“Music interweaves through all areas of learning;
musicality is an intrinsic part of being human.”
Development Matters, 2018.
How are the Early Years at Barley Close developing Music?
EYFS Areas of Learning
The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.
Early Learning Goal: Being Imaginative and Expressive
Children at the expected level of development will: Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher; Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs; Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music
Kapow Scheme (whole school scheme) – EYFS termly units, cross-curricular/topic based
(see separate skill progression map)
All units explore musical activities that embed pulse, rhythm and pitch, explore voices and classroom instruments.
EYFS Development Matters: Musical Development in the Early Years
Area of Musical Development | Desirable outcomes for children | How Barley Close is supporting |
Hearing + Listening 40-60+ months | Children think abstractly about music and expresses this physically or verbally eg “This music sounds like floating on a boat.” “This music sounds like dinosaurs.”
Children distinguish and describe changes in music and compares pieces of music, eg “this music started fast and then became slow.” “This music had lots of instruments but this music only had voices.” “This music was spiky and this music was smooth.”
Children associate genres of music with characters and stories.
Children accurately anticipate changes in music, eg when music is going to get faster/slower/louder etc. | Listening area and a selection of music for children to choose from.
Invitations for children to select music to play at certain times of the day e.g morning mission.
Allow and encourage all children to respond to music individually. Evidence this in their online learning journeys.
Follow the whole school “listen and appraise” weekly structure in conjunction with the Charanga framework to expose children to a variety of genres – discuss the music, inviting children to describe music and seek out opinions, thoughts and feelings.
Record children’s musical listening and appraisal interactions in a whole class floor book.
Model using correct terminology (pitch, tempo etc). |
Vocalising + Singing 40-60+ months | Children can pitch match, ie reproduces with his or her voice the pitch of a tone sung by another.
Children are able to sing the melodic shape (moving melody, eg up and down, down & up) of familiar songs.
Children sing entire songs.
Children may enjoy performing, solo and or in groups.
Children internalise music, eg sings songs inside his or her head. | Large and small group singing sessions (in adult led activity and continuous provision)
Offer opportunities for children to sing solo (in large performances and during continuous provision)
Invite children to share their songs with other children (in class and as part of larger performances eg. Christmas play)
Provide recording devices to allow children to record their own and other children’s songs. Play pitch matching games eg hum or sing short phrases and invite children to copy the adult.
Sing call and response songs so that children can echo phrases of songs you sing (eg nursery rhymes, phonics songs etc)
Introduce new songs gradually and repetitively throughout the year. |
Moving + Dancing 40-60+ months | Children move to the sound of instruments, eg walks, jumps, hops to the sound of a beating drum.
Children combine moving, singing and playing instruments, eg marching, tapping a drum whilst singing.
Children move in time to the pulse of the music being listened to and physically respond to changes in the music, eg jumps in response to loud/sudden changes in the music.
Children replicate familiar choreographed dances eg imitates dance and movements associated with pop songs.
Children choreograph his or her own dances to familiar music, individually, in pairs/small groups. | Create spaces for movement and music as often as possible.
Present instruments in the environment – not just in boxes or cupboards.
Observe children’s movement responses and evidence these in their learning journeys.
Offer opportunities for movement performance – in continuous provision and larger school events (eg Christmas play) |
Exploring + Playing 40-60+ months | Children create music based on a theme eg creates the sounds of the seaside.
Children find and record sounds using recording devices.
Children play instruments (including imaginary ones such as air guitar) to match the structure of the music, eg playing quietly with quiet parts within music, stopping with the music when it stops.
Children keep a steady beat whilst playing instruments – his or her own steady beat in his or her creative music making.
Children tap rhythms to accompany words, eg tapping the syllables of names/objects/ animals/lyrics of a song.
Children create rhythms using instruments and body percussion.
Children may play along to the beat of the song they are singing or music being listened to.
Children may play along with the rhythm in music, eg may play along with the lyrics in songs they are singing or listening to. | Provide a music area with a selection of instruments
Record children’s pieces and play them back, adding them to the repertoire available to children in the listening area.
Offer instruments that lend themselves well to the activity being explored eg tapping instruments such as claves or drums are easier for rhythm games, whereas shaky instruments like maracas are more challenging to play defined rhythms. Link musical instruments to role play themes eg jungle
Play rhythm games eg tapping out syllables of children’s names or fruits etc
Explore mark making to sounds, inviting children to draw to the sound of an instrument, until there are a few representations in a visual pattern. Invite children to play the visual pattern (early introduction to reading sheet music) |
Early Learning Goals | Listening, Attention and Understanding Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions. Being Imaginative and Expressive Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and- when appropriate - try to move in time with music. | As above. |