music and theoretical skills. sound and musical ideas in on the expressive qualities of
serves a variety of purposes a variety of ways. their own and others’ music,
in their lives and in their both live and recorded.
communities.

Assessment for this course will be based on the WC Progressions Framework. As you work on various learning
activities, you will receive formative feedback on your progress against a number of musical indicators. Summative
assessment will be from a combination of observations against musical indicators and assessment tasks.

1The New Zealand Curriculum, Ministry of Education, 2007, Learning Media Limited, New Zealand
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Remember, music is not competitive and you will all have
strengths in different musical areas. We urge you to see
assessment as an opportunity to learn and grow, not the final step
in the process.

COMPOSITION

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One of the skills you will be developing this year is creating your own original music. This is a chance for
you to explore your creativity, experiment, collaborate, and develop your own musicianship.

Throughout this course you will complete a range of composition based activities. Some of these will
remain simply an activity, while you may choose to develop others further into larger pieces.

The culmination of your activities will be a complete 2 Original Compositions that have been developed ,
edited, and submitted to your teacher.
One of these pieces will be notated. The other will be on a DAW.
The due dates for these will be communicated to you by your teacher.

1. Pentatonic Phrases
Using only notes from the pentatonic scale, create a series of short musical ideas that will fit over a major
chord. Think of these like sentences. They should be different, but related. You may want to start and end
with the same phrase.
- You may choose any pentatonic, but if you are stuck, try the C Major Pentatonic Scale (C D E G
A C) and use C Major chord under this.
- Try not to start each phrase on the tonic (first note of the scale).

2. Shaping an idea
Using a single lined instrument, create a short melody.
Your melody should be at least 30 seconds long
Start and end on the same note.
Include musical interest - don’t just repeat the same short idea several times!
Be able to replicated (should be played by you or notated)

Things to think about:

- Shape of your melody - does it stick around the same few notes? Does it jump around or use
stepwise motion?
- Rhythm - remember that a melody is not just about pitch. You should vary your note lengths to
keep your piece interesting.
- Silence - make sure you include rests. This can help create interest in your piece. Silence is just as
important as the notes you use.
- Range of the instrument - you may need to check that what you want to do is possible on your
chosen instrument. You should also think about how different parts of the instrument’s range
sound.

3. Contrast is good!
Contrast is an important part of music. If the same thing was repeated over and over, it would be pretty
boring. For this activity you are going to write a piece that demonstrates musical contrast.
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 - You will create a melody or musical idea. This will be your A section.
- Next you will create a second musical idea. This should be different from your first idea.
However, not so different that it sounds like a new piece. This is the tricky part!
- You will structure your piece so it goes A - B - A. For the final A section, you should do
something slightly different to the first time you play it.
- Think about all the ways you can create contrast. Harmonic progression, melody, rhythm, phrase
length. You may find you need to combine these elements to create a musically interesting
contrast.

4. Kīnaki Chords
The most important chords in western music are chords I, IV, V, and vi. However, if we only used these
chords, our music would get pretty boring! So, one way that we can create interest in music is by using
more interesting chords. Think of this as adding some sauce (kīnuki) to your chips - pretty tasty by
themselves, but adding some sauce makes them even better.

You should create a chord progression using I, IV, V, and vi, but with the addition of at least one
‘kīnuki’, or interesting chord.
Chords you could choose:
7th Chords - Major or Dominant (Cmaj7, C7)
Suspended Chords (Csus2, Csus4)
Parallel chords (C maj - Cmin)

Remember, just like with tomato sauce, you don’t want to use too much. If you add too many kīnaki
chords, they will lose their impact

5. All together now!Now it’s time to start putting melody with your chords. You need to be thinking
about dissonance and consonance. Make sure you have a mixture of both of these.
- Your piece should have at least two sections that contrast. Think about the different ways you can
make something contrast!
- Your piece should be around a minute. You may want to include an intro and outro.
- Your melody can be played on anything, but should be an instrument that will sit on top of your
harmonic accompaniment.
- You should aim to use what you have learned during your earlier activities to help develop this
piece.

