music education uk issue 4 (winter 2012-3)
DESCRIPTION
UK national magazine for everyone involved in, and passionate about, music education.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Music
Education
UK
musiceducationuk.com
bringing everyone together
Winter 2012/13 Issue 4
£3.95 Published three times a year. Subscriptions: musiceducationuk.com/subscribe
Singing for recoveryA Youth Music Voices journal
Orchestra ONE
Songwriting in libraries
South West Music School
Community music in East Timor
Finale
Digital Learning, News, Reviews & Listings
The Golden HighwayCelebrating London 2012 with the Grand Union Orchestra
![Page 2: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
![Page 3: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Regulars5 Editorial - A musical Olympiad
6 News
20 Q&A
Michelle James discusses how
Sing Up is faring post-cuts
40 Voice from the front
Nick Benda says music teachers
ignore Kodály at their peril
44 State of the Union
Diane Widdison on the pros and
cons of being employed or self-
employed
47 Listings
Features8 The Golden Highway – celebrating
London 2012 with the Grand
Union Orchestra
Tony Haynes’ report on cross-
cultural music-making in East
London
12 Singing for recovery – a Youth
Music Voices journal
Bethia Coates on singing as a
route to well-being
16 Orchestra ONE – facilitating new
musical experiences in Kent
Laura Callaghan reports on cross-
genre music-making with Kent
Music and Rhythmix
29 Giving flight to the imagination –
Orff-Schulwerk and intergenerational
music learning in Australia
Sarah Brooke on classroom
music-making with parents and
their children
32 Rewind Presents – libraries
changing lives
Rich Huxley on the award-winning
Skipton Rewind Club
34 Nurturing musical talent in the
West Country – working
individually with young people
who are outside mainstream
education
Lisa Tregale introduces South
West Music School’s specialist
music development programmes
36 From Veranda Jams to Toka
Bo’ots – community music in East
Timor
Gillian Howell tells us how playing
the clarinet on her veranda led to
a jam session with 500
participants
42 Stringed instrument care – how to
look after your instrument in
Winter
Justin Wagstaff gives us his tips
for the colder months
The centre point23 Editorial
Digital Learning Editor, Tim Hallas,
welcomes readers
24 Mobile technologies in music
education – playing the home
advantage
Alison Daubney and Duncan
Mackrill on children's use of
digital technologies for music in
and out of school
26 Review – Finale
Tim Hallas looks at the score-
writing software and does a
three-way comparison with
Sibelius and NOTION
28 The Apptitude test
Bloom, Trope and Air
Reviews45 Community Music: In Theory And
In Practice
Lee Higgins’ book on music-
making outside formal teaching
and learning situations
Singing Maths
Helen MacGregor and
Stephen Chadwick’s new
songbook and CD
This Is Your Brain On Music
Daniel Levitin on music and
neuroscience
Music Education UKContents
3Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Next issue published April 2013
Subscribe to Music Education UK at www.musiceducationuk.com
Cover photo: Young people make music at Skipton
Library. Photo courtesy of Richard Jemison (North
Yorkshire County Council)
![Page 4: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Telephone: 0800 1577 686
Online: www.drumsforschools.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
**Subject to availability and includes education discount. Delivery and VAT extra.
Main photo: Dwi Jendra High School, Bali - Hendra Kusmana
Post: Drums for Schools Ltd, 21 ShaftesburyAvenue Nottingham, NG14 5GL
Gamelan is probably music teaching's best kept secret. Your pupils can learn the basics in 30 mins, be playing togetherin an ensemble in an hour and creating spectacular performances after just a term's worth of lessons.Richard McKerron, Teacher
‘‘ ‘‘
What makes our Indonesian Gamelan Class Packs sospecial is that they can be taught by any enthusiasticteacher - you really don't need any prior experience oreven to be able to read music to lead the class. Each packcontains a brilliantly practical Teacher's Guide + CD, thatwill take you step by step from basic techniques andwarm-ups, through to your class's 0rst show-stoppingperformance. There's a term's worth of lesson plans plusextra repertoire included and there's also online videosupport and subsidised CPD training.Our gamelan instruments are all made in Bali, Indonesiaand they're completely authentic. We guarantee thatthey'll expand your pupils' musical and cultural horizonsand give satisfaction year in, year out. Drums for Schools are the UK's leading supplier of classinstrumental teaching packages for the styles that pupilswant to play: African Drumming, Indonesian Gamelan,Brazilian Samba, Caribbean Steel Pans, Class Percussionand Japanese Taiko.
Plus £200worth of FREEaccessories**
Choose £200 (RRP) of gamelan accessories from our range ofbonang, pulu, floor cushions, gong cases, CDs and DVDs and more.
For full details visit www.drumsforschools.co.uk and click...
Gamelan Class Packs
*
from30 player gamelan set and full teaching support included
10 Player Gamelan Packs
Budget £687*Standard £997*Premier £1,477*
30 Player Gamelan Packs
Budget £1,177*Standard £1,977*Premier £2,797*
Special O!er** £200 of FREE gamelan accessories
£1,177
30 Player StandardGamelanPack£1,977*
Special O1er
If you're looking to implement whole class instrumental teaching thatreally works, that will motivate sta1 and pupils and give your school andcommunity a long term in-house resource, then look no further.
Ticks all National Music Plan andNational Curriculum for Music boxes!�
Priceincludesteachersguide andCD
![Page 5: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Listening to a group of teachers discussing music’s place within the
curriculum the other day, I was struck by the recurring theme of music
and sport being somehow less ‘important’. Last Summer was a rare
chance to bring these subjects to the forefront of school activities and to
celebrate both. From all over the country, reports flooded into Music
Education UK of extraordinary projects both within and outside mainstream
education. As the Olympic torch made its way from Land’s End to London
across the length and breadth of the British Isles, music was never far from
the scene and the Cultural Olympiad, which complemented and provided a
cultural backdrop to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, was
an opportunity for musicians and music educators of every kind to link the
very best of music and sport.
Two of the Olympiad’s most outstanding projects are featured in this edition
of the magazine. The Grand Union Orchestra’s East London-based
production, The Golden Highway, invited young musicians from diverse
backgrounds to celebrate and commemorate London’s iconic position as
the focus of 500 years of migration and Tony Haynes’ report on the project
is our lead feature on page 8. Meanwhile, Youth Music Voices, a UK-wide
vocal initiative, brought together singers from all backgrounds to rehearse
and perform before and during London 2012. Singing in the choir was a
deeply transformative experience for the young people who took part and
19-year-old Bethia Coates shares her personal reflections in her journal on
page 12.
Other pioneering initiatives covered in this issue are North Yorkshire Music
Action Zone (NYMAZ) and North Yorkshire County Council’s Skipton Rewind
Club (page 32), South West Music School’s specialist music development
programmes for young people who are difficult to engage (page 34) and
Kent Music and Rhythmix’s Orchestra ONE (page 16).
On top of that, Michelle James introduces the next phase of Sing Up’s
journey in Q&A on page 20, Diane Widdison looks at the pros and cons of
being employed or self-employed in State of the Union on page 44 and
Justin Wagstaff shares his tips on looking after stringed instruments during
the Winter months on page 42.
We’ve also got articles on Kodály and Orff-Schulwerk. Music educators
ignore the former at their peril, says Nick Benda in Voice from the front on
page 40 while Sarah Brooke extols the virtues of the latter in her piece on
inter-generational classroom learning in Australia on page 29. Another
Australian music educator, Gillian Howell, gave a presentation on her
community music project in East Timor at last Summer’s International
Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference and she tells us
about this in From Veranda Jams to Toka Bo’ots on page 36.
Both Sarah’s and Gillian’s articles were published last year in Music
Education UK’s sister magazine, Music Education Singapore. The
magazine has now been rebranded as Music Education Asia to reflect its
increased distribution across the region and to complement and support
the first musiclearninglive!Asia. This groundbreaking new international
conference, performance festival and trade exhibition will welcome 1,200+
music educators, performers and exhibitors to Singapore from 23-26
October 2013. Directed by Musical Futures Founder, David Price OBE, the
conference core team includes several highly regarded UK music educators
– Lincoln Abbotts (ABRSM), Michael Harper (Sing for Water), Pete Moser
(More Music), Marcel Pusey (Bassistry) and Katherine Zeserson (The Sage
Gateshead) – as well as a host of international presenters.
Meanwhile, in our digital learning section, The centre point, Tim Hallas
concludes his trio of articles on score-writing software with a review of
Finale on page 26 while Alison Daubney and Duncan Mackrill share their
research on mobile technologies in music education on page 24. There’s
also Tim’s regular look at the world of Apps, The Apptitude test, on page 28.
Finally, we’ve got our usual news and events listings as well as reviews of
Community Music: In Theory And In Practice, Singing Maths and This Is
Your Brain On Music on page 45. Happy reading!
Cathy Tozer
Music Education UKA musical Olympiad
5Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Editor Cathy Tozer
Digital Learning Editor Tim Hallas
ContributorsNick Benda, Sarah Brooke,
Laura Callaghan, Bethia Coates,
Alison Daubney, Mark Jon Gottschalk,
Matt Griffiths, Tony Haynes,
Gillian Howell, Rich Huxley,
Michelle James, Duncan Mackrill,
Anni Movsisyan, Lisa Tregale,
Justin Wagstaff, John Wayman,
Diane Widdison
Publisher Ian Clethero
Subscriptions & [email protected]
Print & digital [email protected]
Design Jules Richardson
Page by Page Design
Music Education UK is published byZone New Media Limited
Suite 6, 43 Bedford Street
London WC2H 9HA, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3303 0888
musiceducationuk.com
Asia-Pacific representativeMusic Education Asia Pte Limited
Pico Creative Centre, 20 Kallang Avenue,
Level 3, Singapore 339411
Telephone: +65 6396 8812
musiceducation.asia
International music educationconference and trade exhibitionmusiclearninglive!Asia23-26 October 2013
MaxAtria, Singapore Expo, Singapore
musiclearninglive.asia
Follow us on
musiceduk
![Page 6: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
PFC Day raises over $150k for
music education programmes
The Playing for Change Foundation
has announced that its second
annual Playing for Change Day
raised $155,430 to help support
the organisation’s music
education programmes worldwide.
On 22 September 2012,
musicians from all over the world
performed on stages and street
corners and in schools, yoga
studios and cafés to bring music
into the lives of children and to
promote positive social change.
Alongside grassroots organisers,
artists like Sara Bareilles and
Bowling for Soup contributed their
time and talent to 332 events in
52 countries.
The Playing for Change Band, a
group of musicians from different
cultures that tours the world to
promote peace through music, will
be performing and running
workshops at the first
musiclearninglive!Asia conference
which runs from 23-26 October
2013 in Singapore. The band joins
an internationally renowned team
of presenters and keynote speakers
including David Price OBE, Yong
Zhao, Joanna MacGregor, James
Frankel and Katherine Zeserson.
http://playingforchangeday.org
www.musiclearninglive.asia
Former Radio 1 Controller
appointed Chair of Youth Music
Following the resignation of Sir
Richard Stilgoe OBE, former BBC
Radio 1 Controller, Andy Parfitt,
has been appointed as the new
Chair of Youth Music.
Sir Richard Stilgoe OBE was on the
Board of Trustees of Youth Music
since its inception in 1999, taking
over as Chair in 2007.
Currently Executive Director of
Talent for Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA,
Andy Parfitt was formerly Control-
ler of Popular Music across all BBC
platforms but is probably best
known for leading a successful
period of regeneration at Radio 1,
during which the station was
named UK Station of the Year for
the first time in its 43-year history.
Andy Parfitt said:
‘I’m really pleased to have been
asked to take on this role. Youth
Music has an important part to
play in helping as many of our child-
ren and young people as possible
through music. With increased
competition for funds among chari-
ties, we have to take a fresh, innova-
tive approach to this work. I look
forward to helping Youth Music
move forward, building on the suc-
cesses created by Sir Richard and
colleagues over the last 14 years.’
Sir Richard Stilgoe said:
‘In my 14 years at Youth Music,
I’ve seen at first hand the benefits
of music-making to young people –
improved self-belief, higher
ambitions, bigger dreams and
improved employment prospects.
In that time, I know we've helped
make a difference to many young
lives. I'm delighted to hand over
the baton to Andy Parfitt who did
so much at the BBC to bring music
to a wider audience. I know he
believes strongly in Youth Music’s
mission to foster the musical
talent and creativity of our younger
generation.’
www.youthmusic.org.uk
ACE confirms continuing
commitment to national youth
music organisations
Arts Council England (ACE)
Director of Learning, Laura
Gander-Howe, confirmed a
continuing commitment to the
UK’s eight national youth music
organisations in her keynote
speech at the Music Education
Council (MEC) Autumn Seminar
on 22 November 2012.
A total of £2,249,900 will be
awarded from April 2013 to March
2015 with the programme
administered by ACE and jointly
funded with the Department for
Education.
According to ACE:
‘The importance of fostering
high-level talent through national
youth organisations was
highlighted in Darren Henley’s
music education review and
these organisations clearly
contribute to the Arts Council
goals in developing talent and
ensuring children and young
people can experience the
richness of the arts. In
acknowledgement of their
significant role, the Arts Council
will have a direct funding
relationship with each
organisation, with them previously
having been funded through
Youth Music.’
