Music Curriculum Overview 

Kapow offers full coverage of the KS1 and KS2 Music curriculum and we have categorised our content into four areas: 
- Performing  
- Listening  
- Composing  
- The history of music  
 
National Curriculum by Kapow’s themes and topics  
 

Key stage 1  Kapow’s Music  Kapow Topics 

National Curriculum Music subject content  Themes 
 

Pupils should be taught to:     Year 1   Year2  

Use their voices expressively and creatively by  All About Me  Musical Me
singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes      Animals Animals
Space On This Island 
By the Sea
Fairy Tales
Superheroes   
 

Play tuned and untuned instruments musically   All About Me Musical Me

  Animals Traditional Stories
Space Animals
By the Sea  On This Island 
Fairy Tales Myths and Legends (​coming soon​) 
Superheroes    Space (​coming soon​) 
 
Listen with concentration and understanding to a  All About Me Musical Me
range of high-quality live and recorded music      Animals Traditional Stories
Space Animals
By the Sea  On This Island 
Fairy Tales Myths and Legends (​coming soon​) 
Superheroes    Space (​coming soon​) 
 

Experiment with, create, select and combine  All About Me Musical Me

sounds using the inter-related dimensions of    Animals Traditional Stories
music  Space Animals
By the Sea  On This Island 
Fairy Tales Myths and Legends (​coming soon​) 
Superheroes    Space (​coming soon​) 
 

 
 
 
 

Key stage 2   Kapow’s Music  Kapow Topics 

National Curriculum Computing  Themes 
subject content 
 

Pupils should be taught to:     Year 3  Year 4   Year 5  Year 6 

Play and perform in solo and ensemble  Mountains Rainforests South and West Africa  Leavers’ Song ​(coming 
contexts, using their voices and playing    Ballads Hanami festival Holi Festival soon) 
Chinese New Year,   Romans Rivers
musical instruments with increasing 
India South America Egyptians
accuracy, fluency, control and expression   Vikings  Blues  Dance Music
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)  Musical Theatre 
Improvise and compose music for a range  Mountains Rainforests South and West Africa Leavers’ Song ​(coming 
of purposes using the inter-related    Ballads Hanami Festival Holi festival soon) 
Chinese New Year Romans Rivers
dimensions of music   
India South America  Egyptians
Vikings  Blues  Dance Music
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)  Musical Theatre 
     

Listen with attention to detail and recall  Mountains  Rainforests  South and West Africa  Leavers’ Song ​(coming 
sounds with increasing aural memory      Ballads  Hanami festival Holi festival soon) 
Chinese New Year Romans Rivers
 
India South America Egyptians
Vikings  Blues  Dance Music
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)  Musical Theatre 
   

Use and understand staff and other  Chinese New Year Romans South and West Africa  Leavers’ Song ​(coming 
musical notations      India Blues  Rivers soon) 
Vikings  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)  Egyptians
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Dance Music
   

Appreciate and understand a wide range  Mountains Rainforests  South and West Africa  Leavers’ Song ​(coming 
of high-quality live and recorded music    Ballads Hanami festival Holi festival soon) 
Chinese New Year Romans Rivers
drawn from different traditions and from 
India South America  Egyptians
great composers and musicians    Vikings   Blues  Dance Music
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)  Musical Theatre 
   
 

Develop an understanding of the history of  Mountains South America South and West Africa  
music    India  Blues  Musical Theatre 
Jazz ​(coming soon)  Rock and Roll (​ coming soon)   
   

 
 
 
 
 Overview of Kapow’s topics by year  
 

Year 1  All About Me 

(5 lessons) 
Fairy Tales 
(5 lessons) 
Superheroes 
(5 lessons)  
Animals 
(5 lessons) 
Space 
(5 lessons) 
By the Sea 
(5 lessons) 

