EYFS to KS2 Music Skills Overview - Tanglin Trust School

PROGRESSION OF MUSIC SKILLS & CONCEPTS 

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE – KEY STAGE 2 

TANGLIN TRUST MUSIC CURRICULUM 

Music in EYFS classes is used primarily as a tool to support the development of each child in all six 

areas covered by the early-learning goals and educational programmes: 

personal, social and emotional development 

communication, language and literacy 

problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy 

knowledge and understanding of the world 

physical development 

creative development 

Whilst covering the learning and development areas listed above through music, specific musical 

skills and concepts covered along the way are listed below. 

Vocal Activities 

Instrumental & 

Performance 

skills 

Children should be able to sing simple songs from memory 

Songs are selected to fully integrate with the EYFS curriculum, helping 

develop the children’s knowledge, literacy/vocabulary and numeracy skills 

as well as developing children’s sense of pitch, rhythm and beat 

Children will play a range of un-tuned percussion instruments with 

increasing physical control 

Instrumental work enables children to work as part of a group or class, 

taking turns and sharing fairly, understanding that there needs to be 

agreed values and codes of behaviour for groups of people, including 

adults and children, to work together harmoniously 

Development of sense of rhythm & beat through un-tuned percussion 

activities 

Understanding of pitch through playing high & low notes 

Understanding & recognising tempo changes through playing fast & slow

Creating 

Music & 

Movement 

Appraising 

& Listening 

Listening 

Repertoire 

Theory & 

Notation 

Vocabulary & 

Concept 

Knowledge 

Children are given the opportunity to explore how sounds can be made 

and changed 

Children are encouraged to express & communicate ideas using a variety 

of musical instruments & songs 

Children are encouraged to use their imagination in music and movement 

Children move with increasing confidence, imagination, control and 

coordination 

Music & Movement enables children to show a developing awareness of 

space, of themselves and of others 

Listen with enjoyment, and respond differently to variety of songs, music 

& rhymes 

Recognise how sounds can be changed 

Respond in a variety of ways to auditory stimuli 

Recognise repeated sounds and sound patterns 

Respond to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when 

appropriate 

Have a developing respect for their own cultures and beliefs and those of 

other people through experiencing songs and music from around the 

world 

Saint Saens: Carnival of the Animals 

M. Arnold: Padstow Lifeboat 

Selection of songs & music from around the world 

Listening activities with Groovy music 

Represent sounds with pictures through graphic scores and ‘Groovy 

Music’ exercises 

Songs and musical activities reinforce vocabulary introduced in class humanities 

topics. However additional musical vocabulary would include: loud, soft, high low, 

fast slow, smooth, jumpy, long & short (note duration) wood, metal, skin 

(percussion) 

Music IT Groovy Music shapes lessons 1-3 (Tone Colour, Loud and Quiet, Music Words)



KS1: 

Skills: Y1 

Vocal 


Performance 

skills 

Creating music 

Appraising 

& listening 

Listening 


Theory & 

Notation 

By the end of this year, children should aim towards being able to…. YEAR 1 

Sing with a sense of the shape of the melody 

Can recognise and imitate melody patterns in echoes 

Sing a range of simple songs from memory 

Sing range D-A in tune 

Perform simple patterns and accompaniments keeping to a steady pulse 

Play a 3-note melody with some sense of communication 

Can respond to changes in the speed of the beat 

Can indicate the steady beat by movement including during a silence 

Can determine upwards and downwards direction in performing and 

moving 

Echo clap 

Choose sounds & instruments carefully in response to a given starting 

point 

Explore different kinds of sounds that the singing and speaking voice can 

make 

Interpret aspects of a simple picture score into sound 

Recognise mood changes in music 

Determine upwards and downwards direction in listening 

Differentiate between loud & quiet passages in music 

Match selected sounds with their pictured source 

Differentiate between fast and slow tempos 

Recognise the form of cumulative songs 

Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf 

Tchaikovsky: the Nutcracker Suite 

Mozart: Toy Symphony 

Listening activities with Groovy music 

Represent sounds with pictures 

Clap 4-beat rhythms from flash cards using quavers and crotchets 

Understand the crotchet rest 

Music words & symbols with Groovy Music 

Solfa notes sol & mi with hand signals

Vocabulary & 

concept 

Knowledge 

Beat, melody, orchestra, rest, rhythm, solo, fast, slow, getting faster/slower, 

picture score, conductor, f & p 

Music IT Groovy Music shapes lessons 3-8 (Music words, Music symbols, Long & short, 

Beat, Fast & slow, Sounds and the beat) 



KS1: 


Vocal 


Performance 

skills 


Appraising 

& listening 

Listening 



Sing with a sense of the shape of the melody. 