6. Doing it in style!
Every type of music has specific musical elements and conventions that we can expect to find. In this
task, you need to be aware of these and use them to shape your piece.
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 - Choose a style of music. You should also find an artist that creates music in this style, and look to
emulate them.
- Be realistic about what is possible. If you choose something with many more instruments that you
have available, or a song but don't want to sing, etc., you are unlikely to create a piece that is
convincingly within your style of music.
- You will likely need to analyse your style to work out the things that it must have. Think of these
like an ingredients list for a recipe. There might be some things you can swap in and out, but there
will be some things it must have to work!
- Your piece should be 1min - 1.30minutes in length and should use elements of what you have
learnt in your previous activities.

Final Composition Activities

Composition 1 - Notated
- This piece can be in any style but must be written using traditional western style notation.
- Must be at least 32 bars long (or around 1 - 2 minutes in length)
- Notation must be clear - ideally using a notation software like MuseScore.
- Ensure all music is physically playable - check with your teacher if you are unsure.
- Make sure you have a title, composer, and all other relevant score information.
- You may write for a solo instrument, but ensure your piece is stylistically appropriate (ie. what is
a typical instrumentation for this style of music?)
- Submit your piece as a PDF Score and an MP3 audio file.

Composition 2 - DAW
- This piece can be any style, but must be realised using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like
BandLab or Garage Band.
- The piece must be around 1 - 2 minutes in length
- You may use some loops and/or samples, but the majority of your piece must be original and
created using MIDI and/or recorded sounds.
- You will submit both the audio as an MP3 and a short document that describes your musical
choices with annotated screenshots of the studio.

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For both of these completed pieces, use what you have learned through the practice activities.
- Make sure your pieces make sense stylistically.
- Ensure your melodies and harmonies work together
- Make sure your pieces have structures/forms that make sense musically.
- Ensure your musical ideas are developed.
- Present your pieces clearly and appropriately to the style.

You will be assessed holistically based on both of these pieces. Use the rubric below to self assess your
progress.

SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK - COMPOSITION

Curriculum Strands and Key Skills used in this Course:

(UC) Understanding Music in Context, (PK) Developing Practical Knowledge, (DI) Developing Ideas, (CI) Communicating
and Interpreting

Pre-structural Structural Relational Extended Abstract

My musical ideas aren’t I can use musical style to I can combine more than one I can combine, develop, or
always stylistically help form some of my stylistic idea to create a manipulate multiple
appropriate. musical ideas. stylistically appropriate musical ideas that are
composition. stylistically coherent to
create a piece that is
stylistically convincing.

My melody and harmony are My piece has a harmonic The melody and harmony of I have creatively connected
not connected. progression and melody that my piece work together and the melody and harmony of
are mostly connected. fit musically, and I am my piece showing
beginning to explore more understanding of
interesting relationships consonance and
between them. dissonance.

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 My piece doesn’t have My piece has different My piece has a clear I have skillfully used
different sections or is very sections that contrast. structure that works with the structure to reinforce my
repetitive. style I have chosen. musical ideas within the
style I have chosen.

The musical characteristics I have used some of the basic The musical characteristics I have skillfully combined a
of my piece are not based in musical conventions of the of my piece are appropriate range of musical
a clear musical style. style I am composing in, but to the style I am composing characteristics in my piece
some are inconsistent. in. to create a strong sense of
musical style.

My piece is not completed or My completed piece is My completed piece is My completed piece is

not presented. presented in some way, presented in a way that is presented in a highly
though not necessarily appropriate to the style of my detailed and/or technically
appropriate to the style. piece. proficient way that is
stylistically coherent.

PERFORMANCE

Sharing your music through performance is an integral part of Music in Year 10.
This year we aim to help build your confidence to perform in both group and individual settings.
You will participate in a number of smaller performances/workshops over the course of the year and build
towards a final more substantial performance.