  Children get to know 

one another through 
Pupils are introduced to 
the concept of timbre, 
Pupils learn to identify 
changes in pitch and 
Children listen and 
respond to music, 
Children journey into space 
through music, movement, 
Pupils look at how to 
represent the sounds of 
games and activities  creating sounds to  tempo and how to use  representing animals  chanting and the playing of  the seaside using their 
designed to introduce  represent characters and  these within music  using their bodies and  tuned percussion  voices, bodies and 
them to the musical  key moments in a story.  before composing their  instruments. They learn  instruments, culminating in  instruments and explore 
concepts of pulse and  They explore dynamics  own superhero theme  and perform a song, and  a final composition  how music can convey a 
rhythm  through untuned  tune with instruments   compose a short section  Go to topic particular mood 
Go to topic percussion and create  Go to topic of music as a group using  Go to topic
rhythmic patterns to tell  their voices and 
a familiar fairy tale   instruments 
Go to topic Go to topic

       
Clapping and playing in  Performing short chants  Playing simple patterns  Singing short songs from  Singing and playing in  Performing from graphic 
time to the pulse  from memory, with  on tuned instruments  memory, adding simple  response to instructions as  notation 
Playing simple rhythms  expression  incorporating high/low  dynamics  part of a class performance 
on an instrument    (pitch) and fast/slow  Playing instruments   
  (tempo)  expressively    Listening to and 
  Responding to a sound by  Responding to music through  commenting on the 
Understanding the  likening it to a character or      expressive and appropriate  descriptive features of 
difference between pulse  mood  Recognising tempo and  Responding expressively to  movement  music 
and rhythm  pitch changes  music using your body 
     
  Creating and selecting      Creating a sequence of notes  Selecting appropriate 
Improvising vocally within  sounds to match a  Experimenting with tempo  Creating and selecting  Creating a chant  instruments to create an 
a given structure  character or mood  and pitch using tuned and  appropriate sounds to tell a    intended effect, using 
  untuned instruments  story  dynamics and tempo to add 
    interest 
 
 

Cross curricular  PSHE  English    PE (Dance)  Science  Geography 

links  
 
Year 2  Musical Me 
(5 lessons) 
Traditional Stories 
(5 lessons) 
Myths and Legends 
(5 lessons)  
Animals 
(5 lessons) 
Space 
(5 lessons) 
On This Island 
(5 lessons) 
Children learn to sing and  Children are introduced  COMING SOON!  Children use instruments  COMING SOON!  Taking inspiration from 
then play the song ‘Once a  to the instruments of    to represent animals, copy    the British Isles, 
Man Fell in a Well’ using  the orchestra and  Listening to music  rhythms, read simple  Inspired by T
​ he Planets  children compose 
tuned percussion; adding  practice identifying  composed to tell stories  notation and learn a  by Holst, children  soundscapes to 
sound effects,  musical instruments as  from famous myths and  traditional African call and  represent a planet  represent the 
experimenting with timbre  well as composing  legends, children develop  response song, before  through music and  contrasting landscapes 
and dynamics and using  music based on familiar  their understanding of  creating their own call and  compose their own motif  of the UK: seaside, 
letter notation to write a  stories  musical language and how  response rhythms  bookended by a  countryside and city 
melody  Go to topic  timbre, dynamics and  Go to topic  soundscape to represent  Go to topic 
Go to topic    tempo affect the mood of a  a journey through space   
song   

           
Singing and playing untuned  Performing a story using  Singing songs from memory  Recognising playing a short  Performing a melodic  Singing with confidence 
instruments at the same  vocal and instrumental  with confidence and accuracy  rhythm from simple notation   motif musically  and expression 
time  sound effects 
Playing a melody from letter         
notation     Recognising structural  Suggesting improvements to  Listening for and  Using musical vocabulary 
Recognising timbre  features  their work  recognising  to describe the music 
  changes  Relating music to feelings  instrumentation   they hear 
Repeating a melody by ear   
  Layering instrumental and       
  Improvising vocal sound  vocal sounds and patterns  Creating short sequences of  Creating a melodic motif  Creating and making 
Choosing appropriate  effects for a story  within a given structure   sound on a given idea  from a set of five notes  improvements to a 
dynamics and timbre for a  Creating a tune to        soundscape 
piece of music    describe a character   
     

