LIBRETTO

Government approval for graded music exams

Jazz midsummer madness

Bermuda & Hong Kong jubilees

Get ready for Jazz Horns

Teaching and learning

New Violin Prep Test

Adventures in music

Issue 2001:1

ContentsLibretto 2001:1

1 UK newsHLR seminars 2000Fact-findingJazz midsummer madnessJazz piano newsSwansea high scorers

2/3 International newsHong Kong jubileeIntroducing IAJEStaff updateFrom our South East Asia ConsultantJazz in AustraliaBirthday in BermudaMeetings for teachers

4/5 ExamsMillennium landmarksJazz Horns on the way More mini instrumentsJazz NotesWhich diploma?Diploma substitutions

6 Professional Development newsTeaching and learningJazz Travel GrantsCome and see us

7/10 Publishing newsViolin Prep TestThe Music Teacher’s CompanionNew recordingsSpectrum 3Archive and large print

12/13 FeatureAdventures in musicJoanna MacGregor

14/15 Point of viewArts at the heartKen Robinson

16 ForumParents – a mixed blessing?

Libretto is published three times a year by the Marketing Department

Editor Michelle JamesAssistant Editor Lucy NorthAdvertising sales Dominic Sewell telephone 020 8861 0848Design Tamasin ColeCover illustration Sara FanelliPrint FS Moore Ltd, London

The views expressed in Libretto are not necessarily those of the AssociatedBoard neither are the products or services appearing in advertisementsendorsed by the Associated Board.

Outlook

Over the past two years the UK Government, acting throughthe Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), has setout to establish a National Qualifications Framework,designed to provide a map of approved educational andvocational qualifications in all fields of study. In October lastyear I was delighted to announce that the Associated Board’sgraded music exams had been admitted to this framework.Our Grades 1 to 3 are accredited at Foundation Level,corresponding to GCSE Grade D–G; our Grades 4 and 5 atIntermediate Level, corresponding to GCSE Grade A*–C; and our Grades 6 to 8 at Advanced Level, corresponding to A Level. This does not mean that Associated Board grades areinterchangeable with the corresponding national exams, butit does recognise an equivalence in the levels of knowledge,skills and understanding required for their attainment.

This is the first time that the UK Government hasaccorded official recognition to graded music exams. TheAssociated Board will now be asking for practical effect to be given to this recognition, e.g. through greater access topublic funding for related courses of study in schools andcolleges, and through the inclusion of graded exams in the points system used to evaluate admission applications toUK universities and colleges.

QCA will shortly be turning its attention to theaccreditation of diplomas for both performers and teachers.The Associated Board will be submitting its diplomas foraccreditation to ensure that all present and future holdersgain maximum recognition and benefits. In the longer term this process may well have international implications.Progress between countries in the mutual recognition ofqualifications has been notoriously slow and this has oftencaused frustration to overseas holders of Associated Boardqualifications. With the establishment of the NationalQualifications Framework it is to be hoped that this process will be speeded up.

We will be keeping you informed of progress in allthese areas.

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music24 Portland Place, London W1B 1LU, United Kingdom

Telephone +44 (0)20 7636 5400Fax +44 (0)20 7637 0234

Email abrsm@abrsm.ac.ukpublishing@abrsm.ac.uk

Website www.abrsm.ac.ukwww.abrsmpublishing.co.uk

Registered Charity No. 292182© 2000 by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of MusicAll rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without permission.

Setting the Standards

Richard MorrisChief Executive

1

NEWSUK

Honorary Local RepresentativesOur 300 HLRs around the countrycan answer many of yourquestions. Names and telephonenumbers appear in the Regulationsbooklet and on the website.

Entry formsThe pull-out supplementaryinformation section lists closingdates for the year, centre codes,entry fees and entry options. Keep acopy to hand all year for reference.

Online at www.abrsm.ac.uk Check the website for syllabuses,the online entry form and muchmore.

24 Portland PlaceIf contacting our London office,use direct lines or email for thequickest response.

Northern Regiontel 020 7467 8252email northern@abrsm.ac.uk

Southern Regiontel 020 7467 8211email southern@abrsm.ac.uk

Midlands Regiontel 020 7467 8243email midlands@abrsm.ac.uk

Irelandtel 020 7467 8243email ireland@abrsm.ac.uk

London Regiontel 020 7467 8261email london@abrsm.ac.uk

Special Visitstel 020 7467 8221email specialvisits@abrsm.ac.uk

Diplomastel 020 7467 8221email diplomas@abrsm.ac.uk

Fact-finding

New HLRs

BradfordMalcolm Dysontel 01274 679350

FalkirkAlexander Christietel 01324 622037

HitchinRebecca Masterstel 01462 620978

Merthyr TydfilMaureen Protherotel 01685 722141

MonmouthHilary Petrietel 01600 712661

PaigntonJo Dolmantel 01803 401634mobile 07733 365 179

PenzanceGillian Poznanskytel 01736 794301

RedhillPamella Semm-Skrzypeckatel 01737 246482

SittingbourneCynthia Swadetel 01795 425931

Southend-on-Sea (P)Sandra Gundytel 01702 587697

StranraerCharlotte Smithtel 01776 703447

SurbitonDavid & Pamela Speed-Andrewstel 020 8399 8263

WhitbyMagda Phillipstel 01947 880955

WorksopPeter Boxalltel 01909 537100

Address book

Blaenau FfestiniogEirwen Langdown tel 01766 770202

PeterheadAlistair McDonald tel 01779 812398

Busy teachers often need quickanswers to questions about examentries. So, how can you findthese answers easily?

The Associated Board’s network of 300 Honorary LocalRepresentatives provides teachers and parents with a valuablelocal point of contact; many HLRs are personally involved withrunning the exams each term so they are in touch with all thosewho visit their centre.

HLR seminars give opportunities for sharing experiences anddiscussing the needs of candidates and teachers. The seminars tookplace throughout October and November last year with HLRs fromall over the UK and Ireland meeting at venues across the country.Led by Penny Milsom, Head of UK and Ireland Administration, andLynne Butler, Teacher Support Consultant, these small gatheringswere ideal forums for debate. Discussions were lively and wide-ranging and many new ideas emerged. These are now being takenforward together with the numerous thoughts and suggestions wereceive from teachers throughout the year.

HLR seminars 2000

In August, 55 piano teachers tookpart in our residential jazz course.Charlie Beale, Associated BoardJazz Projects Co-ordinator, looksback…In the words of Duke Ellington,‘there are only two kinds of music…good and bad’. After all, Bach,Mozart and Liszt were all fantasticimprovisers at the keyboard. Sohere at the Associated Board, wereally do believe that theboundaries between jazz andclassical music should bechallenged – absolutely anyonecan (or is that should?) play jazz.

To prove it, last year we ranthe Jazz DevelopmentProgramme, a highly successfulseries of workshops for classicalpiano teachers. To complete theprogramme, we took a risk andorganised an intensive summercourse – a jazz piano week at theBenslow Music Trust. 55 classicalpiano teachers, with little or no previous experience of jazzand improvising, enrolled on the course. The results werespectacular. In a week describedby one teacher as ‘life-changing’and by one tutor as ‘possibly themost exhausting week of myworking life’, teachers workedfrom dawn till dusk and beyond.There was jazz repertoire, jazzhistory, jazz harmony, jazz rhythmskills, jazz singing, a gospel choir,and small group piano lessonswhere course members couldbegin to build a jazz vocabulary.

Daily improvised performancesby course members in the latenight piano bar went on until the

wee small hours and can only bedescribed as extra-ordinary. Initialworries about getting peoplestarted were replaced towards theend of the week with the problemof getting them to stop! Additionalinspiration was provided by visitsfrom contemporary jazz star TimGarland and Keith Nichols, experton early jazz piano performances,plus a visit to Ronnie Scott’s inLondon. The week culminated in atwo-hour concert where everythingplayed and sung was learnt entirelyby ear and everyone improvised.