If you don’t have an instrument you specialise on, you will have some time to experiment and choose one
of the instruments available in the department. you must choose an instrument to focus on for the year.
You will discuss this with your teacher.
Note, we do not have enough of any instrument for you to all play the same, so you may need to
compromise around this.
Your teacher will have a range of resources available to help you.

Your teacher will provide you with details of each of the performances you will undertake.
You will receive feedback on the following elements:

- Technical ability - this is the nuts and bolts of being able to play your instrument and will be
based on your experience.
- General Musicianship - this is being able to play in time, recognise if you are out of tune, play
dynamics etc.
- Musical understanding - is there evidence that you understand the music you are playing, and

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 play it accordingly.
- Performance conventions - this includes things like introducing yourself and piece,
acknowledging your audience, etc.
- Ensemble awareness (for group performances) - do you understand your role in the group,
balance and blend with rest of the group, etc.

Practice!
You will not improve without practising. You will have some time in class to practice, but you will
probably need to do some of your own practice also. Music rooms are open throughout intervals and
lunchtimes for you to practice. Your teacher will show you how to book these.

Your teacher will give you some details about what they will be focusing on for each performance.
Remember, these should be accumulative, so each successive performance should include the things you
focused on previously.

Date Focus

Performance 1

Performance 2

Performance 3

Performance 4

Performance 5

Final Performance

Practice Log
Your teacher will share with you a document for you to keep track of what you are working on in your
practice and reflect on how you are going. Make sure you fill this out regularly.
Use the rubric below to self assess your progress.

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 SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK - PERFORMANCE

Curriculum Strands and Key Skills used in this Course:

(UC) Understanding Music in Context, (PK) Developing Practical Knowledge, (DI) Developing Ideas, (CI) Communicating
and Interpreting

Pre-structural Structural Relational Extended Abstract

I struggle to demonstrate the I have some basic technical I can confidently demonstrate I can demonstrate fluency in
basic skills on my instrument. skills on my instrument. the fundamental technical skills playing the fundamental skill
on my instrument. on my instrument.

I struggle to play in time. I mostly play in time. I consistently play in time and I play with appropriate
am generally rhythmically musical feel and am highly
accurate. rhythmically accurate.

I don’t understand the style of I understand some of the I understand many of the I am highly aware of the
the music and associated conventions of the musical style conventions of the musical style stylistic conventions of the
conventions. I am playing. I am playing and am starting to music I am playing, and use
integrate them into my playing. them to dictate my playing.

I struggle to follow the musical I attempt to follow the musical I follow most of the musical I follow all of the musical
directions of the piece I am directions of the piece I am directions of the piece I am directions of the piece I am
playing. playing. (dynamics, score playing (dynamics, score playing (dynamics, score
directions, tempo etc.) directions, tempo etc.), and my directions, tempo etc.), and my
playing is generally musically playing is highly musically
accurate. accurate.

I do not follow the appropriate I follow some of the appropriate I generally follow the I am highly aware of the
performance conventions when performance conventions, appropriate performance appropriate performance
playing. including stagecraft etc. conventions, including conventions and follow these
stagecraft etc. when playing.

Group Performance - if applicable.

I struggle to play my part I generally understand my role I understand how my part fits I am highly aware of how my
appropriately with the ensemble. in the group and attempt to play into the ensemble and play part fits into the ensemble and
accordingly. appropriately. play with a high degree of
ensemble awareness.

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 ‘MUSICAL ME’

In this activity, you will reflect on the music that is important to you. Through a number of tasks, you will
present a portfolio of pieces that mean something to you, analyse musical characteristics of them, and
consider why you have chosen them.

Part 1
Create a short musical biography of yourself. Include any musical experiences you have had, important
pieces of music you have heard, instruments you are interested in or play, etc. Try to give a complete
picture of yourself musically.

Part 2
Pick 5 important pieces of music. These could be pieces you have played, heard, were played to you, etc.
Try to think beyond music that is current and remember back to music that was important at other times
in your life. Remember, these don’t all have to be your current favourite piece, but are pieces that are
important to you. Explain why you have included each piece.