  English  English    Science   Geography  

Cross 
curricular 
links  
  

Year 3  Vikings 
(5 lessons)
Around the World:  Chinese New Year 
(5 lessons)  
Ballads 
(5 lessons) 
Jazz 
(5 lessons) 
Mountains 
(5 lessons) 
India 
Pupils develop their  Children listen to the story  Listening to examples of  COMING SOON!  Building on their 
(5 lessons) 
singing skills in this  of Chinese New Year.  ballads, children develop    knowledge of 
Children learn about 
History-themed topic  revise key musical  their understanding of  Children are introduced to  soundscapes, children 
traditional Indian music, 
while learning to  terminology, play and  them as a form of  jazz, including how the  create their own original 
including the rag and the 
recognise staff notation  create pentatonic  storytelling, before then  genre of music evolved  compositions to match 
tal, identifying 
Go to topic  melodies compose a piece  writing lyrics for their  over time, and learn how  an animation, building 
instruments used and 
of music as a group using  own ballad in response to  to compose and perform a  up layers of texture and 
create their own 
layered melodies  an animation  piece with swung quavers  giving consideration to 
improvisation in this style 
Go to topic
Go to topic  Go to topic    the dynamics, pitch and 
tempo throughout.  
Go to topic 

           
Singing songs with  Performing a traditional  Playing a pentatonic melody  Performing a ballad as a  Playing their composition  Performing a soundscape 
accuracy and control, with  Indian song with voices and  from letter notation  class  accurately in time with their  accurately, fluently and 
developing vocal technique  instruments from staff  Maintaining a part of during  group  expressively 
notation  a group performance   
  Recognising the features of     
Discussing the features of      a ballad  Identifying the difference  Recognising and 
battle songs using musical  Recognising the stylistic  Discussing the features of  between regular rhythms  explaining the changes 
vocabulary  features of Indian classical  Chinese music using    and swung rhythms   within a piece of music 
music    musical vocabulary  Writing lyrics for a ballad   using musical vocabulary 
     
Creating a battle song with      Composing a swing version   
voices and untuned  Creating an Indian-inspired  Combining three pentatonic  of a nursery rhyme  Telling a story through 
percussion  composition using drone,  melodies with untuned  layers of melody and 
  rag and tal  percussion to create a group  rhythm 
  composition   Learning different types of
  jazz, understanding how the
Consider how music genre evolved over time Appreciating classical
developed differently in music and unpick its
  other parts of the world narrative 
 

Cross  History   Geography   Geography  English   History  Geography 

curricular 
links
  

Year 4  Romans 
(5 lessons) 
South America 
(5 lessons) 
Hanami 
(5 lessons)  
Rock and Roll 
(5 lessons) 
Blues 
(5 lessons) 
Rainforests 
(5 lessons) 
Drawing upon their  After learning about  Children learn about the    After learning about the  Children explore the 
understanding of  instruments traditionally  Japanese festival of Hanami  COMING SOON!  history of blues music,  rainforest through 
repeating patterns in  found in a samba band,  which celebrates spring    children are introduced to  music. Using a mixture 
music, pupils are  children learn about  before creating creating  Children learn about the  the 12 bar blues before  of body percussion and 
introduced to the  syncopated rhythms and  sound effects and music to  significance of dancing  they then learn how to play  tuned percussion 
concept of motifs and  how to compose a  represent the falling cherry  within the evolution of  it and recognise it in other  instruments, they create 
develop their skills  samba break  blossoms  music and learn to play a  music  their own rhythms of 
further by adapting,  Go to topic  Go to topic  walking bass line, which is  Go to topic  the rainforest, layer by 
transposing and  characteristic of this genre  layer 
performing motifs  of music   Go to topic 
Go to topic   