I believe there was somecontroversy about who exactlywon the prize in the final jazzhistory quiz but everyone seemedto be left wanting more.

Oh, and thanks to PeteChurchill and Nikki Iles, top jazzpianists, teachers and therapists,without whom…

Jazz midsummer madness

High Scorers’ Concerts

13 FebruaryChippenham

16 FebruaryPlymouth

18 FebruarySunbury-on-Thames

24 FebruaryDarlington

27 FebruaryBangorNorthampton

Performers from the High Scorers’ Concert held in StMary’s Church, Swansea last September with HelenHopkins, HLR for Swansea, Heather James, localexaminer, and Jon Wood from the Southern Regionadministration team.

Swansea high scorers

Jazz piano news

The Jazz Piano Teachers’Association (JaPTA) is a neworganisation for teachers with a special interest in jazz pianoeducation.

JaPTA70 Culverdon RoadLondon SW12 9LSemail webbmadd@britishlibrary.net

2

Hong Kong jubilee

Since 1951 and the first exams, our work inHong Kong has flourished, so much so that lastyear 68 examiners visited Hong Kong. We now runtwo exam sessions every year with the traditionalAugust to December period supplemented by afurther one in April/May. The additional sessionwill cater specifically for the new diploma examsavailable in Hong Kong from this year.

In addition to music exams and diplomas,piano and string teachers in Hong Kong have theopportunity of taking the CT ABRSM professionaldevelopment course. Now in its second year inHong Kong, the course is held at the ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong and to date nearly 60students have participated. The Associated Boardalso runs regular seminars for teachers and ClaraTaylor, Chief Examiner, will be presenting diplomaseminars during the forthcoming jubileecelebrations.

The Associated Board’s work in Hong Kong isrun in partnership with the Hong KongExaminations Authority and with consultantsEmeritus Professor David Gwilt and Shirley Gwilt,ensuring that teachers and candidates areprovided with excellent support on a local level.

Gala concertPresented by the Chinese University of Hong Kong12 April at Hong Kong City Hall Concert HallTickets are free and are available fromthe City Hall Enquiry Counter.

Diploma seminars10, 11 AprilFor more information contact Selina Yuen at the Hong KongExaminations Authority:tel 2328 0061email syuen@hkea.edu.hk

NEWSINTERNATIONAL

New Representatives

Republic of Ireland: CorkFedelmia O’Herlihytel (087) 237 1905

GuyanaMildred Lowe351 East StreetNorth C/burgGeorgetowntel 02 72956fax 02 63489email remmy@solutions2000.net

2001 marks 50 years of Associated Boardexams in Hong Kong. We will becelebrating this golden anniversary witha gala concert, diploma seminars andcommemorative jubilee certificates forall candidates who pass exams in 2001.

Staff update

In September2000 Tim Arnoldjoined theAssociatedBoard as ournew Head ofInternationalOperations. Tim said, 'Having

had many years experience as aninstrumental teacher, and thenmore recently as an examiner andCT ABRSM Course Leader, my newrole offers some of the mostexciting challenges I have everhad to face. The job is everythingI had hoped for plus much, muchmore besides.'

Following thedeparture ofSuzannahPower, MichelleJames is ournew Head ofMarketing.Michelle hasbeen working

in the Marketing Department for three years, and as MarketDevelopment Manager, hadparticular responsibility forpromoting the Board in some ofour fastest growing internationalmarkets and for the marketing ofour jazz syllabus.

The International Association ofJazz Educators is a non-profitorganisation, which fosters theunderstanding, study andappreciation of jazz and its artisticperformance. More than 8,000teachers, students, musicians andenthusiasts from 40 countriesbelong to the IAJE. The AssociatedBoard is a Patron Member.

Although based in the USA,the IAJE is committed to increasingglobal membership and cateringfor jazz educators in Europe,Australasia – and anywhere in the world where jazz teaching is taking place.

Members of IAJE receive theJazz Educators Journal and haveaccess to over 40 IAJE consultantsand workshop presenters (you canemail them your questions andreceive a personal response). The Jazz Educators Journal isdistributed to members six times ayear and contains features on jazzeducation, reviews of jazz teachingresources, recordings andpublications, as well as regularcolumns contributed by eminentjazz musicians and educatorscontaining valuable teaching tipsand guidance. It’s a valuablesource of information for anyoneteaching jazz. Active IAJEmembership is $55, studentmembership $22 and it is possibleto arrange discounted schoolmembership.

The main IAJE event is theannual conference, this year heldin New York. An amazing 7,000educators, musicians, media andrecord company employees,exhibitors and jazz enthusiasts areexpected to attend this Januaryevent. Featured throughout theconference will be major jazzartists, outstanding school groups,seminars and presentations and amusic industry expositionshowcasing products and services.In addition, the conference willinclude a series of specialisedtracks designed to focus onteacher-training, technology,industry, and children’s outreach.Once again, the Associated Boardand ABRSM Publishing areexhibiting at the conference withCharlie Beale, author of JazzPiano from Scratch, and staff fromthe Associated Board’s Londonoffice attending.

For more informationcontact:IAJEPO Box 724ManhattanKS 66505-0124USA

tel 785 776 8744fax 785 776 6190email info@iaje.org

www.iaje.org

Introducing IAJE

3

Address book

India: BangaloreGita Chackoemail clefgrus@vsnl.com

India: GoaCarlos Ferreiratel 0832 431996/434823fax 0832 420363emailcharles@goatelecom.com

JapanNew contact at PTNA Orie Ikedaemail ikeda@piano.or.jp

NetherlandsElaine van der Plasemailwr4957@worldonline.nl

OmanPhilip Stallwoodtel/fax 693248

Spain: MadridTimothy Jonesemailazutimjo@teleline.es

Sri LankaMano Chanmugam 317 Gonamaditta RoadPiliyandaleSri Lankatel 074 514319/074 210344

ThailandChorlada Bunnagemailchorlada@hotmail.com

USA: Bellevue/SeattleJean Hyde16808 NE 30th StreetBellevueWA 98008tel (425) 881 1553

USA: OregonSusan Mattson emailsglausiuss@aol.com

USA: San FranciscoStephen Ng875-A Island Drive #222AlamedaCA 94502-6768

During September last year an Associated Boardteam visited Malaysia and Singapore to deliverour new Professional Development Programme. I was joined by Clara Taylor (Chief Examiner),Richard Crozier (Director of ProfessionalDevelopment), Paul Harris (examiner) and GilesMorris (ABRSM Publishing Marketing Manager)on a tour that covered much terrain – KualaLumpur to Penang and onwards to Kota Kinabalu,Kuching and finally Singapore. The seminars drewrecord audiences with 400 teachers attending inboth Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The seminar programme focused on the newdiplomas: repertoire and assessment; writingprogramme notes; tackling the Quick Study. Inaddition, Clara Taylor delved into the teachingdiplomas with an in-depth look at the Viva Voce,Paul Harris explored sight-reading techniques andRichard Crozier spoke on teaching and learningstyles. The seminars also featured the launch ofThe Music Teacher’s Companion (see page 8)

with authors Richard Crozier and Paul Harris onhand for signings.

In between these tightly packed seminars weboarded aircraft and prepared for the nextdestination. These short interludes werethemselves peppered with memorable events: onone internal Malaysian flight we discovered thatthe Polish pilot was also a piano teacher whosepupil had been awarded first place in acompetition the previous night – Clara Taylor hadbeen the adjudicator; Paul Harris discovered anew passion in his life – mango juice; and ClaraTaylor and Richard Crozier experienced a whistle-stop trishaw trip.

The PDP tour has generated a tremendousamount of positive feedback with many teacherssaying how refreshed and invigorated they nowfeel in their work as a result of attending. Thefast pace of this tour for the Associated Boardteam was certainly worthwhile and we lookforward to the next PDP in 2001.

NEWSINTERNATIONAL

From our South East Asia Consultant

Bill Thomson reports back from a busy andproductive Professional Development Programme.