Part 3
Pick one of these pieces to analyse. You will be focusing on instrumentation, structure, harmony, and
rhythm. Describe your piece using these characteristics and include examples from your piece. You must
also include an explanation of the Context of the piece (when it was written/created, who by, etc.).

Part 4
Reflect on why you chose this piece. Why is it important to you? What have you learned from this piece?
What is your favourite thing about it? Be creative and show us what is special about this piece of music.

You can present your work in any way you like. However, ensure that you have included enough detail
and justify the points you make with evidence from the piece.

Your teacher will let you know when it is due.

SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK - ‘MUSICAL ME’

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 Curriculum Strands and Key Skills used in this Course:
(UC) Understanding Music in Context, (PK) Developing Practical Knowledge, (DI) Developing Ideas, (CI) Communicating
and Interpreting

Pre-structural Structural Relational Extended Abstract

My musical biography lacks My musical biography My musical biography My musical biography is

detail or is incomplete. includes some basic details. includes a range of musical highly detailed and gives a
experiences and details. complete picture of me
musically.

I haven’t chosen five pieces I have chosen five pieces of I have chosen five pieces of I have explained why the
of music that are important. music that are important to music that are important to five pieces I have chosen
me. me and stated why I chose are important to me and
them. why I chose them.

My musical analysis includes I have analysed one piece I have analysed one piece I have completed a detailed
insufficient detail or is including basic details of at including details of analysis of my piece with a
missing elements. least 3 of instrumentation, instrumentation, structure, range of detailed musical
structure, harmony, and harmony, and rhythm. Some evidence.
rhythm. basic musical evidence
included.

I haven’t included enough I have included some basic I have explained a range of I have included a highly
details of the context of my contextual details for my contextual details relating to detailed discussion of the
piece. piece. my piece. context of my piece.

My reflection is lacking in I have explained briefly why I have included a basic I have reflected and
detail or missing parts. I chose this piece and what I reflection of why I chose the discussed in detail why I
like about it. piece with some details from chose the piece, what I
the piece. have taken from it, and why
I like it.

MIDI SEQUENCING

Create a MIDI Sequence using a DAW

This unit will see you get to grips with entering a piece into a DAW, not just using loops, but inputting
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MIDI Data yourself!

For this activity, we will be using a piece of online software called BandLab. However, you may use any
appropriate DAW like Garage Band or Logic.

The first few tasks will help you practice the skills you will need for this.

For this task you will need access to a computer with internet capability, a browser that supports BandLab
(Chrome seems to work well), and if possible, a MIDI Keyboard or controller.

Define/Explain the following key terms:

DAW: ______________________________________________________________________

MIDI: ______________________________________________________________________

MIDI Editor:_________________________________________________________________

MIDI keyboard/controller:______________________________________________________

Quantize:_______________________________________________________________

Velocity: __________________________________________________________________

Metronome: _______________________________________________________________

Automation:_______________________________________________________________

Pan: _____________________________________________________________________

Record:__________________________________________________________________

Play:_____________________________________________________________________

Playhead:_________________________________________________________________

Plugins:___________________________________________________________________
Practice Activity:
Practice Activity 1
1. Log into BandLab. You may need to create an account if you have not used it before. See the
BandLab 101 information at the end of this document.
2. Set up a pitched instrument of your choice (not drums).
3. Turn on the Metronome Click.
4. Change the Tempo to a crotchet = 80bpm.
5. Enter the short piece of music below. Make sure you click record. You may need to practice it first.
You can use a MIDI Keyboard, Musical Typing, or click to enter.

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6. Select all of your notes in the MIDI Editor and Quantise to 1/8. Experiment with the % and find what
sounds best with your instrument.
7. Check that the Velocity of your notes is even and edit if you need to.
8. Copy and paste your melody to repeat it.