The eight national youth music
organisations are:
• National Youth Brass Band of
Great Britain
• National Youth Jazz Collective
• Youth Music Theatre UK
• National Youth Choirs of Great
Britain
• Music for Youth
• National Children’s Orchestra
of Great Britain
• National Youth Orchestra of
Great Britain
• South Asian Music Youth
Orchestra (SAMYO)
www.artscouncil.org.uk
www.mec.org.uk
Sistema Scotland awarded
£1.325 million to aid
expansion to Govanhill
Sistema Scotland is set to
transform one of Glasgow’s most
deprived areas after being
awarded £1.325 million by the
Scottish Government to aid its
expansion to Govanhill where it
will establish a Big Noise
Orchestra.
The organisation has already
transformed the lives of hundreds
of children through a similar
scheme in Raploch, Stirling.
Sistema Scotland Chairman,
Richard Holloway, said:
‘This money is a brave and
imaginative investment in the
future of Scotland's children.
Since we started in Raploch five
years ago, the Scottish
Government has been very
supportive of our work and we
were grateful when they funded
independent research to evaluate
it. We are delighted that they are
acting on the findings of that
research with this substantial
funding package which will help us
continue our work in Raploch and
enable us to start a new centre in
Govanhill. Though we still have
some money to raise privately,
[this] announcement means it is
all systems go for Big Noise
Govanhill and we’ll be working with
children there come Spring.’
http://makeabignoise.org.uk/
sistema-scotland
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LxgS
r3lXBU
Sound Connections celebrates
10th anniversary
Sound Connections celebrated ten
years of developing, supporting
and empowering individuals and
organisations to deliver high-
quality music-making with children
and young people across London
with a special ‘Would Like to
Meet...’ networking event at
Shoreditch House in Hackney on
22 November 2012.
6 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
News
New Chair of Youth Music, Andy Parfitt
![Page 7: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 7
Almost 200 people attended the
event which was soundtracked by
members of the Young Londoners
Music Council, Wired4Music, and
documented by photographer-in-
residence, Jesse Olu.
As well as launching Sound
Connections’ 2012 Annual Review,
Director, Philip Flood, talked about
recent work and plans for the
future. Following this, Chair of
Trustees, Katrina Duncan, looked
back at the achievements of the
last ten years while Wired4Music
members, AJ and Amelia, talked
about what Wired4Music and
Sound Connections means to them.
www.sound-connections.org.uk
Winners of Jazz Education
Awards announced
The winners of Jazz Services’
annual Will Michael Jazz Education
Awards were announced at a
special ceremony at the Royal
Academy of Music on 27
November 2012.
Academy Principal, Professor
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood,
presented Bournemouth & Poole,
East Renfrewshire, Manchester,
Oxfordshire and Southampton
Music Services with Diplomas of
Merit for their outstanding commit-
ment to jazz education in 2011/12.
Mike Ketley, UK Managing Director
of Yamaha Music Europe, also
presented a Diploma of Special
Merit and a Yamaha Trophy to
Devon Music Service as a reward
for a record of six diplomas on the
trot, four of which were accorded
Special Merit status.
Ivor Widdison, Chair of the Awards
Panel, and his colleagues on the
panel, Andrea Vicary, Dr Catherine
Tackley and Bill Martin, paid
tribute to the above Music Services
and to those of Bolton, Glasgow,
Lincolnshire and Southwark.
The Jazz Education Awards are
named in honour of Will Michael
who, until his death in 2008,
was Head of Music at Chislehurst
& Sidcup Grammar School. The
awards are part of the long-
running National Music Council
(NMC) Local Authority Music
Education Awards Scheme which
recognises authorities that are
able to demonstrate imaginative,
inclusive and all-round high-quality
music provision. Youth Music’s
Executive Director, Matt Griffiths,
presented the NMC Awards in a
separate ceremony at London’s
Southbank Centre on 12
November 2012, awarding the
Major Trophy to Bournemouth &
Poole Borough Councils and
Oxfordshire County Council jointly.
www.jazzservices.org.uk
www.nationalmusiccouncil.org.uk
Strad Workshop at
Mondomusica New York
A replica of the 17th century
workshop of Antonio Stradivari will
be shown at the first
Mondomusica New York.
Inspired and organised by Italy’s
leading handcrafted stringed
instrument exhibition, Cremona
Mondomusica, Mondomusica New
York will host premier violin-
makers and luthiers from around
the world along with international
music instrument dealers.
The Stradivari workshop will
display some of the violin-
maker’s original drawings, moulds
and tools. It is the first time that
the collection, which is the
property of the Violin Museum of
the City of Cremona, will be shown
in the US.
Mondomusica New York runs from
15-17 March 2013 at the
Metropolitan Pavilion in New York
City’s Chelsea area.
www.mondomusicanewyork.com
Royal Academy of Music Principal, Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (centre)
with Alita Mills and Daniel Mars-Molinero of Southampton Music Service.
Photo © 2012 Gilead Limor
New Chair of Youth Music, Andy Parfitt
A statue of Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy
Check out our news online at
musiceducationuk.com
![Page 8: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
How it started
The Grand Union Orchestra (GUO) is
based in East London and – whatever its
national or international touring
obligations – has always had a deep and
serious commitment to its home patch,
producing projects involving all segments
of the local community.
As it happens, early in 2005, we were
producing one of our big participatory
spectaculars, Doctor Carnival, at the
Hackney Empire. Excerpts from this
production, which included large numbers
of young people from across the whole of
East London’s extraordinarily mixed
demographic, were featured in the film
shown in Singapore later in the year which
helped secure the 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games for London.
Doctor Carnival was followed by an equally
successful show, On Liberation Street, at
the Hackney Empire in 2009 and the idea
for The Golden Highway was born. In the
meantime, spurred by the desire for
continuity between such projects and the
need to fill a significant gap in music
provision in East London, we established
the Grand Union Youth Orchestra (GUYO) –
one of the first projects to gain the 2012
Inspire Mark.
So The Golden Highway was originally
conceived as our contribution to the
Cultural Olympiad and London 2012
Festival and celebrations surrounding the
Games. It commemorated East London’s
iconic position as the focus of 500 years
of migration to Britain, showcasing the
diversity of musical cultures that flourish
on our doorstep with performers largely
descended from migrant families or
themselves recent immigrants.
The journey
The Golden Highway was, in effect, the
culmination of an extended programme of
work over three years with a more intensive
final four months.
For over 25 years, Grand Union has built up
a formidable network of contacts locally to
help recruit active participants and
audiences. Our musicians play a crucial
part, particularly in developing relationships
with communities whose language,
customs and religion they share. These
relationships spread across all age-ranges:
through families, we can reach children
The Golden Highway – celebrating London 2012 withthe Grand Union Orchestra
The Grand Union Orchestra’s community music ethos is well known across London.This band of world musicians has a formidable reputation for facilitating cross-cultural music-making with performers and ensembles from Chinese and SouthAsian musicians, African drummers and steel bands to youth jazz orchestras andgospel choirs, says Co-founder and Artistic Director, Tony Haynes.
8 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Dr Carnival. Photo courtesy of London Borough of Tower Hamlets
On Liberation Street. Photo courtesy of Richard Kaby
![Page 9: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 9
whose musical ability may be unknown to
their school or local Music Service; through
our young musicians from non-Western
cultures, we reach their parents and elders.
Grand Union musicians also come from
virtually every major musical culture
worldwide. Their expertise in the traditions
they were born or brought up in is therefore
an immense resource, invaluable to young
musicians with no other access to
authentic ‘world music’ styles. At the same
time, we meet refugee or migrant
musicians – often professional in their
country of origin – from traditions which
are new to us, playing less familiar
instruments and teaching their music to
youth, adult or intergenerational
ensembles. (Musicians from both groups
also act as important role models.)
The Golden Highway was thus able to
involve participants of all ages whose
origins ranged from China, Vietnam,
Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel,
Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Italy,
Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Somalia,
Ethiopia, the Congo, Zimbabwe, South
Africa, Namibia, Ghana, the Caribbean,
Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Columbia… just
some of the people you might meet on the
street in East London today!
Music Nation
The first major project of the official
London 2012 Festival was the BBC’s Music
Nation – a weekend-long event at the
beginning of March 2012 celebrating
music-making across the whole of the UK.
Not surprisingly, in view of the above,
Grand Union was invited to take part and
produce something special. Our response
was What the River Sings.
What the River Sings was produced in
collaboration with the Water City Festival
and its Orchestra, made up of high-quality
student, amateur and community classical
musicians from East London. Also taking
part were the full Grand Union Orchestra
and singers, the Grand Union Youth
Orchestra, Hackney Voices and the
Hackney Empire Community Choir.
The location – Trinity Buoy Wharf, where
the River Lee joins the Thames (opposite
the Millennium Dome), with its unique
lighthouse keeping watch over the
entrance to London and its docks, canals
and river systems – was important to (and
indeed inspired) the theme of the show.
If the river could sing, what stories could it
tell of the thousands of ships and millions
of people passing over the last 500 years
that shaped our nation’s history?
Framed by the majestic seascapes
depicted in Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Schéherazade, the show conjured up
equally extraordinary tales – the
transportation of slaves, and with them
their music, from Africa to the Caribbean;
Portuguese voyages of discovery; Turkey
and the Arab world; migration from
Bangladesh to Brick Lane…
The Golden Highway
What the River Sings launched the final
phase of the Golden Highway project. This
took the form of a series of intensive
workshops and ancillary performances with
participating groups, many of them new
partnerships with Grand Union, including a
programme in Tower Hamlets schools.
We developed, for example, a stronger
relationship with young Roma musicians in
East London. Following a half-term
workshop day at NewVIc (Newham Sixth
Form College), accordion virtuoso, Ionel
Mandache, gave a masterclass in Gypsy
music to the Grand Union Youth Orchestra
and some of his young students took part
in The Golden Highway playing with GUYO
– their combined set of Gypsy songs was
one of the highlights of the evening!
We also integrated the Grand Union Youth
Orchestra much more than in the past.
Already featured in a medley of ska, reggae
and calypso numbers, they formed the
‘backing band’ for Congolese singer,
Jacqueline Lwanzo’s infectious Tokolonga
and the highly accomplished GUYO strings
(all Grade 7+) made their debut alongside
the professional musicians in music
originally written by Tony Haynes for a
Grand Union Orchestra collaboration with
the BBC Concert Orchestra.
But perhaps most dramatic of all was the
contribution of the young tabla players
and Ketan Kerai on both sarangi and dhol
drum to a sequence from What the River
Sings describing the wedding of a young
couple in Bangladesh, their separation
and eventual reunion in London.
Legacy
As the dust settles on the very successful
Games, whatever else may or may not
happen as a result, Grand Union’s work
– especially the Youth Orchestra – will
continue as it has always done. All these
forces came together again on 11 November
2012 for another spectacular at the Hackney
Empire, Liberation and Remembrance.
Curiously, all these shows – apart from
Liberation and Remembrance –
Former Grand Union Youth Orchestra member,
Gunes Cerit, playing Turkish saz in What the River
Sings. Photo courtesy of Richard Kaby
Michael, Mahesh and Josh from the Grand Union Youth Orchestra at BT London Live 2012 Festival.
Photo courtesy of May Wing Ting Ho
![Page 10: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
10 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
prefigured Danny Boyle’s wonderful
Olympic opening ceremony. They may be
on a much more modest scale but they
are no less powerful in artistic ambition
and the spirit is the same: a large number
of performers of all ages animating
collectively their history, their experience
and the world around them.
Grand Union Orchestra
www.grandunionorchestra.org.uk
Grand Union Youth Orchestra
www.grandunionyouth.org.uk
Highlights from On Liberation Street
London
http://youtu.be/KsDBalDsClo
Highlights from On Liberation Street Leeds
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EytULKq9K-I
Highlights from What the River Sings
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asm91p86oYc
A brief introduction to GUO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQvkb
f2seOY
Profile of GUO
http://blip.tv/grand-union/grand-union-at-
spitalfields-2687757
GUYO
www.grandunionyouth.org.uk/music/post/
on-the-silk-road
Recent GUYO work
www.grandunionyouth.org.uk/news/post/a
-summer-12-round-up
About the author
Tony Haynes has music degrees from Oxford and
Nottingham Universities. Beginning as a travelling
jazz musician, he wrote music throughout the
1970s for all the UK’s major regional repertory
theatres and touring companies. Co-founder of the
Grand Union Orchestra in 1982, he composes most
of its music which is extensively recorded and
broadcast. His regular blog describes his approach
to music-making and analyses his compositional
techniques. He still loves travelling, heading up GUO
projects in places as diverse as Paris, Lisbon,
Bangladesh, Shanghai and Melbourne.
Tony’s blog
www.tonyhaynesmusic.wordpress.com
On Wednesday 18 July 2012, Grand Union
Orchestra (GUO) and friends performed
their show of the year, The Golden
Highway, at the Hackney Empire Theatre.
Directed and composed by Tony Haynes,
musicians and singers told the story of
500 years of migration and trade,
celebrating the music and creative
diversity that different cultures have
brought to East London. Melodies and
rhythms from Portuguese, Gypsy, Indian,
Turkish, African and Caribbean
backgrounds echoed through the theatre
– to name but a few influences.
This day was the first time I had stepped
into the venue. The romantic architecture
of what first opened as a Music Hall in
1901 added an extra touch of beauty to
what was a demonstration of glorious
harmony. To see world-famous
professionals and local, aspiring students
fill the stage and perform together was
certainly a wondrous and a humbling sight
for me – a member of the Grand Union
Youth Orchestra (GUYO).
The musical process that takes place
within GUO features improvisation. It is
the art of experimenting with melodies
within performance, adding an
unplanned, individual element to a piece
of music which is carefully composed and
structured. However, improvisation isn’t
about playing random notes. The rhythm
and mode/scale are fundamental
aspects that musicians play around with
to improvise within a song. Style,
melodies, themes and riffs can also be
manipulated to create a more enjoyable
improvisation. By doing this, the
improvisation will relate back to the song
more so than improvising using only the
scale. Understanding modes from
different musical cultures can give
performers an additional advantage as
they can move their music into genres
that can agreeably suit the song even if
the original genre seems to contrast.
