Stage 4 - Students study 100 hours of both Music and Visual arts during Years 7 and 8. Students also have the opportunity to engage in extracurricular activities such as our music tuition programs or ART SMART camp.
Year 7 begin their artistic journey through an exploration of themselves. “Initially It’s Me” is a Structural and Subjective focus of procedures and conventions to make artworks exploring the representation of personal qualities, inner feelings and character traits of people, incorporating signs and symbols to create a visual language of communication A study of how artists communicate meaning through portraits, text, signs and symbols.
Year 8 students continue to explore and refine their artmaking skills, focusing on “A Manufactured World” through a post-modern and structural investigation using the CFW to develop meanings and materials, as symbols for the city. A post-modern exploration of the contemporary art practice of appropriation to make artworks and visual hybrids that communicate new views of the manmade world.
Year 7 Music students focus on the topic ‘What is Music?’, where they begin to look at sounds and questioning when sound become music? Students will learn about notation and how to play simple songs on the keyboard. This includes using notation software to compose a short 8 bar composition using Sibelius. Year 7 Students will continue to build on instrument techniques, with the introduction of the guitar. They will also have the opportunity to utilise online composition software, such as Sony Acid Studio, and they will be used to introduce the idea of texture and the role it plays in music.
Year 8 Music students will explore the topic “Rock Music”, the history, development, and major artists who pioneered the genre. They will focus on the characteristics of a rock song, and the instruments of rock. Students will learn how to play a rock riff and drum pattern to understand the stylistic features in detail. They will then move into the study of “Dance music” as well as features and styles that exist within the genre. Students will have the opportunity to compose and record a dance track to demonstrate their understanding of the style. The unit will explore Hip Hop and Rap music. Historically, where it originated and the motivation behind it. Students will work at learning rapping techniques and writing their own rap song, which can be performed.