In addition to the day-to-dayexamining work, examiners oninternational tours host meetingsfor local teachers. Usuallyarranged to take place at the end of an exam session,these meetings give teachers anopportunity to ask questions, voice opinions and find out aboutthe latest developments withinthe Associated Board. To find out about forthcomingmeetings in your area contactyour local Representative.

2001 sees the launch of jazz exams inAustralia with the first session of JazzPiano and Jazz Ensemble exams takingplace later this year.

For more information contactyour representative in Australialisted at www.abrsm.ac.uk and in the InternationalExamination Regulations &Information booklet.

Jazz in AustraliaBirthday in BermudaIn November last year we celebrated 75 years ofAssociated Board exams in Bermuda. Toni Davis,our Bermuda Representative, hosted a receptionand presentation for over 100 teachers at theWaterloo House Hotel, home from home toAssociated Board examiners working in Bermuda.After the reception, John Holmes, the visitingexaminer, also a Mentor on the CT ABRSM course,presented a seminar on professional developmentfor instrumental and singing teachers.

We now hold two exam sessions in Bermudawith exams taking place at Saltus GrammarSchool, Warwick Academy, Bermuda High Schooland Mount St Agnes. A thriving and variedmusical scene ensures that entries span the wholerange of instruments and grades.

For more information about AssociatedBoard exams in Bermuda contact:Toni Davistel/fax 232 0956email bdafest@ibl.bm

Meetings for teachers

A recent meetingfor teachers inColombo, Sri Lankahosted by the examinerMartin Richards.

4

EXAMS

More miniinstruments

Millennium landmarks

In 2000 we celebrated two landmarkachievements – the accreditation of theAssociated Board’s graded instrumental, singingand theory exams by the UK regulating agenciesand the launch of a new Diploma Syllabus. Bothare set to have significant national andinternational impact, the first in underlining thequalities and advantages of using the AssociatedBoard’s exam services and the second in providinga range of flexible, relevant benchmarks attertiary level.

The latest edition of These Music Exams marksboth these achievements; there is a section on thenew diplomas and a visual representationshowing the complete system of Associated Boardexams and how they fit into the NationalQualifications Framework. In addition, the

section describing how examiners markperformance has been extended to includefurther information about the assessmentprocess. We hope this will bring even greaterclarity to teachers, parents and pupils.

These Music Exams by Clara Taylor, ChiefExaminer, answers all your questions about musicexams; what they are, who they’re for, how theywork. Ideal for teachers, parents and oldercandidates, it is available free of charge.

These Music Exams is available atwww.abrsm.ac.uk, or to order a copy:tel +44 (0)20 7636 5400fax +44 (0)20 7637 0234email abrsm@abrsm.ac.uk

Philip Mundey, Director of Examinations,reflects on the successes of the last year and announces a new edition ofThese Music Exams.

Building on the success and popularity of the JazzPiano and Jazz Ensembles Syllabuses we are now inthe process of developing a Jazz Horns Syllabus atGrades 1 to 5. Over the last year, pilot syllabuses andsupport materials for Trumpet, Trombone, Clarinetand Saxophone have been field-tested by 350teachers both in the UK and internationally.Feedback from the pilot study is now being used toreview and fine tune all aspects of the syllabus.

We have also been exploring thepossibility of introducing a RealBook at Grades 4 and 5. The RealBook, for piano and parts in C, Bb,Eb, and bass clef, will establish a setof relatively simple jazz tunes foruse by all instruments, enablingplayers to work together in smallbands outside the exam context.

Ultimately, Jazz Horns will mirror Jazz Piano, with each gradecontaining five tunes in each ofthree categories – blues and roots,standards and contemporary – so300 tunes in total for fourinstruments. Many of these will benew compositions commissionedfrom leading jazz composersproviding a source of new materialfor jazz learners.

Look out for Jazz Horns updatesin forthcoming issues of Libretto.

Jazz Horns on the wayOver the years we have regularly consulted withinstrumental experts to establish whether or not weshould allow the use of mini or kinder instrumentsin our exams. In considering mini instruments, issuesof fingering, tone, embouchure, breathing andtransference to the standard instrument have allneeded careful consideration. For some time wehave allowed the use of the mini-bass and Lyon’s C clarinet and we are now adding the mini-bassoonand Eb Kinder clarinet.

Mini-bassoonFrom January 2001 the mini-bassoon will beaccepted as an alternative to the full-sizedinstrument up to Grade 3. With the mini instrument,typical bassoon problems of weight on the neck andbalance on the left hand are reduced and smallhands are able to reach over the keys.

The mini instrument uses a normal bassoon reedand the key system is similar to that of the full-sizedinstrument. The fingerings are exactly the same upto the highest register and the range is a semitoneshort of three octaves. The main difference is that itis pitched a fifth higher than the full-sized instrument,with the consequent need for transposition in orderto play with concert-pitched instruments.

Ebb Kinder and Lyon’s C clarinetsFrom January 2001, both these instruments will beaccepted up to Grade 3. Previously the Lyon’sinstrument was allowed up to Grade 5. The reductionin allowance for the Lyon’s C clarinet reflects the factthat very few candidates, if any, have used it at thehigher grades because by Grade 4 they tend to beplaying on the standard instrument – something tobe encouraged. An overlap period means thatcandidates who would like to use the Lyon’s C clarinetat Grades 4 and 5 may do so until the end of 2001.

Nigel Scaife, SyllabusDevelopment Manager,introduces a major initiative.

5

EXAMSJazz Notes

Which diploma?

Charlie Beale, Chief Moderator and Jazz ProjectsCo-ordinator, discusses embellishment.

New lists of substitutions fordiploma prerequisites andrequirements are now availableon the website. The lists havebeen expanded significantly andare accompanied by an introductionexplaining the different types ofprerequisites and the rationalebehind the substitutions.

Appropriate ProfessionalExperience (APE) is included in the list as part of the acceptedprocess of LRSM application butqualifications and experience may now, on occasion, also beconsidered for access to theDipABRSM and, exceptionally, for the FRSM.

If you would like a copyof the new lists but donot have Internet access:

tel 020 7467 8221 (UK)

tel +44 20 7467 8240(outside the UK)

Diploma substitutions

Last year we launched a newDiploma Syllabus available inthree subject lines – Performing,Teaching and Directing.Qualifications have never been as important as in the presenteducational and professionalclimate and these diplomas,compatible with systems ofassessment widely applied inhigher education, provideopportunities for a wide range of musicians.

Young candidates will find the stimulation, challenge andrecognition offered by thediplomas of great value. Maturecandidates will have the personaland professional benefits of thepreparation and achievement,plus the knowledge that theirDipABRSM, LRSM, or FRSM isrecognised throughout the worldas the gold standard at this level.But which diploma is the right onefor you or your pupil?

DipABRSM■ The next step if you have just

passed Grade 8.■ An extremely approachable

qualification providing accessto the LRSM.

■ Comparable in standard to thelevel achieved after one year ofhigher education study in music.

LRSM■ Builds on skills and

understanding required atDipABRSM level.

■ Provides access to the FRSM.■ Comparable in standard to the

level achieved after three yearsof higher education study inmusic.

FRSM■ The highest Associated Board

award carrying great prestigeand status.

■ Comparable in standard to thelevel achieved after four years ofhigher education study in music.

The diploma exams give candidatesan opportunity to communicatetheir skills in a friendly atmospherewith the emphasis strongly on thepractical side of performing,teaching and directing. The panelof diploma examiners is standingby to welcome candidates all overthe world. Will you be one of them?

The Diploma Syllabus givescomprehensive information onevery aspect of the diploma exams,including extensive repertoire lists,valuable guidance for candidatesand the criteria against whichcandidates will be assessed.