GUO and GUYO mostly play jazz, Caribbean
and Asian music. But recently, we have
added Gypsy music to our repertoire as a
result of working with Gypsy musicians
from East London. While it is quite musically
distant from the other genres we play, we
managed to fit it with the rest of our
repertoire very nicely and have been able
to include the full variety of musicians.
Having learnt some Gypsy/Tango music
during my classical training, I have a bit of
a head start on the style; it suits the violin
perfectly. But learning Gypsy music with
the orchestra and its friends has been of
great use to me in particular as I have
experienced more about how to play the
music with more authenticity.
I am very fortunate that a musical family
like GUO exists so close to where I live – I
have always been interested in the styles
of music they play; I am surprised at
myself to have only discovered them this
year! Also, I am deeply grateful that they
offer their time and invaluable expertise to
younger, developing musicians. I will
always be thanking Tony Haynes, Claude
Deppa (trumpet, percussion) and the rest
of GUO for the knowledge and
opportunities they have given to aspiring
musicians like myself.
About the author
Anni Movsisyan is currently reading for a BA in Fine
Art at the University of Westminster. She entered
the world of music from a young age; her first and
main instrument is the violin and most of the music
she has been trained in is classical. However, she
has always had a keen interest in many other
genres, being influenced by the diverse cultural
offerings of London which is why GUYO has been
so enjoyable and interesting.
The show of the year!
Grand Union Youth Orchestra strings in The Golden Highway. Anni Movsisyan is second from the left.
Photo courtesy of Charleen Raymond
![Page 11: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 11
Grand Union Youth Orchestra comments
What did you enjoy most about taking part
in What The River Sings?
‘Listening to the other orchestras.’
Hannah, aged 18, French horn/bassoon
‘Getting to play with fantastic musicians.’
Evan, aged 14, trumpet
‘It’s good to have local groups working
together.’
Caitlin, aged 16, viola
‘The project gave me the opportunity
to gain musical inspiration from my
surroundings. I felt we all had a strong
creative input.’
Rachel, aged 24, flute
Why did your child get involved in The
Golden Highway performance?
‘Mahesh got involved because of his
musical ability and is improving everyday.’
Leena Parkar, mother of Mahesh, aged
14, tabla
How did your child’s involvement make you
feel?
‘More involved with the community.’
Leena Parkar
Has your child done anything as a result of
taking part in the project?
‘As a parent of a young musician, I have
found a lack of resources in schools
makes it impossible to offer world
music as part of the curriculum. In my
view, GUYO fills a gap like no other.
What GUYO offers my son is
OPPORTUNITIES. It allows me to grant
Michael – a third generation migrant –
a small window into his cultural heritage
through the medium of music. More
importantly, what it offers me – as a
parent of a black boy, constantly aware of
the issues teenagers have in society – is
a parenting aid: role models for him to
emulate; a coolness to music (that isn’t
gangsta rap etc); and a musical path for
him to want to follow.’
Venessa Hollick, mother of Michael,
aged 12, violin, bassoon and steel pan
‘Grand Union Youth Orchestra has been
wonderful for our family. I think it has given
Anna opportunities she would not have
encountered elsewhere with such inspiring
musicians.’
Dee Windsor, mother of Anna, aged 15,
clarinet and saxophone
Tower Hamlets (THAMES project) schools
comments
‘Students were enthusiastic, material
worked, successful project overall, one of
the best things the school has done, huge
admiration for Claude (trumpet,
percussion – GUO) from students;
students kept asking when the Grand
Union musicians were coming back.’
Kirsty Glew, Langdon Park School
‘They would definitely like to continue
working with GUO in the future. Students’
progress was evident in their confidence,
engagement with instruments and linking
different sounds to different cultures.’
Isabel Noble, St Paul’s Way Trust School
‘Students learnt about exposure to other
types of music and an in-depth look at
their own cultural music. The girls got to
work together for a public performance
that was, for the majority, their first
performance of this sort.’
Danny Ledesma, Mulberry School
Tower Hamlets College ESOL (English for
Speakers of Other Languages) tutor
comments
‘The whole event was a real eye-opener for
most of the students… if we only had more
funds to run projects like that, perhaps a
lot of problems such as low self-esteem,
low motivation or frustration could be
minimised and social bonding within the
college would be promoted.’
Hubert Ignatowicz
‘I feel this was a really meaningful
opportunity for those students in particular
to share their voices – literally and
figuratively – and have these validated.’
Amber Hughes
‘From what the students said, I have
understood the importance of music in
allowing different cultures to come
together. It has brought great joy to many of
the students who are suffering difficulties
such as illness or hardship. The band
enabled minority groups such as
Vietnamese and Chinese to join in with
them and perform instead of feeling shut
out of events. It also gave the students the
opportunity to sing songs from their culture
which, up to now, may have been
impossible. To be able to express
themselves in their own language is indeed
a beautiful thing for them, having had to
adapt so much to their host culture.’
Rosy Beard
‘I would like to thank GUO for their
wonderful artistry… They have made a
difference and enriched all of our lives.
May they continue to build bridges, touch,
move and inspire… My students have
asked if they can be involved next year as
many of them can play an instrument or
sing and they would love the opportunity to
go to a GUO workshop and perform on
stage.’
Georgina George
Audience comments
‘My friend and I had a fabulous time; the
youth orchestra were terrific. The Bhangra
drumming was wonderful (I want to play
one of those!) all the drumming was
amazing!!!! I really admire the work you do
with young people and the opportunities
you gave them must be life-changing. The
Golden Highway was inspiring and
energising. Thank you for a really great
evening.’
Sally Anne Cooper
‘Exhuberant! That word looks funny but it's
trying express my feeling about the music.
Which was rousing and rip-roaring at times
and thought-provoking at others. Very
exciting. I wish I'd read the lyrics of The
Golden Highway before the concert
because I couldn't catch them all too well
to realise and feel their format at the time.
I especially loved the youthful flautist
floating and flitting so skillfully. And the
way the violinists did jazz was great. The
wonder/delight of listening to such a
cross-generational, multi-instrumental,
cross-cultural/continental creation with
melding modes and messages was so life-
enhancing. Thanks.’
Judy Lyle
Feedback from The Golden Highway
![Page 12: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Auditions – Manchester, January 2011
The past few months, I have been doing
auditions for something called Youth
Music Voices. Now I've been asked to
join the final ensemble – I can't believe
it! I'm going to be spending a week soon
with a bunch of strangers. I'm a bit
anxious about it. At least we all have
music in common.
Residential rehearsals – Reading, July
2011
The rehearsals were very hard-going with
hours and hours of singing! Listening to the
words and the stories behind each song
that our Artistic Director, Richard Frostick,
painstakingly researched and explained to
us fascinates me and I’m finding how
therapeutic music is for me.
Residential Rehearsals – Birmingham,
October 2011
Being in rehearsals this week has been so
different! I am so used to going to my
lesson and reading the score and then
singing it – it has always been my safety
net. Richard wouldn't let us have the score
of Sunset (Nitin Sawhney) so we had to
repeat what he sang and then remember it
straight away. Out of my comfort zone but it
looks like I'm going to have to get used to
it! There will be times when we have the
score but we are just exploring how to learn
by ear.
Residential Rehearsals – Croydon,
February 2012
We had a new soprano teacher this week,
Emma Tring. She gave us a really helpful
tip on reaching the higher notes. We had to
imagine we were in a glass lift and
visualise the note that was 'out of reach'
passing below us. That way we weren't
straining to climb up to it – we were
already up there.
It is really interesting observing how the
other vocal tutors work.
Ken Burton is a very rhythmic teacher
and when we were learning a nightmare-
ish section of Man in the Mirror (Michael
Jackson, arranged by Jason Yarde), he
had us all dancing and singing the
timing in different styles. You could feel
the rhythms and changes through your
whole body. Meanwhile, Jane Wheeler
obsessed over expressing the words and
telling the story with our faces while Lee
Singing for recovery – a Youth Music Voices journal
Youth Music Voices was initiated by music charity, Youth Music, to provide anopportunity for 100 talented young singers drawn from all over the UK to celebrateLondon 2012 through singing. Bethia Coates, aged 19 from Chester, has studiedsinging for nine years but had not previously performed in a large choir when shejoined Youth Music Voices in January 2011. At the time, she was receiving medicalsupport while she battled with depression and psychosis. In her journal, whichrecounts her experiences of attending rehearsals and performing with the choir, shereveals how Youth Music Voices has helped her recovery – not to mention improvingher singing!
12 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Bethia (far right) and some of the girls singing at Womad
![Page 13: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 13
Cornthwaite was interested in precision
and tone-quality.
Regional rehearsals – Liverpool, April
2012
I was nervous because only five of us were
able to make it. We had to sing different
parts so we had to be brave and go for
what we thought was the right melody.
'Sing strong and wrong' was a great quote
from our soprano vocal teacher, Suzi
Zumpe – and we did!
I think a unique aspect of the choir is that
we are all friends with each other
regardless of background. We all have
different voices and it’s so interesting to
hear other people’s experiences and share
tips on technique.
Royal Albert Hall, May 2012
We were at the Royal Albert Hall for the live
premiere of the new Team GB anthem, One
Vision, performed by Alfie Boe and
Kimberley Walsh, for which we recorded the
backing vocals. I was so excited! Looking
across the corridor and realising your room
was opposite Will Young’s and then
appearing on stage as Gary Barlow finished
his set was a very surreal experience!
Royal Opera House, Sunday 22 July 2012
I can't quite believe that we sang on the
main stage at the Royal Opera House! The
moment we finished singing Morted
Lauridsen’s Sure on this Shining Night and
there were silent tears on everyone’s
cheeks (including the tenors!) was a
moment that will stay with me for the rest
of my life.
Palace of Westminster, Wednesday 25
July 2012
We made history in the Palace of
Westminster as the first youth choir ever to
have sung in Westminster Hall. It was
‘I've never had the opportunity to work
with so many other talented singers
of such a high standard and diverse
backgrounds. It’s been a really fun and
inspiring experience and it’s given me a
lot more self-belief that I can actually
make it as a singer.’
Alex Briscoe, aged 16, West Midlands
‘It’s really refreshing to sing something
new and it’s really opened my eyes to
different styles of music. I’ve made some
amazing friends, sung some amazing
music and I can honestly say it’s one of
the best experiences I’ve ever had. It’s a
totally unique experience that I couldn’t
have had anywhere else.’
Juliet Wallace, aged 16, Warwickshire
‘For me, it is the emotions and feelings
that our sound creates that makes Youth
Music Voices special. It is those moments
when we finish the final note of a song
that has fallen into place and we can
almost hear and feel the Summer of
performances as we stand. But even more
so, we can feel each other buzzing with the
sound we've just created. I don't think it is
a self-indulgent thing to enjoy our sound;
what is music if not pure joy in expression?
Maddie Broad, aged 18, East Sussex
‘It’s a really diverse group. You’ve got
people who’ve never read music before
who, thanks to this choir, can now read
music – it’s just unbelievable! The feeling
that we get when we all get together,
there’s just nothing like it!
Jess Hawe, aged 19, Liverpool
Performing at BT River of Music, Battersea Park
Testimonials from other Youth Music Voices participants
![Page 14: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
14 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
strange singing Jai Ho! (Kuljit Bhamra) and
dancing on a stage while there were MPs
wandering past!
Womad, Friday 27 July 2012
Our last performance at the Womad
festival was so much fun! It was so vibrant
and exotic. I had a nightmare at one point
because as I was singing, a fly went up my
nose – but because there were cameras
everywhere and you never knew when you
were on the big screen, I had to grin and
bear it or else our choreographer, Amanda,
would have killed me!
Personal reflection – Chester, September
2012
This whole year has just been surreal. It
doesn't feel like I was worthy enough to be
singing in the places that we did and
working to such a high standard but
Richard reminded us that we were
professionals who deserved to be there.
I know it may sound clichéd but I genuinely
feel like a completely different person.
There is a big stigma attached to mental
illness but being unwell was nothing to be
ashamed of and, after a while, I found I
could trust my choir friends with my story.
I'm now completely discharged from
hospital and I know for a fact that without
my faith in God and if I hadn't been part of
this choir, I would still be struggling with a
lot of things. I can't express how much it
means to me. Youth Music Voices has
changed my life forever and for good.
Funding for an ‘Excellence Through Group
Singing’ module is available to
organisations wishing to emulate the
success of Youth Music Voices. More
details at http://bit.ly/groupsinging
Combining the
opportunity to
produce
excellent
music for
London 2012
with access for
all was the
true challenge
for organisers
of Youth Music
Voices, says
Executive Director of Youth Music,
Matt Griffiths.
The challenge that our Youth Music Voices
organisers set themselves to provide
talented young vocalists with the exciting
opportunity to produce excellent music for
the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a
daunting one.
Firstly, how could they ensure true access
for all? Rather than running X Factor-style
auditions, Youth Music’s carefully targeted
recruitment campaign created high-quality
open access musical workshops around
the UK. Eventually, from over 2,000
attendees, 100 highly talented young
singers were selected to form Youth Music
Voices.
Secondly, organisers wanted to show
that access and excellence were
compatible agendas. Under the
direction of Artistic Director, Richard
Frostick, highly qualified music leaders
set out to develop the participants’
singing abilities to professional
standards. Specially devised strategies
were employed to build confidence and
mastery and to ensure that a level
playing field was created for young
singers from widely differing musical
backgrounds.