Imitate melody patterns in echoes 

Sing a range of simple 1 & 2 part songs from memory 

Internalise sounds by singing ‘parts of songs’ in their heads 

Perform simple patterns and accompaniments keeping to a steady pulse. 

Play a 3-note melody on tuned percussion and recorders with some sense 

of communication 

Echo short rhythms & melodic patterns on tuned instruments 

Choose sounds carefully in response to a given starting point 

Order sounds within simple structures 

Create an interpretation of given graphic symbols/scores 

Recognise and describe mood changes in music 

Recognise the difference between steady beat and no beat 

Show the contour of melodies as moving upwards, downwards or staying 

the same 

Recognise differences in dynamic levels & changes in tempo 

Use sound words or phrases to describe selected sounds and how they 

are produced 

Recognise a song with an accompaniment and one without 

accompaniment 

Differentiate between the contrasting sections of a song 

Listen to activities with Groovy Music Shapes 

World Music; Music of Singapore; Chinese, Malay & Indian musical 

extracts 

Benjamin Britten: Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra 

Baroque recorder concertos to show use of recorders

Theory & 

Notation 

Vocabulary & 

concept 

Knowledge 

Represent sounds with symbols 

Clap 4-beat rhythms from flash cards using quavers, crotchets and minims 

Understand the crotchet rest 

Steps & leaps 

Repeat sign 

Use solfa notes sol, mi & lah + hand signals 

Recognise BAG for playing with recorder 

All Y1 vocabulary plus; All orchestral families, crotchets, quavers, minims & 

semibreves, upward, 

downward, steps & leaps, melody, graphic score, graphic symbols, repeat sign 

Music IT Groovy Music shapes lessons 9-12 (Upward/downward, High/Low, Steps/leaps, 

Making melody. 

Groovy Music Shapes Create: Create layers of music to play together from 

templates 



KS1: 


Vocal 


Performance 

skills 


To be able to distinguish between different sol-fa sounds and to imitate 

them accurately 

Sing simple songs from memory with accuracy of pitch, in a group or alone 

Understand the importance of articulating the words to communicate the 

song to an audience 

Demonstrate increasing aural memory and physical control 

Maintain own part in a 2 part song 

Respond to the cues of a conductor 

Play a 4-5 note melody with some sense of communication on recorders 

and tuned percussion 

Play the notes B,A,G & E on the treble clef stave on the recorder 

Perform repeated patterns with control of pulse and awareness of what


Appraising 

& listening 

Listening 


others are playing 

Maintain a simple part within an ensemble 

To be able to clap/play a beat against a different beat and to be able to 

‘come in’ at the right moment at the right tempo 

Improvise repeated patterns (ostinato) 

Add a part in group work which is different from the others but fits 

Use knowledge of musical elements to compose descriptive music 

choose, order, combine and control sounds with awareness of their 

combined effect to be able to improvise an 8-beat rhythm keeping in time 

with the pulse 

Recognise how musical elements can be used together to create moods & 

effects 

Describe musical characteristics of a sections of music using appropriate 

vocabulary 

Can say how they changed or improved their work. 

Can indicate strong and weak beats through movements 

Can determine movement by step, by leaps or by repeats as well as cresc, 

dim & instrumentation in an extract of music 

Can determine one strand of music or more than one strand 

Can identify the tempo of music as fast, moderate, slow, getting faster or 

getting slower 

Can recognize simple structures & differentiate between the contrasting 

sections of a song 

To be able to understand the difference between a pulse and a rhythm 

Identify strong & weak beats in 4/4 & 3/ 4 musical extracts through 

movement 

Grieg; ‘In The hall of the Mountain King 

Holst; ‘Mars’ & ‘Venus’ from ‘The Planets Suite’

Theory & 

Notation 

Knowledge & 

Vocabulary 

Variety of Music excerpts for recognising 3 & 4 beats in a bar 

Music with ostinatos (African? Minimalist?) 

Debussy: Apres Midi d’un Faune 

Vivaldi: Winter from Four Seasons 

Stomp performance DVD for trash bands 

Know of the treble clef 

Clap and verbalise (using ‘ta’, ‘ti ti’ etc,) 4-beat rhythms from flash cards 

using quavers, crotchets, minims, semibreves, crotchet rests and dotted 

minims. 

