World Music

What this unit covers

The World Music unit sits in the World Music strand of Music, and most of its resources suit secondary students. Several mention GCSE Music. Many follow set works and traditions: the Skye Waulking Song by Capercaillie, Yiri by Koko, and Rag Desh, with notes on Anoushka Shankar, Steve Gorn and Benjy Wertheimer, and Chiranji Lal Tanwar. Others look at wider traditions, including Gamelan, Indian classical music, Irish music, Bhangra, African music, Caribbean music, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese music, Salsa, Samba and Colombian music.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map AOS 4 - World Music. It links the set works to ideas such as instrumentation, melody, drone and tala, and gives you a map of the whole area. Then open the note Area of study 4: World music for a written overview.

1. Read a broad mind map such as AOS 4 - World Music or the Indian music maps.
2. Pick one tradition, for example Gamelan or Irish music, and study its map in detail.
3. Move to the flashcards for key terms, such as Rag Desh key terms.
4. Finish with a quiz on the same topic.

Using maps, flashcards and quizzes together

Maps show how ideas connect. Flashcards help you learn the terms and instruments. Quizzes then show what has stuck. The African Drumming quiz uses fill-in-the-blank questions on oral tradition and the leader's introductory solo. The Koko - Yiri Quiz and the Rag Desh quiz test set works. If you get something wrong, go back to the matching map and look at that branch again.

Ideas for teachers

Teachers can use the slide sets, such as COLOMBIAN MUSIC and World Music Instruments, to open a lesson. The flashcard decks on Irish Jig and Reel and Samba Em Preludio work well as quick starters or revision tasks. The Jig and Reel essay questions and notes give a written task to set.

Make it your own

If a tradition is missing or a map is too light, build your own maps, flashcards or notes and use them alongside what is already here. Pick one topic today and see how much you remember.