Key Stage 2 music · History of music

KS2 history of music: Romantic era to pop explained

Children in Key Stage 2 are taught to develop an understanding of the history of music. The second half of that story, from the Romantic era in the nineteenth century to the music of the twentieth century and today, includes the arrival of recording, jazz, rock and pop and electronic music. Schools choose which composers, styles and pieces to explore.

History of music: Romantic to modern, explained

The Romantic period runs from about 1820 to 1900. ‘Romantic’ here has nothing to do with love songs. It describes music that puts feelings, imagination and stories at the centre: dramatic changes in volume, big sweeping tunes, and pieces inspired by nature, legends or a place. Schools often choose composers such as Chopin, Clara Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky or Elgar. Orchestras grew larger and the piano became a powerful solo instrument. Beethoven, who lived from 1770 to 1827, is usually placed at the border between the Classical and Romantic periods because his music changed as he grew older.

The twentieth century brought more variety than any earlier period. Some composers, such as Debussy, painted atmosphere with shimmering sounds. Others, such as Stravinsky, used strong, unexpected rhythms. In England, Holst and Vaughan Williams drew on folk songs and the sound of the orchestra. Later, minimalist composers built pieces from small patterns repeated and gradually changed. Alongside concert music, the blues and jazz grew around the start of the twentieth century from African American musical traditions, and gospel, rock and roll, soul, reggae, hip-hop and many other styles developed as the century went on.

Technology changes the story. Before recording was invented in the late nineteenth century, you could hear music only if someone played or sang it live. The gramophone and then radio put music into homes. Amplification and the electric guitar meant a small group could fill a big room. Synthesisers and computers let one person create sounds and complete pieces, and today digital music can be shared across the world at once. Children are often surprised that, until about 150 years ago, nobody could hear a piece of music again unless someone performed it.

Children do this mostly by listening, discussing and playing. They might hear a Romantic piano piece and then a piece of early jazz, or compare a pop song from the 1960s with one from the 2020s. Teachers ask them to describe what changes using the dimensions of music: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure. They place music on a timeline, find out about the people who made it and think about what might have inspired it. The programme of study does not name the music to study, so schools choose according to their own plans.

Words your child will hear

Romantic: Music from about 1820 to 1900 that emphasises feeling, imagination and storytelling.
Programme music: Instrumental music that tells a story or paints a picture, such as a piece about a storm.
Jazz: A style that grew in the early twentieth century and often uses improvisation and swung rhythms.
Minimalism: A style built from short patterns repeated and gradually changed.
Amplification: Using electrical equipment to make a sound louder.
Synthesiser: An electronic instrument that makes and shapes sounds.
Genre: A category of music with a recognisable style, such as jazz, rock or hip-hop.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught to develop an understanding of the history of music
Aim: pupils perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: explaining how technology changed music

How have recording, amplification and digital technology changed the way people make and hear music?

Start with the situation before recording. Music could be heard only when someone played or sang it, in a church, theatre, concert hall, home or street. Hearing a famous performer meant being in the same room.
Add recording and radio. Recordings meant the same performance could be heard again and in other places, and radio brought music into the home. More people, including those who could not afford a concert ticket, could hear a wide range of styles.
Add amplification. An electric guitar or a microphone allowed a quiet instrument or voice to be heard over drums and a crowd. That made small bands practical and helped styles such as rock and roll grow.
Add electronic and digital music. Synthesisers and computers can copy or invent sounds, and one person can play every part of a track. Online sharing means a song made in a bedroom can be heard around the world in a day.
End with a balanced view. Technology gave listeners more choice and gave musicians new tools, but live performance is still valued because it cannot be exactly repeated.

Recording let music be heard again and far away, radio brought it into homes, amplification let small groups be heard in big spaces, and electronic and digital tools let one person make a whole track and share it worldwide. All of these changed who could make music and who could listen, though live performance remains important.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking Romantic music means love songs

The everyday meaning of ‘romantic’ is about love, so children expect the music to be about it.

What helps: Explain that the period is named for an artistic movement that valued imagination and strong emotion. Listen to a stormy piece and a gentle one and ask what feelings are being shown.

Seeing ‘classical’ and ‘pop’ as completely separate worlds

Concert music and popular music are often presented in different places, so children treat them as unrelated.

What helps: Look for connections: film scores use orchestral techniques, and composers and bands have borrowed from each other for a long time. Ask what the two have in common.

Assuming one style replaced the last

A timeline suggests tidy steps, so children think that when jazz started, Romantic music stopped.

What helps: Show that styles overlap and live side by side. Symphony orchestras still play Romantic music today, and new jazz is still being made.

Believing modern music has no rules or isn’t ‘proper’ music

Some twentieth-century music uses unfamiliar sounds, silence or repetition, which can seem odd to ears used to tunes.

What helps: Ask what the composer is trying to do and what the music is made of. Almost all of it is built with careful choices about rhythm, pitch and structure, even where it sounds unusual.

How to help at home

Make a family music timeline. Ask grandparents, parents and your child to name a song from when they were around ten years old. Put them in order on a timeline and talk about how they were listened to: records, cassettes, CDs or streaming.
Compare an old and a new recording. Find a song that has been recorded in different decades and listen to two versions. Which instruments are different? What does the recording quality tell you?
Tell the story. Play a piece of Romantic music with no words and ask your child to describe the story they imagine. Then look up what the composer intended and compare.
Create a repeating pattern. Take a short rhythm clapped or tapped on the table, repeat it, then change one note at a time. This is the idea at the heart of minimalism, and you can feel it work in seconds.
Listen across a week. Choose a different style each day, such as a piano piece, early jazz, rock and roll, a film score or electronic music. Each evening ask what your child liked and what surprised them.

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Western classical music and its history
Key Stage 3: Popular music and world traditions