A diverse repertoire – from Baroque
gems like Handel’s From Harmony
to Michael Jackson’s iconic Man in
the Mirror – helped to maintain
high levels of engagement in the
learning process.
The result was a choir that performed to
truly astonishing high standards in some
of the UK’s most prestigious venues.
A formal evaluation of the learning process
was published in November 2012 by the
International Music Education Research
Centre and the results are clear proof that
open access was no barrier to excellence.
By publishing reports evaluating the
impact of our work, I hope that we can
continue to stimulate debate on music
education issues and provide some
thought leadership within the sector.
We are also committed to developing
further Youth Music’s online network
where thousands of music education
professionals are already sharing ideas
and resources.
Youth Music
www.youthmusic.org.uk
Youth Music’s online network
www.youthmusic.org.uk/network
Jazz Rodrigues De Sousa performs his Man in the Mirror solo at BT River of Music, Battersea Park
Facilitating access and excellence
![Page 15: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
A groundbreaking international conferencefor all music educators, everywhere
23–26 October 2013, SingaporeProgramme Director: David Price OBE
Information and bookings
www.musiclearninglive.asiaOnline registration open now
Seasonal discount rates available until 1 Mar 2013
Music education 3.0:
making music learning indispensable in the 21st century
musiclearninglive!Asia is presented by Music Education Asia Pte Ltd, Pico Creative Centre Level 3, 20 Kallang Avenue, Singapore 339411 musiceducation.asia | musiclearninglive.asia
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Mark Johnson, Joanna MacGregor, David Price, Yong Zhao
PERFORMERS INCLUDE Joanna MacGregor, Ding Yi Music Company, Playing for Change Band
PRESENTERS INCLUDE Lincoln Abbotts, Abigail D’Amore, Pamela Burnard,
Eugene Dairianathan, John Drummond, David J Elliott, James Frankel,
Michael Harper, James Humberstone, Neryl Jeanneret, Mary Leuhrsen, Pete
Moser, David Myers, László Nemes, Marcel Pusey, Quek Ling Kiong, Huib
Schippers, Santosh Sharma, Einar Solbu, Katie Wardrobe, Katherine Zeserson
CONFERENCE THEMES
Music & the Inter-Connected World
Music & New Approaches to Learning
Music & Personal Growth, Societal Change
Music & The Informed Advocate
with support from Key Sponsor Sponsors & Partners
![Page 16: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Organised by Kent Music, in partnership
with Rhythmix, Orchestra ONE gives
young people aged 12 to 19 the chance to
play and compose together. Musicians
meet during term-time at venues in
Maidstone, Rochester and Tonbridge – all
towns on the banks of the River Medway –
with a brief of creating original music
inspired by the river, its crossings and its
journey through Kent.
Sponsored by the Rochester Bridge Trust,
the initial two-year project was formed in
May 2011. A series of ten weekly
workshop sessions, led by experienced
Kent Music and Rhythmix tutors, is
aimed at young people who have had
limited experience in ensemble-playing
and those who want to build their
confidence and explore music through
improvisation and composition.
Workshops are free with no audition and
groups are encouraged to develop their
own styles and instrumentation. The
orchestra blends classical and jazz
players with DJs and MCs, pairing young
musicians who play up to Grade 8
standard with others who have never had
any formal tuition.
To date, Orchestra ONE has run four
projects, each ending in a public
performance. The sessions offer youngsters
an opportunity to write and perform their
own music, expressing their tastes and
ideas using an unusual combination of
genres and instrumentation. The projects
challenge participants to ‘dare to be
different – dare to express yourself – dare
to have fun’. At the end of each term, there
are weekend rehearsals led by a Musical
Director where the groups team up to form
one massive orchestra.
Orchestra ONE performed its first two
concerts at the New Line Learning
Academy in Maidstone. The Musical
Director of project one was Tim Steiner, a
composer and presenter specialising in
devised and collaborative performance.
Tim has directed hundreds of creative
Orchestra ONE – facilitating new musicalexperiences in Kent
Orchestra ONE (Orchestra of New Experiences) brings together young people fromacross Kent who wouldn’t normally get the chance to play in an orchestra. As well asshowcasing a diverse collection of musical styles and talents, the project createsnew kinds of music, culminating in the performance of an inspiring groupcomposition, says Creative Consultant for Kent Music, Laura Callaghan.
16 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Pete Wareham at the pre-concert rehearsal at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Photo courtesy of Martin Webb (WEB Photo UK)
Orchestra ONE performs at Chatham Historic Dockyard led by Pete Wareham.
Photo courtesy of Martin Webb (WEB Photo UK)
![Page 17: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 17
projects throughout Europe and has
worked in virtually every conceivable
musical and social context.
project two was directed by Matt Wright, a
composer, improviser and sound artist at
the fringes of concert and club culture.
Matt is a Reader in Composition and Sonic
Art at Canterbury Christ Church University
where he runs the BA (Hons) Creative
Music Technology degree.
Musical Director for project three was Pete
Wareham, a saxophonist and composer
who has set up and worked with various
bands, including Acoustic Ladyland, a
group of improvisers with a contemporary
rock ‘n’ roll attitude.
project three took place during the
Summer of 2012 and culminated in a
concert at Chatham Historic Dockyard on
the bank of the River Medway. The concert
was held on the mezzanine floor of 3 Slip –
The Big Space which houses a wealth of
artefacts including a midget submarine,
boats, giant tools, steam machinery and a
collection of vehicles. When built in 1838,
the immense covered slip was Europe’s
largest wide span timber structure and its
roof is a magnificent sight.
Nicola Adams, 15, from Fort Pitt School,
Chatham, who took part in the concert,
said afterwards: ‘We’ve been composing
and improvising lots of pieces which
has been improving our confidence
and we’ve mixed a range of different
pieces and styles together. I’ve done
lots of music groups but none based
on improvisation and composition.
At the others (Medway Schools Wind
Band and Medway Towns Music Centre
with Kent Music), it’s all written-down
music that you have to follow but with
this, nothing is written down and you
make it up as you go along. It’s different
from what I’m used to – in a good way.
I’m a lot more confident in my ability.
I was doing my A-level composition over
the holiday and got to the point where
I was seriously stuck as to where to go
but the things that we’ve done here just
really helped me to develop the ideas and
keep it going.’
Ryan Cottee, 14, from St Augustine’s
School, Maidstone, said: ‘I’ve done
concerts in schools and shows outside of
school but Orchestra ONE is more fun
because we’re learning new stuff like
African music which I’ve never done. I’ve
learnt new chords and have learnt more on
other instruments. Anthony (another
attendee) taught me some violin and I’ve
learnt some drums. I’ve always found it
really hard and wanted to write my own
songs but never knew how to. It’s kind of
scary because I’m self-taught and I’ve
never had a lesson. If I’d known that (some
young people had obtained Grade 8 on
their instruments) from the start, I wouldn’t
have wanted to do it and I would’ve been
really unconfident. It’s a bit weird knowing
that I’ve managed to keep up but it makes
me feel good about myself.’
project four culminated on 16 December
2012 and was led by Musical Director and
composer, James Redwood, who has
undertaken many similar initiatives with
the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment.
Orchestra ONE on Facebook
www.facebook.com/ORCHESTRAONE
Kent Music
www.kent-music.com
Rhythmix
http://rhythmixmusic.org.uk
Rochester Bridge Trust
www.rbt.org.uk
About the author
Laura Callaghan is a freelance musician, project
manager and composer living in Rochester, Kent.
She is Director of Hand on Heart Arts Ltd and Creat-
ive Consultant and Project Manager for Kent Music.
Laura has worked in music education for seven
years in Kent, London, Sussex and Hertfordshire.
Laura’s website
www.lauracallaghan.com
@lauracallaspam
Orchestra ONE performs for the first time at the New Line Learning Academy under the Musical Direction of
Tim Steiner. Photo courtesy of Martin Webb (WEB Photo UK)
A young clarinettist (Amy) steps up to do
‘conduction’ (live composing/conducting) at the
Orchestra ONE concert at Chatham Historic
Dockyard. Photo courtesy of Martin Webb (WEB
Photo UK)
![Page 18: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
18 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Tim Steiner, Musical Director
‘The entire process has been fantastic
and inspiring right from the moment we
met at the Barbican. The shared vision,
proactive creative energy and apparent
effortless organisational prowess have
been genuinely inspiring throughout. I
rarely encounter such a level of care,
understanding and support in any area of
work with which I'm engaged.’
Matt Wright, Musical Director
‘I was thrilled to work on the Orchestra
ONE project. After thinking about the
Rochester Bridge Trust and the
potentials for different sounds from the
orchestra, I came up with a loose
working idea of a 'River of Sound' which
eventually involved not just live music
but recorded sound and the whole
orchestra performing, singing and
shouting whilst walking across the
bridges in the atrium space of the New
Line Learning Academy where we
performed the concert. The group was
fantastically welcoming and ready to try
new ideas and all kinds of instruments
were involved – from violins and voices
to electric guitars, laptops and even
samples triggered by physical
movement. The staff from Kent Music
and Rhythmix were brilliant in organising
the individual needs of the orchestra so I
could get on and focus on developing
the music alongside the young people.
It is always daunting to work with any
group of people you don't know, be they
professional musicians or completely
new to music-making, but I’m not the
kind of musician that worries too much
about the ‘standard’ of the musicians I
work with; I try to observe what the
group enjoys doing, what could be
developed and what the potential
outcomes might be. In the case of
Orchestra ONE, I was a little bit cheeky
because in the first rehearsal, I tried out
a few difficult rhythms with the group
and found that they didn't find them as
difficult as I thought! This meant that we
had a sense of criss-crossing patterns in
the music which I hope was exciting for
the audience. In one way, my job was
easy as all I had to do was listen to the
fantastic ideas of the group and think
about how they could all fit together
but then again, that part is easier said
than done.’
James Redwood, Musical Director
‘Starting a new project is always
exciting and I’m lucky enough to travel
all over the country creating music with
different groups. What is especially
exciting to me about Orchestra ONE is
that my involvement was both an
exciting one-off whilst also fitting into a
much bigger picture. This was made
clear to me when I was invited to sit in
on a workshop session being led by Pete
Wareham in preparation for Orchestra
ONE’s third culmination performance.
It was great to be able to see the group
at work, sparking off each other and
oozing creativity and to be able to know
that four months later, I'd be the one
asking the questions and setting
the tasks. Until the three feeder groups
started working together, it was very
hard to say what would be in our
performance – what we made together
at the end of the process was very
much dictated by what the groups
created with their Rhythmix tutors.
So for me, it was a case of immersing
myself in the music the groups created
and then being prepared to be open-
minded and light-footed in the final
four days.’
Tutors
‘A small but dedicated group stayed with
the project and later took part in the
whole day sessions. They were very
nervous and lacking in confidence at first
but became good friends and slowly
developed the confidence to sing or
perform in front of each other. They made
a start on learning how to compose on a
computer as well as to write and record
lyrics both sung and rapped.’
‘The young people worked together well.
Those with low confidence and/or little
experience seemed to gain in strength
and commitment as the rehearsals
went on. The music made was interesting
and at times inspiring – many of the
young people were amazed by how they
could play a part in such a large and
good orchestra without being trained
Grade 8 students and they all rose to
the occasion.’
‘The music we had prepared was a
perfect template for Tim to lead a part-
improvised performance with the
orchestra. The young people, nerves
notwithstanding, all rose to the occasion
and gave a very good account of
themselves. The audience really enjoyed
themselves and I had one or two
conversations with parents post-concert
who expressed a lot of gratitude for our
work with their children and generally
lauded the project as something very
positive and worthwhile.’
‘The days worked well with the Musical
Director providing lots of opportunities
for the young people to create new
music and develop their musicality.
The different groups were split up and
had chances to interact and work with
young people from different areas of
the county.’
‘The performance was a great success
with nearly all the participants enjoying
the experience and leaving on a high.’
‘The stage set-up worked well and after a
few teething troubles, the young people
settled in to the rehearsals and then the
final performance. The lighting and PA
Feedback and comments
Guitarist rocking out at the Orchestra ONE concert
led by Pete Wareham. Photo courtesy of Martin
Webb (WEB Photo UK)
![Page 19: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 19
added to the spectacle and enhanced the
young people’s experience.’
‘The reaction and feedback from the
parents and other assembled friends and
family show how much they enjoyed it and
were amazed that so much could be
achieved in such a short time.’
Youth worker
‘It was a pleasure to be part of a really
beneficial project. Although it was a battle
most weeks to get certain individuals to
the workshops, it was worth every effort. I
saw improvements in relations, confidence,
musical interest and development.’
Rhythmix
‘Rhythmix is proud to be involved in such
an innovative project. Orchestra ONE has
shown that young people of all ages,
abilities and backgrounds can work
together, create high-quality music and
support each other’s journey. An orchestra
of people playing music on different
instruments regardless of genre surely
must be valued and, aside from that, it
sounds fantastic.’
Dr Anne Logan, Senior Bridge Warden,
Rochester Bridge Trust
‘We hope that the opportunity will enrich
the lives of many young musicians, some
of whom may face challenging
circumstances. Orchestra ONE continues
our long tradition of promoting educational
projects and will attract and inspire young
people who may otherwise not have the
chance to share their musical talents.
The enthusiasm of the orchestra was
quite infectious and was amply reflected in
the audience participation in the final
piece. We thought it was inspired to
commence with a piece titled Where’s the
Bridge? – was that by accident or design?