Know the difference between 3/4 and 4/4 time 

recognize the notes B,A,G & E on the treble clef stave (for use with 

recorder playing) 

recognise steps & leaps in notation 

Doh, Re, Mi, Soh, & la with hand signals & for sight singing 

pitch, dynamics, tempo, texture, timbre, ostinato, stave, time signature, treble 

clef, , lento, presto, crescendo, diminuendo, staccato, legato, composition, pulse, 

structure, programme music, score, dynamic symbols such as ff, pp < & > adagio, 

moderato & allegro 

Music IT Sibelius’ “Groovy Music – Jungle’ Lessons 1-7 (tone colour, Loud & quiet, Music 

words, Dynamic symbols, Long & short, Beat & meter, Tempo) 



Lower KS2: 


Vocal 


Sing expressively with awareness and control of the expressive elements, 

e.g. tempo, dynamics 

Sing a wide variety of songs with confidence, using a wider vocal range 

Understand how mouth shapes can affect voice sounds 

Sing one part of a two part song in tune


Performance 

skills 


Appraising 

& listening 

Sing in tune alone or act as leader of a group in a call and response song 

Remember longer phrases quickly and confidently 

Perform a simple 5-8note melody on keyboard or tuned percussion and 

recorders 

Play the notes D to D’ on the recorder 

Play short repetitive ‘ostinato-style’ pieces with confidence 

Select suitable instrument sounds on the keyboard 

Perform and maintain more complex rhythmic patterns confidently in 

time with the other parts; make effective use of the silent beats 

Can hold a beat against another part 

Add a part in group work which is different from the others but fits with 

what they are playing 

Organise compositions into a simple structure i.e. Beginning, middle & 

end, Binary form 

Improvise answers to given rhythmic and melodic phrases 

Create compositions using wide variety of sound colours 

Select the notes of a pentatonic scale and use them to compose the 

words and melody for a short song; add simple pentatonic 

accompaniments to their song 

Can create rhythmic patterns including silences and notate 

Create simple variations on a well known rhythm or melody 

Recognise & explore how the different musical elements are combined 

and used expressively 

Identify and recall rhythmic and melodic patterns 

Suggest ways in which a piece can be improved through analysis and 

evaluation 

Can recognise a metre of 3 and 4

Listening 


Theory & 

Notation 

Knowledge & 

Vocabulary 

Can assess the appropriateness of dynamic choices such as accents, sfz 

etc 

Can identify groupings of instruments - e.g. strings, woodwind, orchestra, 

rock band 

Can recognise the difference between thick and thin textures & changes 

in texture 

Explain using appropriate terminology personal preferences for specific 

musical works/styles 

Recognise call and response, binary and ternary form 

Recognise music from the Tudor period, identify instruments used & 

place in historical context 

Range of music from the Tudor period 

Unsquare Dance (for ostinato) 

Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf (revisited for composition unit) 

Steel Pan & other Caribbean music 

Pentatonic examples: Irish, African, Chinese, Javanese etc 

Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 

Know the notes of the treble clef plus F# 

Clap & verbalise (ta, titi etc.) 4-beat rhythms from flash cards using semiquavers, 

quavers, crotchets, minims, semibreves, crotchet & minim rests. 

Introduce dotted rhythms 

Notate short rhythms using crotchets, quavers, minims & crotchet rests 

Create rhythmic patterns including silences and notate 

Recognize the notes D to D’ on the treble clef stave (for use with recorder 

playing) 

Do, re, mi, so & lah – revise for pentatonic work & sight singing 

Revisit Y3 vocabulary plus; accelerando, rallentando, names of notes – quavers, 

semiquavers, crotchets, minims & semibreves, dotted notes, duration, phrase, 

mezzo forte, mezzo piano, pizzicato, instrument families, call & response, binary 

form, pentatonic, fortissimo, pianissimo, major, minor, resonating chamber, 

vibration, understanding construction of instrument families.

Music IT Groovy Music Jungle Explore: Lessons 8-12 (notes and the beat, 

upwards/downward, high, low, middle, steps & leaps, Major/minor & making a 

melody) 

‘Groovy Music Jungle Create’ independently creates a piece of music by combining 

pre-recorded layers (i.e. Bass line, drum sequence, chords & melody).

EYFS to KS2 Music Skills Overview - Tanglin Trust School

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