Practice Activity 2
1. Add a simple drum beat. Make sure you follow the above steps to quantize and check velocity.
2. Double the above melody an 8ve above using a different instrument. Follow the above steps to edit as
needed. You may also copy and paste it into another instrument and change the 8ve.
3. Add a C Major Triad that is held for the length of each bar. Think about which instruments are able to
do this.
4. Add a simple bassline using an appropriate instrument. This could simply be a held note if you would
like.

Practice Activity 3
1. Edit the Volume Automation to make each melody line get slightly louder and then slightly softer
over the two bars.
2. Pan each melody so one is slightly to the Right channel and one is slightly to the left.
3. Add some subtle reverb to at least one of your tracks to make it sound more realistic.
4. Make sure your tempo is back to 100bpm.
5. Export your track as an MP3.

Practice Activity 4

1. Enter the above piece of music on your DAW.

2. You will need at least 3 tracks. Make sure you are choosing a selection of instruments that sound good
together and make sense timbrally.
3. Make sure you are editing your piece as required to make it sound as realistic as possible. This should
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 include quantizing, editing velocity, volume/dynamics, pan, and reverb. Select an appropriate tempo.
4. Add a drum beat/percussion line.
5. Once you are happy with it, export as an MP3.

Practice Activity 5

The next concept to get to grips with is adding Effects (FX). For now we are just going to focus on
Reverb and Delay.
1. Navigate to the Effects tab on a track and find a suitable Reverb plugin. Experiment with the settings -
remember, less is more sometimes.
2. On a different track, do the same for a Delay. Listen to the difference between them.
3. In the boxes below, describe the differences you hear between each of these.

Reverb Delay

4. Briefly describe why you might choose to use effects like these in your music.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

5. Use the Volume Automation feature to balance your tracks so all tracks are heard at the appropriate
level.

6. You may choose to add some equalisation to your tracks or the overall mix.

Define these terms:

Equalisation (EQ):
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Reverb:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Delay:
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Final Activity
Create a MIDI sequence of the score below using the features and functions of a digital audio workstation
(DAW). Your piece must have a minimum of three individual tracks. You can input your MIDI data by
recording along with a metronome click, or by using step input mode, or using a pencil tool.

Your sequence should demonstrate cohesive track management and have appropriate musical instruments
assigned to each track. Basically, this means you should be trying to recreate the piece in a way that
makes musical sense and utilises the functions of the DAW appropriately.

You may use drum loops or samples in addition to the MIDI tracks you create.

You should edit your MIDI notes to ensure accuracy of pitch and rhythm, using quantisation where
appropriate.

Tips:
- Think about what instruments sound good together.
- Check the clefs and that your pitches are correct.
- Listen back to your work regularly - if it sounds weird, you may have made a
mistake
- Add effects etc. last and think about how they add to the effectiveness of the piece.

Submit your final piece as an MP3. Make sure you listen back to this file and check it
sounds the way you want it to.

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Also share the collaborator Link on BandLab with your teacher so they can see your work.

Use the rubric below to self assess your work as you go.

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 SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK - ‘MIDI SEQUENCE’

Curriculum Strands and Key Skills used in this Course:

(UC) Understanding Music in Context, (PK) Developing Practical Knowledge, (DI) Developing Ideas, (CI) Communicating
and Interpreting

Pre-structural Structural Relational Extended Abstract

My sequence does not have 3 My sequence has 3 tracks My sequence has 3 tracks My sequence has 3 tracks
tracks with appropriate instruments with appropriate
assigned instruments assigned and
volumes balanced

My sequence has many Most pitches are correct with The majority of my pitches Pitches are highly accurate
incorrect pitches a few noticeable mistakes are correct and any mistakes with little or no mistakes
do not detract from the
overall sequence.

Many of my notes are in the Most notes are placed in the The majority of my notes are All notes are placed in
wrong place right place placed in the right place and correct place, are correct
are quantized length, and have been
quantized

I have not used any effects I have used some effects - I have used effects and edited I have been deliberate in
mainly the default presets the settings my use of effects showing
understanding of effect on
my piece

NOTES AND PLANNING

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