– not to mention River Song later in the
piece. We thought the setting in 3 Slip was
quite amazing.’
Parents
‘As a parent, I wanted to let you know
how much my wife, son and I enjoyed
last night’s Orchestra ONE concert
(my daughter was playing viola). We
were amazed at the quality of the
compositions and also how well the
orchestra sounded after such a short time
playing together. All of the musicians
looked as though they were thoroughly
enjoying themselves and I'm sure they
have all gained immensely from taking
part and from the opportunity to play
before an audience.’
‘I just wanted to say thank you to
everybody involved with Orchestra ONE.
My son enjoyed every day there and is
keen to attend any further rehearsals. The
performance at Chatham Dockyard was
very good.’
‘The support given to the orchestra from
Kent Music and Rhythmix was outstanding
and I’m sure that the young musicians will
have benefited hugely from the
opportunity to compose unique pieces of
music and to perform them in front of a
large audience.’
![Page 20: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Hi Michelle, congratulations on taking over
the post of CEO of Sing Up in 2012. What
would you say have been the high points
of your first months on the job?
Well, I’ve been involved with Sing Up since
the very beginning – since the successful
bid to government for funding to run the
National Singing Programme in fact – so
am very used to the combination of
immense hard work and the high points
that come along with something that we’re
all so passionate about. The past few
months have been no different, especially
with such an enthusiastic team who really
care about singing and helping schools
make the most of Sing Up.
Sing Up reached hundreds of thousands of
pupils and thousands of teachers before
its funding was cut. What has been the
impact of the loss of funding?
The most challenging thing has been
moving a well-funded major national
programme to a fully self-sustaining model
overnight. Our government funding ceased
completely on 31 March 2012 so, from 1
April, we had to be able to pay all our costs
ourselves. We’re now a Limited Company
which we operate on a not-for-profit basis.
I think some people thought that the
previous government funding meant that
Sing Up’s resources and website were ‘paid
for’ permanently. However, there are
always ongoing costs – like licence fees,
website maintenance and hosting amongst
other things.
So Sing Up is now funded via a
Membership scheme for schools. With
Membership, schools get access to Sing
Up resources and training and still get the
Sing Up magazine with ten new songs in
each issue.
Following research with schools that used
Sing Up, we tried to incorporate all of the
elements of our programme that they
valued the most into our Membership offer,
Q&AFollowing five years of government funding which saw Sing Up achieve considerablesuccess – harnessing the enthusiasm and commitment of 98% of Primary schoolsand winning the prestigious RPS Award for Education – the programme lost all itsfinancial support in 2012. Cathy Tozer asks new CEO, Michelle James, about thenext phase of Sing Up’s journey.
20 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Singing Up! Photo courtesy of Chris Christodoulou
![Page 21: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 21
given the constraints posed by losing
£10m of funding. We’ve created a much
more streamlined, fleet-of-foot model. As a
new business, we’re listening and learning
from our Members all the time, responding
and adapting to their needs. We’ve learned
a lot in our first few months and, as a
result, our Year 2 Membership package
(selling from early in 2013) will have much
more emphasis on the songs and
resources with other elements available to
buy separately.
What happened to the Sing Up
workforce?
We’ve had to downsize but many of the
people who remain with us were involved
with the previous programme. Right
through the organisation from the
management team to our singing leaders
who write content for us to the school
support staff, we have very committed
individuals, most of whom have been with
Sing Up for a long time. This really helps
because we all love Sing Up, know the
history and share the same principles
and values.
How is the new Membership scheme
going and how have schools reacted to
having to pay Membership fees?
We always knew that this year would be
challenging because schools don’t have
lots of money to spend on music and it’s
tricky to move something which has been
free to be paid for but it’s going well so far
and new Members are coming on board
every day.
We’d still like all Primary schools to be
benefiting from Sing Up so are doing all
we can to help more schools find the
money. We’re helping some schools
fundraise for the cost of Membership with
fundraising packs available on our
website and a partnership with MixPixie
that we’ve set up whereby schools can
create bespoke CDs of their school
concerts and sell copies as a fundraiser
for Sing Up Membership.
The other thing we’ve done is create a free
Sing Up Friends package – all schools and
individuals who were previously registered
with Sing Up are still part of our family and
automatically get the Friends package
which means they still get free access to
the website’s teaching tools, lesson plans,
advice and ten free songs.
Sing Up's current activity presumably
combines supporting legacy projects
together with new work. Could you explain
the situation in a bit more detail?
2011-12 was the final year of government
funding – our ‘transition’ year. During that
time, we worked with our partners to
manage the transition from the funded
programme to the new model so our legacy
projects are all complete now. Unfor-
tunately, given that our funding was cut,
we can no longer fund all of the wonderful
projects that we were able to support
before. However, as part of our not-for-
profit remit, we hope that in the future we
can invest in similar work.
How are you working with music
education hubs?
We’ve been having discussions with music
education hubs over the past few months.
Some organisations which are involved
with hubs are also our training providers so
there are close relationships there. We’re
also talking to some hubs about singing
strategies and how Sing Up can help
schools and hubs deliver good-quality
singing and vocal leadership.
I think there’s still lots of detail to be
worked through in relation to the National
Music Plan and how it will be brought to life
in schools and there are challenges to be
met, not least of which is how music and
the arts more generally are valued in
schools in future. It’s really important that
we don’t lose the progress that’s been
made over the past 10-15 years in the
value that schools and parents place on
music education for children.
How are you using the internet to support
your work?
One exciting development is our new
programme of Webinars. These are fully
interactive, live online training events
presented by top-level Sing Up trainers
– like Beccy Owen and Sue Nicholls. We
have held three so far and they are proving
really popular with teachers. Our most
recent one was on 6 November 2012 with
Lin Marsh. They work well because they
happen from 4-5pm, after the school day,
and teachers can take part from the
classroom, staffroom or home if they want
to. What’s really exciting is that we’ve also
heard from schools that are taking part in
groups with their whole staff, all learning
and singing together.
What are your plans for 2013 and 2014?
We’ve learnt from our first few months of
operating as a business that schools and
teachers want complete choice over what
they get as part of their Sing Up Member-
ship. So, from early 2013, our Membership
will be completely flexible and Members
will have free choice of what songs from
the Song Bank they access, receiving
download credits as part of the package.
More of our training will also be delivered
online rather than face-to-face, building on
our Webinar programme. We’ll also be
developing new digital content and we’re
always adding new songs to the Song Bank.
What's the picture for future funding?
We’re focussing our efforts on trying to
stand on our own two feet through
Membership. Funding of any sort looks
pretty bleak for everyone at the moment
but it’s worth reflecting that although it
might not feel like it, we’re fortunate that
music does continue to be centrally funded
from government in a way that no other
subject is – albeit at a much lower level
Sing Up training. Photo courtesy of Michaela Greene
![Page 22: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
22 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
than over the past few years. I worry that
the National Music Plan has enormous
(and good) ambitions but that there might
not be enough money to do it justice.
Michael Gove has frequently advocated
introducing cherry-picked overseas
education models to the UK. Isn't there a
case for turning the tables and exporting
Sing Up as an example of a successful,
high-profile national project?
I’d like to think so. We don’t have lots of
money to invest in developing Sing Up for
other countries and languages but we’re
looking at potentially taking elements of
Sing Up into other territories. I’ve been
working in music education for the last 20
years and I think there’s much that we
should be proud of in this country. There’s
something irritating about being told that
such-and-such an approach from another
country is the best thing since sliced bread,
particularly when it might not readily lend
itself to our particular set of circumstances
in the UK. Better to learn from other
countries’ models and take and adapt only
the learnings that are relevant to our
children’s needs.
At the same time, this is also true of trying
to export our own systems and approaches
– care needs to be taken not to assume
that something which works well here is
needed or would work in the same way in
other countries.
Sing Up concentrates on singing at
Primary level. Now that many of its
original participants will have moved on to
Secondary education, what’s your view of
their chances of being able to continue
singing together in school?
The transition from Primary to Secondary
school has for decades been a point at
which many children drop out of music-
making. A substantial amount of effort and
investment has been put into identifying
why that is and improving things – Sing Up
did some transition work, Paul Hamlyn has
been funding Musical Bridges and Youth
Music had it as a focus for funding – it’s an
area of concern.
Originally, the proposition to government
from the Music Manifesto was for a
National Singing Programme across
Primary and Secondary schools but the
announcement made by Alan Johnson
back in 2007 was only for a Primary
school programme. It has always
concerned us that children would leave
Primary school having had a great
experience with Sing Up and that there
would be nothing similar to keep their
enthusiasm once they changed schools.
Darren Henley’s recommendation, which
was then put into the National Music Plan,
was that regular singing should be
continued for every child at least up to the
age of 14 so this needs to be factored into
singing strategies which hubs and schools
develop together. There are many
Secondary schools where great singing is
already happening and some which are
already Sing Up Members. We want to
continue working with them to make sure
that children of all ages keep benefiting
from all that singing has to offer.
Sing Up
www.singup.org
![Page 23: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
It’s been some time since I wrote one of these –
and it seems like a lot has been happening.
We’ve had the implementation of the hub
structure, GCSE grading controversy and, of
course, in the world of technology, a plethora of
new gadgets and software.
I spent Summer 2012 writing a very long
document on how to implement technology into
hub-based music education and I spent the
October half-term writing a paper on the
definition of music technology. As a result of this,
I got the chance to write down some of the views
that have been formulating in my head for some
time regarding music and technology. There
seem to be a large number of misconceptions
as to what music technology is. I don’t for a
second want to suggest that my definition is the
definitive one – but I would like to challenge a
couple of the main points that I feel strongly
about. I am aware that these issues are quite
contentious – so I would welcome feedback
from anyone on this debate!
Audio recording equipment and production
techniques are not true music technology – they
are related, and contain a broad range of skills
that I think musicians ought to possess to some
level, but in themselves don’t contain inherent
musical creativity. This is not to say they don’t
facilitate creativity etc. but the technology is not
inherently involved in the musical creativity – it is
capturing, polishing and improving work by
performing musicians. I think this discipline is
important enough to warrant its own title which
some Tertiary institutions have given as ‘audio
technology’. It has many links and similarities
with music technology but to my mind does not
quite qualify.
Score-writing software is also not music
technology – when I describe it to schools, I refer
to it as the musical equivalent of Microsoft Word.
It has a very important place and makes the
creation of coursework neat and tidy. Composers
can hear their work (sort of) as it would sound
with musicians playing it. The main reason for my
dismissal of score-writing software is that 99% of
the time, the creativity comes from another
source such as composing at a piano which is
then written up in the score-writing software. So
the software is very important and definitely has
a place in the classroom but does not quite tick
the box to be officially music technology.
I’m aware that I’ve spent the majority of this
editorial telling you what I think music
technology is NOT so, rather than attempt a
definition here, I'll save telling you what I think it
IS for the next magazine! Which brings me to this
edition of the centre point. Interestingly, having
just dismissed score-writing software, the last of
my three reviews of the major notation software
pieces, Finale, is on that very subject. I end the
review – and the series – with a comparison
chart with the previous two, Sibelius and
NOTION. On top of that, there’s my regular
column on Apps appropriate for music
education. This time, I have taken a look at Apps
that are particularly useful for students with
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
(SEND) in the music classroom. There’s also a
brief write-up by Alison Daubney and Duncan
Mackrill on the work they have been doing
looking at mobile technology both in and out of
school. It’s a fascinating piece – coincidentally,
similar to my own research interests – and has
some interesting facts for music teachers and
students alike regarding how we learn music
informally. I would like to follow this article up at
some point with a list of further reading for those
who are interested.
In the meantime, as always, I love to hear from
people regarding any of the articles and issues
raised here so please don’t hesitate to get in touch
with me at [email protected].
Tim Hallas
Digital Learning Editor
The centre pointEditorial
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 23
Reach music educators in Asia
Independent, editorially inclusive and insightful,
Music Education Asia is not just the leading specialist
music education magazine in the region, it’s the only one.
Launched in 2011 as Music Education Singapore, the
magazine is published three times a year and distributed
principally in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Contact us now to find out how we can help you.
Visit musiceducation.asia or scan the code
![Page 24: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Alison Daubney and Duncan Mackrill train music teachers at the University ofSussex and are very involved in their local music education hubs in Brighton andHove and East Sussex. Additionally, they provide professional developmentopportunities for teachers across Primary and Secondary education and are keen tohelp teachers bridge the gap between children’s use of digital technologies formusic in and out of school. Here, they discuss the implications of some of theirrecent research findings.
There is little doubt that the digital world is
evolving rapidly and that the increasing
miniaturisation, power and portability of mobile
digital technology permeates the lives of a
significant and growing proportion of society. Our
interest in this topic relates to how young people
engage with a range of technologies and ways in
which they are integral to their musical lives. As
music educators and teacher trainers, we want
to gain a deeper understanding of the changing
nature of children’s formal and informal
engagement with learning and with music in
general in order to continually improve and
capitalise upon practical opportunities for
musical learning in the range of contexts which
relate to our work in schools, community
settings and with pre- and in-service teachers.
As part of a larger study, we gathered data on
children’s use of mobile technology for music in
and out of school. The data relates to 150
questionnaire responses and 56 children
interviewed in groups, aged 10-11 years,
approaching the end of their Primary schooling,
from seven state schools in three areas of
England.
The findings are unsurprising; children embrace
music through engaging with mobile
technologies (including mobile phones, laptops,
tablets, iPods, gaming devices and other digital
audio and video recorders and players) at an
increasingly young age and are adept at
informally learning to use these without the
intervention of formal education. We could break
down these data but, for this article, the bottom
line is that whilst mobile technology features
extensively in the musical lives of children out of
school, it is a different matter in school and,
according to pupils in our study, is often banned
from use. Yet the power of technology as a
learning tool in music is phenomenal.
