Performing music

Students develop and extend their practical music‑making skills through performing works in an ensemble. They apply their musical understanding, skills, and techniques in refining and performing music.

Students create music for ensemble performance for a range of purposes and contexts. They choose one or more instruments (voice, acoustic, and/or electronic) and perform in one or more ensembles as appropriate to the focus of their learning. They may perform in:

• a small ensemble of two or more performers
• an orchestra
• a band
• a choir or vocal ensemble
• a performing arts production (as a singer or instrumentalist in an ensemble).

Students develop and extend their practical music‑making skills, and use initiative in collaborating with other musicians to create and refine ensemble performances. They develop and apply an understanding of and responsiveness to how each part, including their own, contributes to the effectiveness of the whole ensemble.

In creating performances, students extend their specific technical and performance‑related skills on their chosen instrument(s), and apply this contextual learning to refine their musical expression. They experiment with the manipulation of musical elements appropriate to the performance context. A performance may include improvisation.

As students develop and refine their performances, they synthesise their musical understanding, skills, and techniques. They reflect on and evaluate their learning, and critique and make refinements to their performances, throughout the development process.