The syllabus is availablefrom:

■ your Associated BoardRepresentative (outsidethe UK)

■ our London office

■ your local music retailer

■ www.abrsm.ac.uk

In jazz, there’s a long tradition not just of playinga tune but of ‘doing something with it’. Listen toany jazz musician play a standard that you know– maybe Art Tatum on Tea for Two – and you’llhear what I mean. Perhaps they’ll add in extramelody notes, play behind or in front of the beatto add expressiveness, take the tune at a newspeed or in a new feel. They show us that old,familiar standard in a new light, and make usthink, ‘That’s interesting. I’d never thought ofdoing it quite like that.’

In the da capo of a Handel aria, we hearsingers like Emma Kirkby do exactly the samething. Kirkby sings her own favourite ornamentsand variations to the given part, and marks theinterpretation as personal. The music has been ona journey, and it would be dull to hear the Asection (in jazz, the head) again, played in exactlythe same way as it was at the start. Herembellishments demonstrate her skill andflexibility, and add charm, expressiveness andindividuality. The tune belongs to the performer,and not just to the composer.

In the jazz exams, you can do the same. Youcan’t change the feel (swing or straight) or go

slower than the minimum tempo marking, ofcourse. But the criteria say that even a pass-levelperformance must have ‘simple embellishments’and by distinction-level, we would expect twoperformances of the same tune to begin to soundincreasingly different from each other. In onememorable performance used in examinertraining, the candidate played exactly what waswritten in the recap – competent but perhaps alittle bit dull – but then added a singlespontaneous thump on the lowest note at theend, like a musical ‘OY!’ to finish. At Grade 1,that’s at least a pass.

So in the classical exams, you play the part,but in jazz you show you know the part, byexploring its possibilities. You don’t play the part,you play the music!

Top tips for embellishing■ First make sure you know the form of the

tune well.■ Explore possibilities by playing the tune in

different ways.■ Keep it simple – a few really tasty embellishments

are much more effective than too many. Addto the arrangement, but don’t overpower it.

6

Teaching and learning Jazz Travel GrantsNEWSPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT

It’s very important that as teachers, weconcentrate on our teaching strategies. Thereshould certainly be a bit more to life thanselecting the next graded piece or consulting thesyllabus to find out which scales are required.Our teaching needs to match the needs of ourpupils and that means matching their learningneeds through identifying their preferredlearning styles. One style of teaching reliesheavily on a re-active approach. This means thatthe teacher merely reacts to the mistakes that thepupil makes. Most of us can rely on our pupils toprovide plenty of mistakes and therefore give usplenty to do in the lesson, correcting them. Butthis means that the pupil’s agenda is actually setby what they get wrong, rather than building onwhat they get right and, more importantly, itmeans that the teacher doesn’t set an agenda forthe learning process. In other words, the tailwags the dog.

So, let’s think for a moment about teachingstrategies and learning styles. I wonder which isyour preferred learning style? For example, doyou like to read all the instructions carefully?Would you rather listen to an explanation, orwould you prefer to experiment to find out howsomething works? Are you predominantly avisual learner or an aural learner? When youbought your new computer, did you plug it in,switch on and explore, or did you carefully readall the instructions before taking anything out ofthe packaging? As learners, we need to developall of these different approaches to learning.After all, it’s no good relying exclusively on theinstruction booklet if you are on the deck of theTitanic.

As learners, our preferences will bedetermined to some extent by the way our brainworks. The left side of the brain usually controlsthe right side of our bodies and the right side ofthe brain usually controls the left side. We allhave a dominant foot, hand, eye and ear, i.e. onewhich we prefer to use given the opportunity.Our brain profile determines how we function ashuman beings, how we interact with otherpeople and how we prefer to learn. Even knowinga little bit about this may help our understandingof the teaching and learning process. Perhaps themost important thing to be reminded of is thatall the individuals whom we teach are just that –individuals. They do not all have the samepreferences as learners and in order to beeffective as teachers we need to respond to theseindividual needs, developing lessons which matchthe needs of each of our pupils.

Richard Crozier,Director ofProfessionalDevelopment, raises some educationfundamentals.

The Associated Board’s Centenary Travel GrantFund was set up to provide music teachers fromaround the world with professional developmentopportunities. In 2000 our Travel Grant Awardstook on a jazz flavour, enabling three jazz pianoteachers from New Zealand to come to Londonfor a term of fully-funded study organised by theProfessional Development Department.

Arriving in September, Pieter Bos, CharmaineFord and Kirsten Mackenzie-Jackson dived intothree months of intensive study. They workedclosely with jazz educators Pete Churchill and NikkiIles under the mentorship of CT Course Leader,Moira Hayward and their studies took them tothe Royal Northern College of Music, the RoyalScottish Academy of Music and Drama and theRoyal College of Music, for special coaching with Yonty Solomon. In addition, jazz pianomasterclasses with Danilo Perez, Tim Garland and Fred Hersch presented once-in-a-lifetimeopportunities to work with internationaljazz artists.

Being in London meant that Pieter,Charmaine and Kirsten were able to attend (and participate in) a host of live music events.Experiencing music-making of the highest calibrewas an invaluable part of their visit.

The term of study proved to be inspiring,hard-working and immensely rewarding for allthree students. For Charmaine it had been ‘anincredible, life-changing experience…I’ve learntso much in my own piano and teaching skills and gained a wealth of knowledge in jazz’ andPieter commented that ‘the opportunity to studywith and observe the world’s best has left me equipped with many new teaching andeducation skills. I will endeavour to pass these on to others back in New Zealand.’ Kirstensummed up, ‘overall we’ve had a tremendoustime and learned a vast amount’.

This year the TravelGrant Fund will bededicated to providingshort professionaldevelopment coursesfor teachers in Belgium, the Netherlands andTaiwan.

Come and see us

During March and April we’re running CT ABRSMTasters and Open Mornings all over the UK. Find outabout our unique and highly acclaimed professionaldevelopment course for instrumental and singingteachers at one of these events. All teachers in theUK and Ireland will find a booking form enclosedwith this issue of Libretto.

For further information contact Suzanne Gray:tel 020 7467 8244email sgray@abrsm.ac.uk

CT ABRSM

UK, Hong Kong,SingaporeFor information aboutCT ABRSM courses forteachers contact theProfessional DevelopmentDepartment:

tel +44 (0)20 7467 8257fax +44 (0)20 7467 8295emailprofdev@abrsm.ac.uk

Pieter, Charmaine and Kirsten with Nikki Iles

7

NEWSPUBLISHING

Violin Prep Test

■ The Associated Board does not sell publications direct ■ Please order from your local sheet music retailer ■

As a result of reading Publishing news, many ofyou have been calling us to order publications.

Please note that since 1989, the year weestablished a distribution agreement withOxford University Press, we have not soldpublications direct from the Associated Board offices.

Please order our publications from your localsheet music retailer. A list of music retailers inyour area is available on our website atwww.abrsmpublishing.co.uk

Introducing… the new, updated Violin Prep Test,which can be used in exams from January 2001.

The Associated Board’s Prep Test is designed tointroduce young children, via a friendlyenvironment, to the concept of music exams.These initial exams are to be taken by pupils whohave been playing for just a few terms.

The Prep Test assesses the skills young pupils willbe developing at this stage, such as a sense ofpitch and rhythm, controlled and even playing,accuracy and quality of tone.

Publication: 9 November 2000

How to order

The new Violin Prep Test contains fun new piecesby Alan Bullard, entertaining drawings by MartinShovel and musical games – so practising for thebig day will always be enjoyable!

Both the set piece and own choice piece may beselected from Party Time! for Violin (D 868 7).

The existing Preparatory Test for Violin (D 496 7)may be used for Session A 2001 in the UK andIreland, and for the whole of 2001 in othercountries.

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music(Publishing) Limited24 Portland PlaceLondon W1B 1LUUnited Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)20 7636 5400Fax +44 (0)20 7637 0234Email publishing@abrsm.ac.uk

www.abrsmpublishing.co.uk

Oxford University Press is the sole worldwide sales agent anddistributor for ABRSM(Publishing) Ltd

Joining forcesPublishing news is now part ofLibretto. The next four pageswill give you news of all ourforthcoming publications.