Did You Know 3.0 – Shift Happens* states that
YouTube is now the second most popular search
engine in the world; hardly surprising then that
children in our study frequently mentioned
YouTube as a way to listen to, watch or explore
music, sing karaoke or teach themselves.
As Simon, aged 11, describes:
‘Sometimes when I listen, I think, Oh I like that.
I might think that I want to learn it so I would go
onto a website that would give you the lyrics,
guitar, like, tabs. I go onto this one called
Ultimate Guitar and it gives you the tabs for a
song, so listening to it, really… really that’s it.’
In breaking down the data, rather than
concerning ourselves with whether the 86% of
boys and 89% of girls owning mobile phones
would be slightly differently distributed if we
compared other demographics, the important
point here is to take note of the headline
figures and then move on to consider the
implications:
• What can we do to capitalise upon the
motivation and skills developed outside the
classroom?
• What can we do to properly utilise the
equipment available in school and the
technology taken to school daily by teachers
and children?
But integrating technologies meaningfully is
perhaps not as straightforward as it sounds.
Children recognise that technology such as
interactive whiteboards is used for music but,
frequently, according to those interviewed, this is
only for displaying song lyrics on a screen so
there is a great deal of untapped potential even
in established technologies. Some schools have
invested in portable digital technology, notably
tablet computers. However, whilst some children
report being adept at using them in other areas
of their school and home lives, it seems that
their use of mobile digital technologies in
Primary schools for anything remotely musical is
somewhat limited – as one child pointed out,
‘We have those mini-laptops but we don’t use
them in music’. We were frequently met with a
chorus of ‘mobile technology is banned’. This is
all despite children’s knowledge and use of
Apps, their extensive use of online environments
for sourcing, downloading and streaming music
and their personal experience of music ‘games’
and online tools for making, recording and
manipulating music. Couple this with a well-
documented perceived lack of musical
confidence from many Primary school teachers,
a curriculum which schools sometimes perceive
Mobile technologiesin music education– playing the home advantage
24 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
![Page 25: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
as inflexible and a lack of meaningful CPD and
time to invest in seeking out and learning to use
technologies and we may be getting to the root
of the issues.
Despite the lack of technology in their musical
lives in schools, most pupils in our study
reported enjoyment and enthusiasm for their
musical learning in school. Many had active
musical lives in and out of school that went
beyond music listening, although more than
half did not think their teacher knew what they
did musically outside school. This enthusiasm
for music in school is a great starting point; our
collective responsibility now is to develop ways
in which mobile and other digital technologies
can be meaningfully embedded to support and
enhance musical learning whilst still, as
Swanwick advocates, ‘teaching music
musically’.
We consider that ongoing, subject-specific
mentoring and progressive CPD which takes
place firstly in a safe, supportive and creative
environment and then in classrooms is crucial to
the development of the workforce of the future
at all levels of education. We need to remember
that music education is about encouraging
pupils to ‘think and act as musicians’;
technology should support this and help pupils
to do something more effectively and musically,
not just for entertainment or amusement
(Mackrill, 2009).
Mobile digital technology is the past, the
present and, for now, the future and it is clear
that children have high levels of motivation for
using it. Ofsted (2012) strongly advocates its use
and demonstrates its power as a learning tool in
music. Clearly, we need to keep education
relevant and progressive; the challenge is to
make senior leaders and teachers aware of the
benefits of these technologies for children’s
learning and provide models of implementation.
Next time you switch on your smartphone to
update your Facebook page, give a little creative
thought to tapping into the immense power of
the learning tools and Apps in your pocket and
the tacet knowledge, skills and understanding in
your classroom.
References
Mackrill, D. (2009) The integration of ICT in the
music classroom. In Evans, J & Philpott, C (eds.)
A Practical Guide to Teaching Music in the
Secondary School. London: Routledge
Ofsted (2012) Music in schools: Wider still, and
wider. Online at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/
resources/music-schools-wider-still-and-wider
*Did You Know 3.0 - Shift Happens (May 2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9WDtQ4Ujn
8&feature=fvst
Swanwick, K. (1999) Teaching music musically.
London: Routledge
About the authors
Dr Alison Daubney is a music education tutor
and Research Fellow at the University of Sussex
and a consultant for University of Cambridge
overseas music curriculum projects. She also
works extensively on a freelance basis running
workshops, developing training courses,
writing pedagogic materials and evaluating and
advising arts education projects. Alison is a
qualified and experienced classroom and
instrumental music teacher with a varied
research portfolio.
Duncan Mackrill is a Senior Lecturer at the
University of Sussex where he has led the PGCE
programme since 2008 and the PGCE Music since
1999. Prior to this, he was a Secondary music
teacher, Head of Music and has worked as a music
technology consultant with schools and Local
Authorities. His current areas of interest are the
integration and development of ICT in music
education, ePortfolios and transition. In 2005, he
was awarded a Higher Education Academy National
Teaching Fellowship.
25Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
![Page 26: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
What it is Composing and notation software
Produced by Finale Music www.finalemusic.com
Price $350 as an Academic licence. For more
specific pricing for your establishment, contact
your local supplier
So tell me… what is it?
In basic terms, Finale is a piece of software for
creating musical scores. If you are familiar with
Sibelius, then the concept is very similar.
Traditionally, Finale has always had a much
bigger presence in America and Sibelius has
been more popular in Europe due to these being
the principal locations of manufacture for each
piece of software. There are other players in the
field – such as NOTION which we reviewed in the
last issue – but Finale and Sibelius have always
been the colossuses in the field.
If you are trying write up a piece of music that
has been composed elsewhere and are looking
to publish it or print it for performers to use,
then Finale will almost certainly fulfil your
requirements. If you are looking to create music
from scratch and are hoping for something
including thousands of loops, several soft-
synths and detailed MIDI editing, then I am
afraid you might be disappointed. Although
Finale does come with perfectly useable
sounds for listening to your work as you go,
these are not super-high-quality samples
costing thousands.
However, with the announcement that Avid is
stopping support for Sibelius and if your school
or college needs an upgrade to its score-writing
software, then Finale might do the job.
So… how does it work?
First things first. We need to get a project
started by clicking on File>New and there are
several options here that include templates
and the Setup Wizard which allows any
combination of instruments you care to
imagine. This is my normal choice as it is
unlikely the software knows which peculiar set
of instruments I am writing for this week.
However, if it is for an ensemble that you use
regularly, such as a specific arrangement for a
school band, then you can save the template as
a preset – a very useful feature. You can then
go through the process of setting title, key
signature, time signature and any extras such
as a pick-up bar etc.
Information is added via the set of tools on
screen in conveniently labelled ‘Palettes’.
There is one labelled ‘Simple Entry Palette’
which contains all the basic note durations,
sharps, flats, eraser and a tool for adjusting
pitches without affecting their length. There is
also a more advanced set of tools which
includes all the less regularly used information
such as key/time signature adjustments and the
tools that are often added after the notes are in
place such as dynamics and articulation.
Notes and other musical markings are added
via a simple click and drag approach or can be
recorded via a connected MIDI keyboard.
Alterations such as accidentals can be added by
similar means. This is different from Sibelius
where notes need to be selected first when they
are being altered. I prefer the approach of
clicking on accidentals as it is significantly
quicker when doing a large amount in one go –
something that happens occasionally.
When your music has been inputted correctly, it
can be viewed via the parts as well as the score
to check how the individual instruments appear
before printing. The only slight complaint I had
about this was where this option was positioned
within the menus – my brain assumed it would
be under View and it is, in fact, found under
Document>Edit Part. No matter how much I
used it, I could not train my brain that, to see a
part, I had to look here rather than ‘View’! Finale
lets you export parts easily whether to a file via
File>Extract Parts or to print them all via
File>Print when also printing the score.
Review - Finale
26 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
![Page 27: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Finale includes some good little additions that
can also be found in other software such as the
ability to add a video track for a composition for
film, an audio track option for writing
accompaniments (I use it more often for
transcription) and the ability to use Audio Units
and other plugins for sound creation.
So… how would I use it in education?
Well, that is kinda up to the individual teacher – I
haven’t got enough space in this article to write
schemes of work for everyone. But the classic
uses for score-writing software are the writing up
of GCSE and A-Level music composition.
However, using some of the more advanced
features, it could be possible to do basic film
music composition work with students. The main
drawback with this is that students would be
required to have some knowledge of notation
and a grasp of how to put a score together. You
could, of course, set up a template in Finale –
but there are more suitable pieces of software
available if this is a project you’d like to run.
The traditional methods for score-writing
software are still the creation of presentable-
looking pieces of music for submitting to exam
boards and for using with school or college
ensembles. There is a pretty simple interface for
inputting notation – however, knowledge of this
is required before it can be used. There is no
way to input notation visually such as an on-
screen keyboard or fret board for those players
who like to input that way. The MIDI keyboard is
an option but not a suitable one for guitarists.
As SmartMusic owns Finale, the software
contains access to all of the exercises for
instrumental practice including scales,
arpeggios and other interval-based exercises.
These can be generated from a very large
database of keys, clefs and pitches and can be
saved for future use rather than having to be
recreated each time as in some other software.
So… is it worth it?
My answer is the biggest cop-out of all – ‘Well,
that depends…’
If you don’t have any score-writing software in
your school, then it is a perfectly good piece of
software for that purpose and the finished
product will be of a very high quality. However, it
is not the most student-friendly of all the score-
writing programs I have used so might not be
appropriate for younger students or those less
experienced with notation writing. If you are
looking for a high-quality piece of software of
your own for the creation of resources, then this
could well be the software for you. It has a level
of detail that is found only in this software and
with some of the simplified editing techniques, it
is quicker to operate than its rivals.
So… finally, the comparison
After three issues and several thousand words,
we have reached the point at which we can draw
it all together. Having viewed three different
pieces of software, Sibelius, NOTION and Finale,
they all have their strengths and weaknesses.
The workflows in all three are quite different in
the latest versions with the common factor being
the basic page image as the default structure in
which to create scores. Finale has a great
resource in the addition of scales and
worksheets but Sibelius does include many of
these as well. NOTION includes a great selection
of plugins as a bonus for guitarists and other
musicians. Sibelius to my mind includes the best
selection of sounds for playback and creating
recordings.
All of these opinions are mine and every
individual will have slightly different thoughts. All
of the manufacturers offer demo versions of the
software from their websites – so download
them all and see for yourself which one suits you
and your establishment.
27Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Sibelius NOTION Finale
Includes sound library X X X
Includes additional plugins X
Includes fret board for note input X X
Exports parts simultaneously X X
Exports audio X X X
Includes educational resources X X
Tablet App available X X
Three-way comparison chart
![Page 28: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
28 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
The Apptitude test
Title Bloom, Trope and Air
Produced by Opal Limited
www.generativemusic.com
Price £2.49, £2.49 and £1.49
Available from
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bloom/id29
2792586?mt=8, https://itunes.apple.com/
gb/app/trope/id312164495?mt=8 and
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/air/
id312163985?mt=8
In this issue, I am
going to focus on
some of the Apps
that have been
created in
conjunction with
legendary
producer, Brian
Eno. The first
of these, Bloom,
has now been out
for some time but
since then,
several more have
been released,
including Trope
and Air, all in partnership with programmer,
Peter Chilvers.
These are very simple Apps to operate and,
when opened, offer you the option to listen to
prearranged sounds or create your own.
Whichever you select, you are then presented
with a plain pastel-coloured background and
the music is created from there. There are
many deeper settings available but these are
hidden away and only accessible if you want
them rather than presented at the beginning
as a bewildering and off-putting array of
controls. I like the initial simplicity of these
Apps on loading as, when working with
children and young people, too many
settings before the music-making begins
is counter-intuitive to the engagement the
device brings.
To operate Bloom once it has been opened,
simply touch the screen and a small dot will
create an ambient, pitched sound. How high
or low the dot appears on the screen will
affect the pitch of the sound generated. All of
the sounds are on an infinite loop and will
keep repeating until the user restarts or
closes the App. There are many different
‘moods’ with slightly different sounds which
Mr Eno has provided to generate some
interest. However, I personally think the
sounds are a little too similar and could have
done with slightly more variation. I appreciate
that ambient music doesn’t have a huge range
of sounds but even a couple of slightly less
‘plinky’ sounds would help.
Trope is very similar in most respects to Bloom
in that it provides an evolving background that
can be drawn on
to create sound.
However, Trope
allows the user to
draw shapes and
lines that affect
the sound and
timbre. The
different shapes
are available
within the options
but anything can
be drawn on the
screen initially to
create music. The
sounds in this App
are a little more varied so interest can be
maintained for longer.
Air is slightly different in that the screen comes
set with several different triangular shapes,
each of which is loaded with samples that can
be played. There are three different sets of
sounds that can be mixed and matched but I
found sticking to the same instrument
throughout made the most pleasing sounds.
These particular
Apps are
developing
something of a
reputation within
education circles
for being useful in
SEND (Special
Educational
Needs and
Disability)
settings. As the
Apps require little
skill or movement,
children who have
limited motor
skills and/or understanding can use them
easily. The sounds created are quite soothing
and when the Apps are linked to speakers or
other sensory devices, the students can create
their own sound and light shows.
The Apps can, of course, be used in other
education settings; for example, as a backing
music generator when working with Key Stage 2
students on mixed media projects such as
podcasts. As the music created is constantly
evolving, the Apps can be used in lessons
regarding pitch and timbre and when studying
ambient music at a higher Key Stage.