           
Playing melody parts on  Playing syncopated  Exploring timbre using their  Performing a walking bass  Performing the blues scale on  Accurately performing a 
tuned instruments with  rhythms with accuracy,  voices expressively   line  a tuned percussion  composition as part of a 
accuracy and control, with  control and fluency  Singing in time and in tune  instrument  group 
developing vocal technique   
  Recognising, naming and       
  Recognising the stylistic  explaining the function of the  Recognising the features of  Hearing when songs play the  Identifying scaled 
Recognising the use and  features of samba music    interrelated dimensions of  rock and roll music  12 bar blues  dynamics (crescendo / 
development of motifs in  music  decrescendo) within a 
music      piece of music   
Composing a rhythmic    Identifying the links between Improvising a blues 
  break  Creating and performing a  this and other genres of performance   
Creating a motif-based  group composition within a  music Creating body percussion 
composition and notating  given structure using both  rhythms 
this using roman mosaic  Learning about the origin of melodic and rhythmic  Understanding how this genre Creating a melody loop 
artwork  samba music instruments  of music came to be on tuned percussion 
       
   

Cross  History  Geography  English  PE (Dance)  History  Geography 

curricular links

 
Year 5  Egyptians 
(5 lessons) 
South and West Africa  Holi 
(5 lessons)  (5 lessons)  
Rivers 
(5 lessons) 
Dance Music 
(5 lessons) 
Musical Theatre 
(5 lessons) 
Children learn to  Children learn and  Learning about the  Children associate the stages  Children learn how dance  Children learn how singing, 
identify the pitch and  perform a traditional  Indian festival of colour,  of the river with different  music is created, focusing  acting and dancing can be 
rhythm of written  African song, playing the  children explore the  rhythms and learn what an  particularly on the use of  combined to give an overall 
notes and then  accompanying chords  associations between  ostinato is and how it’s used  loops, and learn to play a  performance to tell a story. 
experiment with  using tuned percussion  music, sounds and  in music  well known song before  They learn how this genre 
notating their  and play the djembe  colour building up to  Go to topic putting a dance music spin  has changed over time 
compositions using  (African drum)  composing and  to it   before creating their own 
hieroglyphs as well  Go to topic performing their own  Go to topic scene from a musical 
as standard staff  musical composition to  Go to topic
notation  represent Holi 
Go to topic  Go to topic

           
Performing accurately  Singing a traditional African  Participating in a class  Singing in two parts with  Playing their own composition  Participating in a group 
from graphic notation  song unaccompanied  performance   expression and dynamics  in time with a backing rhythm  performance to tell a story 
using voices and  Playing a chord progression  Performing a vocal ostinato as  Performing a vocal ostinato as 
instruments  on tuned percussion    part of a layered ensemble    part of a layered ensemble  
Representing a known  Hearing loops or sections of 
    piece of music using a    music within remixes   
Identifying how the key  Recognising the stylistic  graphic score  Using musical vocabulary to  Identify the features of songs 
features of music are  features of south and west  describe the detailed features    from musical theatre 
written down, by  African music    of a piece of music  Creating their own remix using 
following a score  Creating vocal  Suggesting improvements to  fragments of a known song   
whilst listening    compositions based on a  their own and others work      Composing an original piece 
Composing an eight beat  picture and a colour   or using familiar songs to tell 
  rhythmic break      a story 
Creating a sound story  Creating a rhythmic ostinato 
using voices and   
instruments, and  Learning how music evolved Understanding what musical
notate it using  in different traditions theatre looked and sounded
hieroglyphs  like across decades 
 

History  Geography  RE  Geography  Computing  English 

Cross 
PE 
curricular 
links
  
We have included just one topic within our music content for Year 6 to reflect the curriculum time that is often available  
 
Year 6  Leavers’ Song 
(6 lessons) 
 
COMING SOON! 
 
Children create their very own leavers’ song personal to their experiences as a class; listening to and critiquing well known songs reflective of new beginnings, writing 
the lyrics for the chorus and verses and exploring the concept of the four chord backing track and composing melodies 

Improvising over and singing known melodies to a 4-chord backing track 

Singing in an ensemble with 2 or more independent parts 
Performing a song as a class with accuracy, fluency, control and expression 

 
Identifying the way that the features of a song can complement one another to create a coherent overall effect 
Using musical vocabulary correctly when describing the features of a piece of music 

 
Writing song lyrics within a given structure 
Composing a melody within a given structure 
 

 
 

English  
Cross 
curricular 
links