Have you visited our website?

www.abrsmpublishing.co.uk

You can …

■ learn about all our publications■ find your local music retailer■ enter our monthly competition

and win publications■ look at sample pages■ hear recordings of classical

and jazz music■ download midi and WAV files

… and much more

8

■ The Associated Board does not sell publications direct ■ Please order from your local sheet music retailer ■

Who or what have been yourstrongest formative musicalinfluences?I enjoyed many exciting andmemorable musical experiences at school, and my teacher andmentor, John Davies, has been aconstant source of musical andintellectual inspiration.

Have you always had your heartset on becoming a musician?Absolutely! And, as far as I canremember, from the age of aboutseven. Though I think aperformance of the Schubert C major String Quintet I heardwhen I was about 12 was theclinching moment.

Are there any other musicians inyour family?I have a distant uncle who is aviolinist and a slightly less distantcousin harpist. But my mostcelebrated relative is the violinistRobert Mann, one of the foundermembers of the world-renownedJulliard String Quartet.

What music do you enjoylistening to?Quite a range really. I love Frenchmusic – Poulenc and Ravelespecially. I couldn’t live withoutMozart and Brahms though, and,owing to a certain amount ofRussian blood, all the great 19thand 20th century Russiansymphonists. During long gamesof bridge (one of my veryfavourite pastimes!) you can’tbeat a combination of baroqueoboe concertos and gentle Englishmusic by the likes of Gerald Finzi.And I have a bit of a weakness forthe famous European singing starKaterina Valenti!

Are you pleased with The Music Teacher’s Companion?Richard and I wanted to producea stimulating, readable (jargon-free!), practical and useful book. I hope we’ve done that. If everyonewho reads it occasionally stopsand utters a very thoughtful ‘Ohyes…’, or from time to time nodstheir head sagely thinking ‘Ofcourse’, then I should beabsolutely delighted!

Do you have plans for any morebooks on music teaching?Loads!

The Music Teacher’s CompanionNEWSPUBLISHING

‘Harris and Crozier have produced a book that few serious teachers of music would wish to be without.’

Times Educational Supplement

The Music Teacher’s Companion, written by leading musiceducationalist Paul Harris and the Associated Board’sDirector of Professional Development Richard Crozier, waspublished on 13 September 2000 and was the first launchto be held at our new premises at 24 Portland Place,London. Paul Harris and Richard Crozier spoke to invitedguests about the new publication.

Paul Harris spoke in particular about a method ofintegrating the teaching of pieces, scales, sight-readingand aural work – ‘simultaneous learning’ – which takes up a whole chapter in the book.

The book has been so overwhelmingly successful that itsold out in the UK within three days of publication!

All music teachers will find The Music Teacher’sCompanion relevant, whether they are working at homeor in school, with individuals or groups, full-time or part-time. This essential handbook is packed with usefulinformation relating to all aspects of music teaching.

Separate editions for the UK, Malaysia and Singaporecontain a supplement with local information regardinglegal issues, education systems, useful addresses andtelephone numbers.

Paul Harris is one of Britain’sleading music educationalists.

He has taught in manyinstitutions in the UK and gives

classes both here and abroad.Paul has over 200 publications to

his name, most of which areabout music education and deal

primarily with helping youngplayers to develop their musical

skills. He is an examiner for the Associated Board and

adjudicates at music festivals and national competitions.

Competition

Win a free copy of The Music Teacher’sCompanion! We havefive copies of thisimportant new book togive away.

Send a postcard withyour answers to these twoquestions, not forgettingto include your nameand address, to:

ABRSM (Publishing) Ltd 24 Portland Place London W1B 1LUUnited Kingdom to arrive no later thanFriday 2 March.

1 Who is theAssociated Board’sDirector ofProfessionalDevelopment?

2 What are the threenew post-Grade 8qualificationsavailable from theAssociated Board?

Talking to Paul Harris

by Paul Harris & Richard Crozier

9

■ The Associated Board does not sell publications direct ■ Please order from your local sheet music retailer ■

NEWSPUBLISHING

Warehouse Records has informed theAssociated Board that their recording ofthe Grade 2 Piano exam pieces contains anincorrect piece. The piece concerned is thesecond movement of Kleine Blumen byGurlitt in List B. Although it is listedcorrectly, the wrong movement has beenrecorded. Consequently the stock of CDsand cassettes of the Piano Grade 2recording has been withdrawn and it isanticipated that the recording will be re-issued in early January 2001.

Customers who have already purchased aPiano Grade 2 recording may, if they wish,apply to have their copy replaced free ofcharge. Customers wishing to replace theirCD or cassette must apply to WarehouseRecords direct (not to the Associated Boardor OUP):

Warehouse Records13 Theed StreetLondon SE1 8STUnited Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)20 7928 9251Fax +44 (0)20 7928 9252email fingertips@lfo.co.uk

New recordings of exam pieces

Don’t forget flute and clarinet

These inspiring performances provide aninnovative and valuable resource for candidatespreparing for Associated Board practical exams.International pianist Martin Jones performs thepiano pieces and accompanies David Le Page inthe violin pieces, while cellist Colin Carr isaccompanied by Ian Brown.

As well as complete performances of all thepieces in the syllabus, the violin and cellorecordings also include ‘minus one’ tracks so thatthe soloist can play along to the accompaniment.

These fine recordings provide valuable insights into the way professional performers apply theirpersonal interpretations to bring the music to life.

However the performances on these CDs are notdefinitive and, when preparing pieces either forconcert performance or for an exam, finding your own way of expressing the musicand interpreting what is on the page will alwaysproduce the most convincing performance for the listener and examiner.

The recordings are produced by Warehouse Records.

Recordings of the complete Piano Syllabus 2001–2002 andthe Violin and Cello Syllabuses 2001-2004, Grades 1 to 8,are now available from your local music retailer.

‘ Anthony Pike and Martin Jonesgive excellent performances... a valuable new teachingresource of the very highestquality’

Clarinet & Saxophone

‘ This is a great idea and highlyrecommended.’

Flutewise

Recording of Grade 2 Piano exam pieces

Do not send CDs or cassettes to theAssociated Board or to OUP.

You must apply to Warehouse Recordsfor all replacement CDsand cassettes.

Recordings of the Flute andClarinet Syllabuses 2000-2003,Grades 1 to 8 are alreadyavailable.

10

■ The Associated Board does not sell publications direct ■ Please order from your local sheet music retailer ■

NEWSPUBLISHING

Following the enormous success of the award-winning publicationsSpectrum and Spectrum 2, we will be publishing Spectrum 3 in May.This new volume will comprise 25 specially-commissioned piano pieceswith a level of difficulty of Grades 3 to 6. Where the first two volumespresented works by British composers, the pieces in Spectrum 3 are bycomposers from 25 different countries around the world, all new tothe Spectrum series.

Spectrum 3

Peter Sculthorpe AustraliaAlexandre Lunsqui BrazilRodney Sharman CanadaJulian Yu ChinaFaidros Kavallaris CyprusSylvie Bodorová Czech RepublicPoul Ruders DenmarkGerald Barry IrelandAulis Sallinen FinlandJean-Marc Singier FranceDetlev Glanert GermanyHaflidi Hallgrímsson IcelandParam Vir India

Karen Tanaka JapanPe–teris Plakidis LatviaNaji Hakim LebanonJavier Alvarez MexicoToek Numan NetherlandsLyell Cresswell New ZealandVictoria Borisova-Ollas

Russia/SwedenJoyce Bee Tuan Koh SingaporeKevin Volans South AfricaRamon Lazcano SpainSohrab Uduman Sri LankaJulia Wolfe USA

Already availableSpectrum20 contemporary works for solo pianoMIA Best Standard PublicationAward 1996

Spectrum 230 miniatures for solo pianoMIA Best New Product Award 2000

Spectrum CD2-CD set of all the pieces inSpectrum and Spectrum 2performed by Thalia Myers

Grade 1Grade 2Grade 3Grade 4Grade 5Grade 6Grade 7Grade 8

Publication: 4 January 2001

The Theory of Music Papers for2000 will also be published inChinese this year.