Obviously, the principles regarding SEND also
apply to any student who might struggle with
motor skills or just needs a tool to create music
quickly. These Apps have that all-important
initial ‘fix’ which could get a student hooked on
music-making. Please have a go and let me
know what you think.
In this series of reviews, Digital Learning Editor, Tim Hallas, looks at useful musicApps available for mobile devices and discusses their relative merits and how theymight be used in the classroom. Here, Tim looks at three Apps created in conjunctionwith producer, Brian Eno.
Bloom
Trope
Air
![Page 29: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Classroom music education for Primary
school children in Australia is a very
‘hit and miss’ affair. Some schools offer
sequential, engaging music programmes,
others offer nothing at all and most are
somewhere in between. Music’s
significant and unique contribution to
children’s learning and lives is
overwhelmingly supported by current
research yet timetabling for music
education is often minimal and the quality
of many music education programmes is
questionable. Despite the research, music
education continues to be ‘downsized’ in
favour of other areas of the curriculum.
What is required is a paradigm shift –
a shift in the attitudes of educators,
universities and parents. By engaging
children in quality learning experiences in
music (and other areas of the curriculum),
the emphasis then becomes one of
educating the child to participate fully in
a complex, vibrant and diverse world.
For us to encourage engagement in this
kind of world, we must get the message
through that music is important and
that every child has the right to a quality
music education.
On the whole, parents hope their children
will be educated so that they can
contribute to society in a meaningful way
and lead happy, fulfilled lives. Some
parents are unaware of the potential that
classroom music education has to
contribute to this objective. A quality,
engaging classroom music education
offers quite a different learning experience
from instrumental study. What if parents
were given an opportunity to experience a
classroom music programme that allowed
for creativity, imagination, musical skill
development, understanding of musical
concepts and playing of percussion
instruments? And what would parents see
as the benefits of music education if they
themselves enjoyed this learning within a
social context? Perhaps a recognition of
these benefits is what is needed for
parents to then demand quality school
Giving flight to theimagination –Orff-Schulwerk and intergenerationalmusic learning in Australia
How can we make parents aware of the potential that a quality, engaging classroommusic education has to make a significant and unique contribution to children’slearning and lives? One way is to invite them to take part, explains Creative ArtsEducator, Sarah Brooke.
29Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Graphic notation of a piece from Volume 4 of Music for Children by Carl Orff. The ‘tree’ had coloured leaves
depicting various body percussion (claps, stamps, etc.)
Elsie chose to play the glockenspiel with her friend’s father, David
![Page 30: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
30 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
music programmes for their children. They
may well see that isolating instrumental
tuition geared towards the precision
playing of others’ compositions is not a
substitute for a creative classroom music
programme. A shift in the attitudes of
parents could be the catalyst for music
education to become the valued and
resourced curriculum area in Primary
schools it so rightly deserves to be.
With the above in mind, I invited children
and their parents from one inner city
Melbourne school to learn music
together for two hours, one night a week,
for a period of five weeks as part of my
doctoral study. The sessions were
conducted with the same approach as
would be used with Primary school children
alone. I hoped the parents would be
engaged and see value in being part of a
music learning and music-making
community and I believed that the Orff-
Schulwerk approach could allow for this to
happen successfully. I was curious to see if
there was a difference in music learning
when children were learning alongside
their families. This context was slightly
different from a community music
approach which may not have education at
its core.
Twenty-eight participants elected to join the
study with a variety of family groupings and
children were aged between 7 and 13.
Only one of the parents played music – a
few chords self-taught on guitar – and
several had learned an instrument as a
child (which seemed more often than not
an unpleasant experience).
Each of the sessions was filmed and is
currently being edited into a documentary
The body percussion was challenging for children and adults alike
Michelle and her son, Callum, concentrating on playing a bass ostinato
![Page 31: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
about the study. Small excerpts can be
seen on my website (see link at end).
The school offers little in the way of a
classroom music programme and has no
specialist music teacher. It offers
instrumental music lessons on a user-pays
system and there were only two children in
the group who were not learning an
instrument. Initially, parents felt they
were providing for their children’s musical
needs but it became apparent to most
during the study that learning an
instrument and learning to be musical
were not necessarily one and the same.
An Orff-Schulwerk activity encompasses
creativity, decision-making, composition,
problem-solving, diversity, enjoyment and
group work and is far removed from the
‘practice makes perfect’ understanding
embedded in most instrumental teaching.
Musically, parents who initially felt
‘unmusical’ were able to demonstrate
understandings of beat, rhythm, form,
dynamics and other music concepts.
Children gravitated to the tuned
percussion instruments and were able to
improvise and create melodies,
something not attempted on their regular
instruments. On the whole, the children
really enjoyed working with their parents.
There were some joyous moments for the
children when they were provided with
opportunities that would otherwise be
denied in a regular classroom. Being held
upside-down by Dad or sitting on Dad’s
shoulders or correcting Mum’s rhythmic
pattern was obviously enjoyable for them.
Some parents saw their children
differently. One saw that his child could
provide creative, appropriate responses
when asked, despite initially believing
this unlikely. His view of his child’s ability
and potential was strengthened and
possibly carried over to how he could
perceive his child in the regular
classroom. Parents also enjoyed watching
their children interact with others, both
children and adults. For full-time workers,
this was an opportunity to connect with
other parents and to feel part of the
school community.
As the time frame was so limited, no
definitive claims can be made about
music learning in this context. However,
the experience was a very positive one
and the concept is one that I hope to
explore further.
Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg
www.orff-schulwerk-forum-salzburg.org
About the author
Sarah Brooke’s teaching career has been ongoing
for about 150 years – to babies, children of all
ages, prisoners, pre-service teachers, parents,
classroom teachers and music specialist teachers.
She has been fortunate to share her knowledge
through facilitating training and workshops in the
Orff-Schulwerk approach to music and movement
education in Australia, China, Singapore, Hong
Kong and New Zealand. Currently, she is completing
her doctoral study researching music learning
within an intergenerational setting.
Sarah’s website
www.sarahbrooke.com.au
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 31
About Orff-Schulwerk
Developed during the 1920s by
German composer, Carl Orff, and his
colleague, Gunild Keetman, the Orff-
Schulwerk approach teaches group
music-making using song, movement,
drama and speech in an atmosphere
that is similar to the child's world of play.
The term ‘schulwerk’ is German for
‘school work’.
Often called ‘Elemental Music-making’
because the materials needed to teach
students are ‘simple, basic, natural, and
close to a child’s world of thought and
fantasy’ (Mary Shamrock, Orff-
Schulwerk: An Integrated Method. Music
Educator’s Journal 83 (May, 1997): 41-
44), instruments within the approach
include xylophones, marimbas,
glockenspiels, metallophones, drums
and recorders. Children sing, chant,
clap, dance, pat and snap fingers along
to melodies and rhythms. The music is
largely modal, beginning with pentatonic
(both major and minor) scales. Songs
are usually short and within singing
range, contain ostinatos and can be
played in a round or ABA form.
Aidan giving some advice to his father, Sean, about creating a melody
![Page 32: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
On 26 July 2012, Rewind Presents, a
group of young songwriters, musicians,
events coordinators and budding
entrepreneurs, went to the Houses of
Parliament as finalists of the CILIP
Libraries Change Lives Award. As well as
performing a specially written song for
honoured guests and attendees including
Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, Rewind went on
to win the award and a trophy and to
secure prize money of £4,000. Chair of
Judges for the award, Linda Constable,
described Rewind as ‘an inspired project
with dedicated library staff working with
some engaged and enthusiastic youngsters
to learn vital life skills whilst doing
something that they love’.
I believe Rewind is all that and more; a
testament to the active minds of the young
people involved and to the collaborative
efforts of a number of services at the heart
of what makes this project sustainable.
Rewind was initially conceived as a self-
contained set of ten weekly songwriting
workshops to culminate in a showcase
performance of the young peoples’ work.
Part of a wider Songwriting in Libraries
initiative and facilitated by the coming
together of three agencies (NYMAZ,
Connecting Youth Culture and North
Yorkshire County Council’s Libraries
Service), Rewind continues to grow and
change to meet the needs of the young
people we work with.
During that first bunch of workshops, we
would write songs, record them on an
iPhone and then share them online (via
soundcloud.com and the Rewind Presents
website), coming back to them the
following week and honing our work. We
would always aim to be as flexible as
possible and to be driven by each
individual’s personal interests; their
learning coming through the process of
working on the music they are most
passionate about. If you’re a fan of
Radiohead, there’s little fun to be had (or
point in) trying to make you write a song
that sounds like Taylor Swift. Towards the
end of the initial programme, we brought in
PA equipment and microphones, focussing
on performance skills, stagecraft and
communicating with an audience. Finally,
we put on a small show in the library for
friends and family and the young people
excelled in their spotlight.
What struck me most in those initial ten
weeks was the impact that making art and
having fun was having on these young
people’s lives. Some found a songwriting
voice to vent frustrations, some seemed to
grow in front of our very eyes as they
performed songs they’d written in front of
people they’d never met. For others, a safe
environment in which to flex their creative
muscles, as well as easy access to the
library’s wealth of books, CDs, DVDs and
computers, was inspirational – a library is
a fantastic resource centre.
Following the success of those sessions,
there was great enthusiasm within the
group to continue and (in no small part due
to the tenacity and drive of Skipton
Library’s amazing Claire Thompson), the
three services again worked together to
provide more music provision (i.e. me, in
the main), a place to work and the
equipment for more sessions with a view to
building a bigger, better Rewind. The group
rallied and networked to build the number
of attendees, planned a larger concert,
designed posters, promoted it online and
off, booked a number of independent
artists and bands, organised all the
technical requirements, navigated Health
and Safety, dressed the venue and
performed their work. The concert sold out.
Amazing. And we won an O2 Think Big
award too. Double nice.
In the preparation for this second, bigger
show, we covered many vibrant strands of
work in the music industries so, perhaps
predictably, our Rewinders each had their
own focus. With so many and such varied
interests and such a diverse bunch of
growing people, it can be difficult to allow
everyone full freedom of expression in
Rewind Presents– libraries changing lives
In July 2012, NYMAZ (North Yorkshire Youth Music Action Zone) and North YorkshireCounty Council celebrated winning the Libraries Change Lives Award for the SkiptonRewind Club. Here, songwriter and facilitator, Rich Huxley, shares his overview ofthis innovative songwriting project.
32 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Making music at Rewind. Photo courtesy of Claire Thompson
![Page 33: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 33
everything they do and keep the sessions
focussed. The activities that our Rewinders
undertake now include:
•writing and performing songs •playing
music (solo and in groups) •organising
small- and medium-scale concerts as well
as a festival and street-based events
•sales and marketing •graphic and
merchandise design •use of social media
•blogging on their own website •rallying for
a more vibrant music community in Skipton
To this day, Rewind remains adaptable to the
interests of those who attend; the sessions
are part-music workshop, part-events
planning, part-youth work. Keeping the ship
pointing in a focussed direction amid
sometimes wildly different interests remains
a challenge. The main challenge from my
point of view, however, is time. If only we
could have eight hours per week rather than
two, just think of the magic we could make!
With such major cuts to arts funding, the
exclusion of arts subjects from the English
Baccalaureate and 27% of schools
withdrawing arts subjects from their
curriculum (Ipsos-MORI: 20123*), it is
increasingly vital that we work for these
opportunities for young people to develop
their creativity. While there is sound
thinking behind encouraging excellence in
core subjects, and I say this as a BA
English Language graduate, focussing on
academic subjects to the exclusion of the
arts is detrimental to both our culture and
our economy.
To be clear, I am with Sir Ken Robinson on
this. I believe that, as a nation, we need to
support people in their creativity, helping
them excel in the areas that they are most
interested and talented in. The opportunities
for young people to explore and develop their
creative practice in the arts are decreasing.
For young people, getting the chance to
create something they never thought they’d
be able to can be life-changing. If they get to
make art they are passionate about and
learn the entrepreneurial skills to make that
a sustainable career, then all the better for
culture, society and the economy. We can
help build a smarter, more interesting future.
To win the Libraries Change Lives Award
feels to me like some sort of nod to this.
A recognition of the good things that young
people can achieve in a holistic learning
environment. Much to my personal regret,
I could not attend the award itself; however,
it is with great pride and affection that I
think of everyone involved in Rewind
Presents – proper, good, resourceful
people doing what they can to support
enterprise and creativity in young people.
As Linda Constable said, ‘This project
shows what teenagers can do when
encouraged, not criticised.’
Long may she sail.
Rewind Presents
rewindpresents.wordpress.com
NYMAZ (North Yorkshire Youth Music
Action Zone)
www.nymaz.org.uk
Connecting Youth Culture (CYC)
www.northyorks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articlei
d=6134
Chartered Institute of Library and
Information Professionals (CILIP)
www.cilip.org.uk
*Ipsos-MORI research findings
bit.ly/EBacc-IpsosMORI
Further reading
education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingD
ownload/DFE-RR249.pdf
artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/pdf/Fin
al_economic_benefits_of_arts.pdf
guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov
/02/britain-creative-edge-is-at-risk
education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlear
ning/qualifications/englishbac/a0075975
/the-english-baccalaureate
guardian.co.uk/education/2012/nov/02/
arts-leaders-concerns-ebacc-schools
About the author
Rich Huxley is a musician, music industries
consultant and public speaker, record producer,
member of the band, Hope and Social, MA Music
Industries student, educator, lecturer, writer and the
music mentor at Rewind Presents.