Authorised photocopies of out-of-print materialpublished by ABRSM (Publishing) Ltd may bepurchased from Allegro Music in Birmingham.

Allegro Music also provides authorised large printcopies, A3 size, for the visually impaired. Thecurrent piano and violin exam albums must bepurchased complete and the price of the publishedalbum will be charged.

For large print copies of any other current or out-of-print title, the whole album or individual pieces maybe purchased, providing it is Associated Boardcopyright. The price charged for any large printcopy of a whole album will not be higher than thepublished price. If a customer can provide proofthat a certain publication has already beenpurchased, large print copies will be provided freeof charge.

For the series Jazz Works for Ensembles, Bb and Eb

transcriptions of the C part (Part 1), at each of thethree Levels, are available from Allegro Music orfree of charge from our website.

Call Allegro Music for more information:

Allegro Music82 Suffolk Street QueenswayBirmingham B1 1TA United Kingdom

tel +44 (0)121 643 7553 fax +44 (0)121 633 4773 email sales@allegro.co.uk www.allegro.co.uk

Braille editionsBraille editions of some of our titles are availablefrom the Royal National Institute for the Blind.Please contact them direct for details of what isavailable:tel +44 (0)20 7388 1266, ext 2318

Competition winnersSeptember 2000

Each of these winnershas received a copy ofBach – an extraordinarylife by Davitt Moroney:

Felicity TaylorChelmsford, UK

Chris RogersBirmingham, UK

Benny Atkinson Dublin, Ireland

David BatemanEdinburgh, UK

E White Rustington, UK

Coming soon

Look out for these newtitles during 2001:

A Selection of ItalianArias Volume II(high voice)

A Selection of ItalianArias Volume II (low voice)

Time Pieces for E flatSaxophone(Volumes 1 and 2)

Time Pieces for B flatSaxophone(Volumes 1 and 2)

Time Pieces forTrombone(Volumes 1 and 2)

Music in Words

A Performer’s Guide toBaroque Music(book + CD)

A Performer’s Guide toClassical Music(book + CD)

A Performer’s Guide toRomantic Music(book + CD)

Archive service & large print copies

2000 Theory of Music Papers

Spectrum 3 will include composer biographies and performance notes,and, as with the other two volumes, the pieces were commissioned byThalia Myers, performer and piano teacher at London’s Royal Collegeof Music Junior Department. Spectrum 3 will also be recorded forrelease on CD.

There will be a public launch of Spectrum 3 in London in May. Alimited number of tickets will be available to readers of Libretto.

Please note that papers for theLRSM exam in 2000 (Part 1, Papers1 & 2; Part 2, Branch C) and theAural Awareness Tests cassettewill not be published, as the newDiploma Syllabus commences inJanuary 2001. The papers will,however, be available throughour archive service(see below).

LRSM Papers

11

British Reservead

Sibeliusad

12

FEATURE

In November 2000, I led a new music weekend inCambridge, organised by the students of the NewMusic Society, and hosted by Kettle’s Yard, an artgallery that’s occasionally used for concerts. I gavemasterclasses with students on Messiaen’s Quartetfor the End of Time and Shostakovich’s PianoQuintet; played a concert of John Cage’s Sonatasand Interludes for Prepared Piano, pieces by DjangoBates, Jonathan Harvey and other electroacousticcomposers, with live video projections byartist/composer Kathy Hinde; and most importantly, Ichatted to young people all training to becomposers, performers and musicologists. But therewas one event for me that was outstanding; it wasorganised by composer-in-residence John Woolrichand local piano teacher Anne Marsh Penton. OnSaturday morning, for two hours, pupils whose ageranged from seven to fifteen, along with eighteen-year-old students, and a young professional playerfrom London, all took part in a masterclass focusingon John Woolrich’s Pianobooks. The Pianobooks area wonderful collection of miniatures all withmysterious, beguiling titles (Five Gestures of Parting,The Gastrolaters’ Final Sacrifice), some no more than20 bars in length; often sparse in notes but deep onatmosphere, undeniably modern but often withghosts of the past tiptoeing through them –Schumann, say, Bach or Benjamin Britten.

Why was this class so memorable for me? Well, therange of pianists was much more interesting thanusual. There was a boy called George, a solemnredhead with a sure touch playing An Image for TwoEmilies and learning to use the pedal in a muchmore ambiguous and colouristic way; there wasSusie, a really talented undergraduate stormingthrough Book VII, but she needed help to makesome of the music sound more vivid and virtuoso;there was a young teenager, Phillipa, ratherintimidated by hearing a much older pianist play thesame piece as her (Little Piano Machine) butnevertheless finding a way of playing it technicallythat was right for her. Parents and relatives camealong. I was able to make some suggestions not onlyabout technical things, but about the substance ofthe music (I had premiered quite a few of thesepieces at Bath Festival a few years earlier), however

if I got it wrong, the composer was there to jokewith or to answer questions. And all this washappening surrounded by lovely works of art atKettle’s Yard, not some dry school hall or practiceroom, or forbidding concert hall stage.

Of course there’s a chain of events that leads to sucha satisfying happening: firstly John wrote the pieces;Faber Music published them; Anne, the teacher,matched each piece to the pupil; the students gothold of the venue; lastly, I turned up. The icing onthe cake was a one o’clock concert, where all thepupils played alongside the undergraduates (andthey all put into practice what I’d been suggesting –I was really impressed), the composer introduced thepieces to the audience and somewhere in the middleI premiered a piece that he’d written specially forthe occasion.

Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

The problem, I find, with trying to do valuable workwith and for young people, is that somehow the‘production values’ go down. Meaning that I findmyself fighting for this work to be taken just asseriously as a concert at the Royal Festival Hall, or abroadcast on television. Music, it seems, is largely inthe domain of the professionals, the virtuosi and thefamous. When revered conductors lined up to (quiterightly) criticise successive governments on theirshocking dismantling of instrumental teaching inschools, the main complaint was a lack of potentialplayers for the orchestras. Well, of course; but theproblem is more deep-seated. Without music at thecore of your life at an early age, you won’t evenwant to be a member of an audience at anorchestral concert, let alone be up on stage. Anyway,two of the best films in the last five years are surelyToy Story and Toy Story 2. I didn’t hear anyarguments that the reason their production valueswere so high, the scripts so witty, the jokes so goodand twists and turns of the narrative so touchingwas that ‘we’ll encourage a whole generation ofcinema-goers to be film-makers’. No, in the film-world there generally is no difference in budget ortechnology between children’s or adult films – theaim is to produce a sure-fire winner and an appetitefor film-going.

Adventures in music

Joanna MacGregor

Joanna MacGregor’s wide-ranging career as apianist combines the established pianorepertoire, her passion for jazz and new musicand the championing of living composers in alltraditions. Working with and for young people isvery important to Joanna and she has recentlywritten a series of piano teaching books,PianoWorld.

‘Without music at the core of your life at an early age,you won’t even want to be a member of an audienceat an orchestral concert, let alone be up on stage.’

photo: Nick White

13

FEATURE

When I premiered Scry at the Proms last summer – an ambitious work written by four composers andperformed by myself, Ensemble Bash and 200children from all over the country – we knew wewanted to put together a piece of work for youngpeople, played by young people, that would beserious, multi-layered, complex and engaging. Mostimportantly Scry had equal billing with works byRavel, Copland and Bernstein and the young playershad equal billing with the BBC orchestra. It wasperformed at the Albert Hall and broadcast on Radio3. Not every young person’s concert can be thisglamorous but what mattered was the seriousness ofits intent.

Getting back to Saturday morning at Kettle’s Yard, itwas no less purposeful. Undoubtedly on a moremodest scale, but young players at an elementarystage were being treated on an equal basis withmore experienced players; they had a chance tomeet the composer whose work they were playing,and to discover that new music is fun as well as aserious business; and the audience enjoyed seeingthem play just as much as the older players.

I suppose my love of different music – classical,modern, jazz and world music – stems mainly from myfirst teacher, who was my mother (I’ve only had twoteachers). She taught me Bach and Mozart (I lovedMozart when I was little – all those pictures of himas a boy seemed to suggest he was exactly the sameage as me, when I was seven). She taught me Beatlestunes and Take 5, she didn’t nag if I didn’t practise,just made sure I played a lot (at church, at school, formy friends, for my nan) and had fun. Nobody talkedabout a career in music, or becoming a concertpianist (though I do remember seeing VladimirAshkenazy play Beethoven 3 when I was fourteen,and thought he looked cute in his white polo neck).In a sense music was more important than that; itwas about taking pleasure in sitting at a keyboardand being able to improvise, to be able to sight-readhymns, or dance tunes, to accompany someonesinging, or if someone said ‘play us a tune’, to beable to play a Chopin waltz or the latest pop song.

I suppose these memories came back to me veryvividly when putting together PianoWorld. It hadn’toccurred to me to write any children’s tutor books,though experience had made me acutely aware ofthe joys and pitfalls of encouraging youngperformers. First, living in a house where everyafternoon little boys and girls trooped in and out fortheir piano lessons and then my own teachingbetween the age of eighteen and twenty-five.

So I tried to take the Toy Story angle with my books:however young the player, however much of abeginner, even if they could only play one note with one finger, I would try and make the bookslook cool and funny, and try and make the playerssound like proper pianists. They could have groovyaccompaniments; they would play classical pieces assoon as possible, but learn about folk and jazzrhythms at the same time; they would startimprovising right in the first lesson, learn aboutplaying new pieces alongside old ones, have a go atcomposing themselves. They could identify withcertain characters (a Blues Brother, a cat, or ananarchist called Crash Harry) and hear them talking,singing and playing their pieces on CD. The look ofthe books was paramount. I searched through atome of designers and found Bill Greenhead, akaStik, who could fulfil my vision of a colourful, vividand slightly surreal world of giant piano keys andlarger-than-life characters, that I’d sketched out. I’dalways found my pupils to be visually curious anddiscerning – they were often just as interested inwhat I was wearing as what I was teaching them.Even at Kettle’s Yard all the young ones remarkedon my trousers – a particularly fetching pair of blackquilted hipsters bought from All Saints – andnodded with approval. Eventually I will be too old towear hipsters, so my books will have to carry on forme instead, introducing the widest styles of music inwhat is hopefully an energetic, contemporary way.

I believe that children can always tell the differencebetween a tired format (like some unimaginativechildren’s concerts I’ve been to – inevitably includingcarnivals, animals and planets) and somethingspecially invented for them, with innovation at itsheart. Children can be challenged and stretched,entertained and amused all at the same time – anexperience you can find watching a terrific physical-theatre show, reading a great book, or hearing ahair-raising performance of a Beethoven symphony.

By the way George, the solemn redhead from themorning, came to Kettle’s Yard on the night afterthe class to watch me play Cage and other assortedcontemporary works. He had a look at the preparedpiano and sat down and played it; he took a look atthe music. He watched the videos; he chatted to thesound technician. He’d worked with one composer;now he wanted to work with more. This is allbecause of the masterclass in the morning, organisedby a composer, an inspiring teacher, and enthusiasticstudents. Hopefully I’ll be doing some more.

‘I believe that children can always tell the difference between a tired format… and something specially invented for them…’

Joanna MacGregor’sPianoWorld: Very FirstAdventures in PianoPlaying is published byFaber Music.

14

POINT OF VIEW

In September 1997, David Blunkett, Secretary ofState for Education and Employment, and ChrisSmith, Secretary of State for Culture, Media andSport, asked me to form and chair the NationalAdvisory Committee on Creative and CulturalEducation. The purpose of the NACCCE was toadvise the government on the creative andcultural development of young people throughformal and informal education and to makerecommendations on principles, policy andprovision. I was pleased to do this because I’vespent most of my career arguing for betterprovision for the creative and cultural educationof all young people. The NACCCE drew togetherleading artists, scientists, business leaders andeducators including Sir Simon Rattle, SusanGreenfield, Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Sir ClausMoser and the Nobel chemist Professor Sir HarryKroto. They all welcomed the invitation withpassion and enthusiasm. I remember asking EricBolton the former Chief Inspector of Schools tobe part of the group. He agreed but said,significantly, ‘Let’s have another go at rolling theboulder back up the hill.’ It seemed to him and tome that the case for creative and culturaleducation has to be made to every incomingSecretary of State, policy maker and SelectCommittee. Why is this?

For reasons I’ll come to, I was sure that theNACCCE should not be an arts committee. Myown longstanding interest has been in the arts ineducation. In the late 1970s I wrote with othersthe Gulbenkian Report, The Arts in Schools,Principles, Practice and Provision. This inquiry wastriggered in 1978 by the moves of the thenLabour government under Jim Callaghan tointroduce a National Curriculum. It seemedunlikely that the arts would be a priority. From1984-1989, during the Conservative Governmentof Margaret Thatcher, I directed the NationalCurriculum Council’s Arts in Schools Project. Thiswas a practical initiative to develop the arts inprimary and secondary schools at a time whenthe proposals for the National Curriculum

seemed likely to marginalise them. And they did.The NACCCE came about in 1997 because I andothers were worried that the New LabourGovernment was going down the same road.

My previous work in arts education brought meinto contact with thousands of people withsimilar concerns in this country andinternationally. We are all building on a longtradition of arts education which stretches backto the beginning of formal state education in thelate 19th century and beyond to antiquity. Andyet an incoming Labour Government still neededa National Advisory Group to tell them why thesethings mattered and what should be done aboutthem. My enthusiasm for the task was onlytempered by having spent a lifetime makingsimilar cases and proposals to previousgovernments. In every country that I am awareof, in Europe, the Far East, and in the UnitedStates, the arts are on the margins of the formalschool curriculum. This is despite persistentchoruses of approval for the arts from politiciansof every stamp and reassurances about how vitalthey are for all of us. Why is there this gapbetween what is said and what is done politicallyto support the arts in education?

I think there are two reasons. The first is that‘doing’ the arts does not conform to dominantrationalist views of intelligence. For over 300years, Western culture has been dominated by adivision between the arts and the sciences. Thesciences are meant to be objective, clinical anddealing with cold, hard fact. The arts are meantto be subjective, creative and dealing withfeelings and passion. For over 100 years, stateeducation has been dominated by the idea ofeconomic utility. On this basis those subjects andways of learning that are thought to be mostrelevant to employment and for access to highereducation have the highest priority. The practiceof the arts loses on both counts. These problemsare not political, they are not organisational andthey are not to do with resources. They are

Ken Robinson: Arts at the heart

Ken Robinson is Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK. Recent work includes a major reportfor the European Commission on the importance of the artsto the development of the European Union. He was alsoconsultant to the Council of Europe project, Culture,Creativity and the Young, involving over 22 Europeancountries and has been involved in other consultancy work in Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA.

15

POINT OF VIEW

ideological. They concern the basic assumptionsabout intelligence, people and national needthat too often are simply taken for granted.Consequently, the problems of reform are notsimply a matter of refining educational policy.They involve challenging the deep-seatedassumptions on which these policies are built.

My own long-term convictions are based ondifferent assumptions. First, that the arts andsciences are not the polar extremes they areoften taken to be. Science is a highly creative,intuitive process whose whole journey since theRenaissance has been of imaginative leaps ofinsight and speculation. Science is concernedwith systematic explanations and with facts, butwhich explanations are reliable and what countas facts are contested with passion andintellectual verve. The arts are to do with feelingsand the qualities of human experience. But theyspeak of truths that cannot be known in anyother way. The work of the artist is steeped inknowledge, discipline and an often surgicalcontrol of media and materials. The divisionsbetween the arts and sciences that have beentaken for granted since the Enlightenment wereforeign to the Renaissance. Second, the arts,science and humanities have equal contributionsto make to the kinds of education that all youngpeople and adults now urgently need. A narroweducation in terms of subjects or styles oflearning will simply not provide most peoplewith the skills, aptitudes and personal qualitiesthey need in a world that is changing faster andmore profoundly than ever before.

These are not simply arts issues. They concern thewhole of education, of cultural provision and ofeconomic development. This is why previousinitiatives to promote the arts in schools havebumped against the same problems of resistanceunder every recent government. The way aheadhas to be planned in a more inclusive way, byrecognising the continuities and commoninterests between the arts, sciences, business andeducation. That was why the NACCCE was not anarts committee. Our report, All Our Futures:Creativity, Culture and Education, was publishedalmost exactly a year ago. It argues for a nationalstrategy for creative and cultural educationcomparable with the literacy and numeracystrategies. This strategy is based on commoninterests and a shared, mutual agenda.

In the last fifteen years, there have been hugechanges in the structures of education andnumerous initiatives. But there’s been very littledebate about fundamental principles – aboutwhat we’re educating young people for now.Instead, successive governments have doggedly

emphasised the need to raise standards. All OurFutures argues for a new balance in education: innational priorities; in the structure of the schoolcurriculum; in teaching and assessment; inrelationships between schools and otheragencies. It defines creative and culturaleducation and presents detailedrecommendations as a framework for a nationalstrategy. These recommendations address threeprincipal objectives:

1 To ensure that the importance ofcreative and cultural education isexplicitly recognised and provided for inschools’ policies for the wholecurriculum, and in government policy forthe National Curriculum.

2 To ensure that teachers and otherprofessionals are encouraged andtrained to use methods and materialsthat facilitate the development of youngpeople’s creative abilities and culturalunderstanding.

3 To promote the development ofpartnerships between schools andoutside agencies which are now essentialto provide the kinds of creative andcultural education that young peopleneed and deserve.

The foundations of the present education systemwere laid at the end of the 19th century. Theywere designed to meet the needs of a world thatwas being transformed by industrialisation. Thechallenges we face now are of the samemagnitude, but they are of a different character.The task is not to do better now what we set outto do then: it is to rethink the purposes, methodsand scale of education in our new circumstances.All Our Futures has had a huge response fromteachers, industry, and from national professionaland subject associations. We received manyrequests for a summary of the report, but theGovernment was unwilling to produce one. Inthe end, a consortium of private funders headedby the National Campaign for the Arts made thispossible. 100,000 copies have been printed tomeet the demand. In November we launched thesummary to a packed house at Tate Modern inLondon. The demand for the report indicatesthat the arguments we present are not onlysoundly based, but timely. They suggest a newway forward for the arts, not separate from theadventures of sciences or from other areas ofsocial and economic development, but in concertwith them. Not apart from education but at theheart of it.

All Our Futures:Creativity, Culture and Education ISBN 1 84185 034 9

Available free of chargefrom DfEE publicationstel 0845 602 2260

www.dfee.gov.uk

Music and arts world view

How do music and the arts fit into theeducation system in your country?

We are gatheringinformation on thisimportant issue andwould value your views.

Write to the Editor or emailmarketing@abrsm.ac.uk

16

FORUM

write now ■ ■ ■ write now ■ ■ ■ write now ■ ■ ■ write now ■ ■ ■ write now ■ ■ ■ write now ■ ■ ■ write now

Inspiration sometimes arriveswhen you least expect it. In thedepths of a routine music lesson,when battling against theirpupils’ technical and musicallimitations, teachers maysuddenly receive a moment’sillumination, which immediatelyhelps the pupil over the barrier.

The teacher will probably beleft pondering, ‘I wonder why Isaid that?’ or, ‘Where did thatidea come from?’ The words seemto flow without mental effort,and exactly the right approachcomes to mind in an amazing way.These occasions are to betreasured, and invariably hit thetarget where previous attemptshad failed.

The state of mind here isinteresting. A combination ofreceptivity, plus completeabsorption in the moment needto be the starting point. Commonreactions on the teacher’s part are

surprise and pleasure at beingable to convey exactly the rightwords when needed. It is deeplyrewarding, and part of the aspectof teaching which can’t be pinneddown in a textbook. Wavelengthwith the pupil is paramount, andmore awareness of this vital channelwill pay dividends. It is all too easyto fall into autopilot routineswhen teaching, especially withless responsive students. However,this ‘magic’ element will not visityour studio if unimaginativeteaching is all that is happening.

Do you have any remarkablebreakthroughs to share –moments of sudden clarity thatmade a lesson memorable, andlifted you and your pupil onto ahigher level of communicationand achievement? We have airedsome of the problems of teaching– why not benefit from sharedexperiences of an uplifting kindfor the next forum?

Your chance to share experiences and ideas with other readers.In each issue our Chief Examiner, Clara Taylor, introduces a subject for discussion. We then publish your responses in the next issue. Your contribution may be edited for publication.

Write to Clara Taylor, marking your envelope Forum, or email chiefexaminer@abrsm.ac.uk

Parents – a mixed blessing?

Next topic: inspiration

Clara Taylor

Parents who bother to organisemusic lessons for their children are often people who bother inother ways i.e. they’ll be busy.Because of this most of myproblems with parents tend to bepractical (they forget to pay ontime or give poor notice forcancelled lessons). Otherwise Ihave very few ‘difficult’ parents.

Parents, like students, areindividuals and need to beregarded accordingly; they usually pay the bills so have to be respected as the sponsor oftheir child. I’m always very openand ensure that the parents and children know their roles (and mine) in the musiclearning/enjoying process.

Encouraging students to feelthat the lesson time and space istheirs (not their parents’ or mine)helps and I also make sure thatthe final decision regardingentering for exams is the student’s.

Parents and teenagers can bea problem; we are often caught inthe middle. My sympathies areusually with both and showing

this has not yet failed to improvematters. Trying to involve parentsin spin-offs (concerts, music funevents, music clubs, CDs) can helpgarner understanding. Thesethings can be tricky to arrange,but seem to work.

Above all, I make sure it isappreciated that I’m in thebusiness of encouraging students(and their families) to enjoy theirmusic and to be enriched by it.

Al SummersWestbury, UK

Rugby rhythms

Your request for stories aboutparents prompted me to send youthis anecdote as a salutarywarning for piano teachers.

As a piano teacher with manyyears of successful presentationsfor Associated Board exams I washaving difficulty with one angryyoung man of 12 years. Hisweekly lesson was always justafter his school rugby session. Still with the rugby live in hisblood he had no patience tocount anything longer than aone-count note and seemed to be exasperated with the wholeprocess of learning to play the piano.

His mother, an artistic lady ofsome standing in the communitysympathised with me at greatlength and asked me to continuethe good fight: ‘He will practisemore’. As I was leaving the nextlesson I reported that there hadbeen some improvement but wewere still not out of the woods.Mystified, she said that there hadbeen a great improvement, ‘Ihave been working with him allweek with my stopwatch and henow has one of his exam piecesdown to 13 seconds.’

James McDowallGlasgow, UK

Teachers take note

Music teachers – if we parentsdon’t always behave as you would wish, it may be simplybecause we don’t know what todo for the best. If we make toomany demands we run the risk of being labelled a nuisance; if we keep a low profile we mayseem disinterested. Myexperiences have taught me that parents need lots of help and encouragement if they are to help and encourage theirchildren. We also appreciatehonesty and respect.

Linda ZeffLondon, UK

Knowing your role

Passing is achieving

One of the biggest problems Ifind is parents’ criticism and Ioften have to deal with ‘Whydidn’t I get a distinction?’ typequeries. In vain do I point out thatwith a pass mark of two-thirds,passing an exam is in itself anachievement.

V Mitchell-LukerHarrow, UK