Rich’s website
www.richhuxley.com
Rich Huxley on Twitter
www.twitter.com/thehuxcapacitor
Rich Huxley’s band
www.hopeandsocial.com
NYMAZ (North Yorkshire Youth Music
Action Zone) works with strategic partners
to deliver high-quality music-making
activities for children and young people
across rural North Yorkshire. Working across
a wide range of music genres and styles, its
projects enable young people to access
learning and performance opportunities
with skilled artists and develop new musical,
personal and social skills.
Projects cover a range of activities for 0-18
year olds: singing activities for babies and
children; working with the latest interactive
music and performance technology;
composition and performance residencies
in Special schools; youth choirs; and
workshops leading to performances
alongside leading musicians.
Connecting Youth Culture (CYC) is a dedi-
cated team that specialises in arts for young
people and forms an integral part of North
Yorkshire County Council’s Youth Service.
CYC works with young people aged 11-25
across a varied landscape with a rich social
mix. Its approach embodies a conviction that
the arts can make a positive impact on young
people, particularly where provision includes
high-quality equipment, training and support.
There is a strong emphasis on accessibility,
including use of mobile resources.
The ethos of CYC is to ensure that young
people are the main drivers of their own art
projects and influence the organisation’s
policy. It supports and facilitates,
encouraging positive and creative risk-
taking to express, explore and unlock
potential and to self-evaluate achievement.
CYC delivers over 500 art projects a year as
well as exhibitions, performances and
showcases culminating in the CultureShock
youth arts festival.
North Yorkshire Library and Information
Service maintains 42 libraries and one
supermobile library, providing books,
computers, music, films and a wide range
of services to those living across the county.
Project partners
![Page 34: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
South West Music School (SWMS) is one
of the Centres of Advanced Training
(CAT) supported by the Department for
Education’s Music and Dance Scheme.
We work in a slightly different way from the
other CATs so that we can address the
issues that are presented by the vast and
predominantly rural nature of our region.
We describe ourselves as a ‘virtual school’
– not because we are online but because
we have no one fixed base and work with
young people in their locality.
We work with over 100 young people on a
regular basis across four programmes:
• Core Programme
• Composers’ Programme
• Feeder Scheme
• Induction Programme
The young people in our Core and Composers’
Programmes work through a package of 1-
2-1 mentoring with an industry profession-
al, high-quality tuition and residential learn-
ing opportunities. It has been our experience
that exceptional talent doesn’t normally fit
into traditional educational environments.
Many of the young people we work with
have not had constructive formal music
experiences and we work with an above-
national-average proportion of young
people who come from home education,
Pupil Referral Units or are not in education,
employment or training (NEET).
The key to SWMS’s success in engaging
with all of these young people has been in
enabling them to develop the confidence
to move back into a more structured
learning environment. This has been
achieved through an individual learning
approach. Each young person’s
programme is totally bespoke; no two
programmes look the same.
Working with their mentor (mainly in their
own homes), a young person sets clear
goals and measurable targets for each
year. By working through this process, the
young person has ownership of their
learning and their assessment of it and
consequently develops the skills to be able
to identify their future needs. From these
goals, high-quality tuition is programmed.
In the case of young people who have not
had positive educational experiences, it is
crucial that we get their teachers right.
They need to be individuals who can not
only understand the young person’s point
of reference quickly and instil confidence
from the offset (as any good teacher can)
but also be a good personality match.
Nurturing musical talent inthe West Country – workingindividually with young peoplewho are outside mainstreameducation
The South West Music School (SWMS) creates individually tailored specialist musicdevelopment programmes for young musicians who show exceptional talent andpotential. Here, CEO and Artistic Director, Lisa Tregale, describes the school’s workwith young people who are difficult to engage.
34 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Top of page: Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford
Musical Collaboration. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford
Learning together. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford
![Page 35: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 35
But these two elements are not delivered
in isolation. The young person is at the
centre of a network consisting of mentor,
instrumental and composition teachers,
parents/guardians, SWMS CEO and
Artistic Director, pastoral staff and formal
education provider (where appropriate).
Everyone can work together in supporting
a young person’s musical development.
Working residentially is also a large
factor in developing young people. For
many, it is the first time that they’re able
to enter a multi-genre musical
environment where they are stimulated,
listened to and respected by their peers.
They can feel ‘normal’ and just be
themselves as others understand where
they are coming from and where they
want to go.
At SWMS, we feel it is important not to
focus on what can’t be done or hasn’t
been done in the past but rather on
what can be achieved NOW. With
everyone working together, we can enable
young people to maximise their potential
and talents.
As part of our work, we recently completed a
Youth Music Spotlight on encouraging talent
and potential, producing four case studies
based on young peoples’ learning
experiences. These can be found at
http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/how-
south-west-music-school-supports-musical
-ability.
DfE’s Music and Dance Scheme
www.education.gov.uk/schools/
toolsandinitiatives/b0068711/mds
Youth Music Spotlight
http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resource
s/resourcepacks/supporting-musical-ability
About the author
Lisa Tregale is CEO and Artistic Director of South
West Music School. She has held posts as Director
of Beaford Arts, Executive Producer of Dartington
International Summer School, Chair of Music
Leader SW and Executive Board member of the
British Arts Festival Association and has
participated with Arts Council England South West
advisors network and grants panels.
Exploring creativity. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford
Discussing music. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford
South West Music School (SWMS) is a
Centre of Advanced Musical Training for
the whole of the South West region,
covering the counties of Cornwall, Devon,
Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire,
Gloucestershire and the major urban
areas of Bournemouth and Poole,
Plymouth, Bristol and Swindon.
SWMS was formed in 2006 through a
partnership between local Music Services,
the Dartington Hall Trust, the Wiltshire
Music Centre, Wells Cathedral School and
the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. It
is one of six national Centres of Advanced
Training for music at ages 8 to 18. Due to
the success of the partnership, SWMS
became an independent organisation
(Charity no. 1138482) in September 2010.
Because of the geography of the South
West, SWMS is not building-based but is a
‘virtual school’ working with young people
on an individual basis in their local area.
SWMS students live with their families and
remain as part of their local communities.
They take part in local groups and
ensembles and are able to give back to
their peers and their schools as they learn.
SWMS encourages and develops those
young people across the South West
region who show exceptional musical
talent and potential, regardless of their
social or musical backgrounds. In addition
to its regular activities, SWMS works with
over 500 young people through its project
work across the region.
www.swms.org.uk
About South West Music School
![Page 36: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
When I was awarded an Asialink Artist
Residency in Timor-Leste (East
Timor), I imagined creating a large-scale,
site-specific composition in the rural
landscape (I pictured lush, green jungle),
collaborating with local musicians and
learning about the local music traditions.
Accompanied by my partner, Tony, I was to
be based in the remote town of Lospalos,
six hours from the capital city of Dili, creat-
ing community music projects with my host
organisation, Many Hands International.
As a music workshop leader, my work in
Australia takes place in community settings
on behalf of symphony orchestras and arts
education providers. My projects range
from short-term intensives to weekly
engagements over a six-month period,
resulting in group-devised compositions
and performance pieces.
However, the challenge in a community-
based residency is to allow the community
to tell you – directly or indirectly – what it
wants of a foreign musician in its midst.
When I first arrived in Lospalos, the ideas
I shared about collaborative projects were
received with smiles and nods – but not
with practical support. My host
organisation was at a loss (it was their
first-ever arts project in Timor-Leste) and,
in confusion, I retreated to my rented
home to ponder my musical options and
play my clarinet.
My clarinet-playing on the front veranda
generated interest. At first, I would hear
halts in the neighbours’ nightly bingo
game (family bingo is a regular entertain-
ment for Timorese families – they sing
the numbers in bluesy patterns and play
for money) as they listened and,
frequently, small groups of children would
gather in front of the house, watching
intently. One day, they felt bold enough to
venture closer and thus began the
Veranda Jams.
From Veranda Jamsto Toka Bo’ots– community music in East Timor
Australian musician, educator and facilitator, Gillian Howell, gave a presentation onher work with rural communities in East Timor at last year’s International Society forMusic Education (ISME) World Conference. Here, she reports on how a project whichstarted on her veranda grew to include over 500 participants.
36 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
Learning to play chord progressions on the veranda in Lospalos. Photo © Gillian Howell
The first experiments with freshly cut green bamboo – blowing tubes and tapping sticks together.
Photo © Gillian Howell
![Page 37: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 37
Veranda Jams
Veranda Jams took place daily and everyone
was welcome. They were impromptu and
unscheduled – children would appear when-
ever Tony or I entered the veranda with an
instrument – and the music we played
came from rhythms that the children would
beat on the buckets we used as drums.
We tried to gather more instruments so
that everyone had something to play.
Neighbours sold us slender trunks of
bamboo (Tony cut it down with a machete
and the children and I carried armfuls
home) which we used to make claves and
experimental three-note instruments.
Later, another neighbour showed Tony how
to make a kakalo – a bamboo log drum
traditionally played by children to scare
foraging animals away from crops. We held a
working bee to make a further ten kakalos.
With bucket drums, claves, kakalos and
chime bars donated by an Australian
percussion supplier, the Veranda Jams
soon accommodated groups of 40+
children, each taking turns and teaching
each other new riffs and rhythms.
Kindergarten workshop
News about the musicians in town spread.
My landlady’s daughter attended a
kindergarten in the town centre. I offered
to lead a workshop there. The Veranda Jam
children borrowed two wheelbarrows from
other neighbours to help us transport the
instruments into town.
The kindergarten workshop involved sound-
scapes and rhythmic work. Some of the
children burst into tears at the sight of Tony
– with his 6’3” frame, almost twice the size
of the average Timorese man and his
strange, loud saxophone – but they were
intrigued by the chime bars and eager to
play the kakalos. Their parents crowded
around, delighted to see traditional instru-
ments being introduced by foreign musicians.
English songwriting
A local teenager told me about the English
language classes he attended every day. I
offered to drop by occasionally to help. In
the conversation classes that ensued, the
students described the local myths and
legends they had grown up with. These
classes became a two-way exchange –
English language practice in return for this
rich source of traditional stories and local
information. I suggested a songwriting work-
shop to the students. They were curious
and spread the word among their peers.
‘What shall we write a song about?’ I asked
and they listed suggestions like
‘heartbreak’, ‘love’ and ‘difficult times –
because the life here is hard’. In the end,
they decided to write about heartbreak and
new love!
I’m happy because
I found another love
We met at the market
Buying some bananas
The students worked in small groups to
create the lyrics. Tony accompanied on
guitar, suggesting a funk-rock feel that gave
everyone confidence to sing out with
heartfelt expression.
Further afield
We hired a 4WD and explored the district.
In the village of Cacavei, we created a
street parade, gathering children as we
progressed and fashioning instruments
from found objects – coconut shells,
A quiet moment to explore the chime bars.
Photo © Gillian Howell
Local children participating in one of the early Veranda Jams. Photo © Gillian Howell
![Page 38: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
38 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
smooth pairs of stones and a ridged metal
rod. We stopped in the village centre and
sang a local song that our guide had taught
me on the drive up.
One day, our car broke down and we
hitched a ride back to Lospalos with a group
of nuns. They told us that their convent on
the outskirts of town offered weekend
activities for local children. We later visited,
leading music workshops for over a hundred
children and using the legends that the
English language students had taught us as
the stimulus for the music.
Finale
To end my residency, my hosts and I con-
ceived a Toka Bo’ot – a Big Jam in the town
centre. The local Ministry of Culture provided
a PA system and chairs and we publicised
it via local radio and with printed flyers.
Around 500 people turned up, instruments
in hand, and we jammed on songs in the
local language, interspersed with riffs from
the Veranda Jams. Later, several rock bands
performed and people milled around the
space for the rest of the afternoon. It
seemed a suitably spontaneous and
community-driven end to my residency.
I realised that while I hadn’t created the
jungle music of my imagination, I had
created something large-scale. I’d learned
about local music traditions and incorpo-
rated these into my work and collaborated
with local musicians in all sorts of ways. In
the end, the community had shown me
what it wanted from a Community Musician
with activities that were characterised by
local resources and reciprocity.
Postlude
One evening in my last week, while lighting
mosquito coils and sipping gin and tonic,
Body percussion and songs in Cacavei.
Photo © Gillian Howell
The collection of kakalos we made in the instrument-making working bee. Photo © Gillian Howell
Toka Bo’ot – a large Community Jam in Lospalos. Photo © Gillian Howell
![Page 39: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 39
Tony observed, ‘We haven’t heard the
bingo game in a while’. We sat and
listened. ‘I guess they have had other
things to play these last couple of months,’
I offered in reply.
Many Hands International
www.manyhands.org.au
Asialink Arts Residencies
www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au/our_work/
arts/Arts_Residencies
Project videos
Toka Bo’ot
http://youtu.be/62X7JsfslwM
Songwriting at Esperansa
http://youtu.be/oKkgnAvgybY
Learning and teaching traditional song
http://youtu.be/McD4R72HWbY
Convent workshop
http://youtu.be/Fi7mFf_mxCA
Instrument-making
http://youtu.be/rLPWgxXvmI8
About the author
Gillian Howell is a musician, educator and facilitator
of diverse creative music projects in communities
and schools. She has established and directed the
community outreach and engagement programmes
for both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and
the Australian National Academy of Music. She
devises and leads composition projects, residencies
and collaborations throughout Australia and
overseas, including with many of Australia’s flagship
orchestras and festivals, with newly arrived refugee
communities and in post-conflict and developing
countries.
Gillian’s website
gillianhowell.com.au
Gillian’s blog
musicwork.wordpress.com
The end of the street parade in Cacavei. Photo © Gillian Howell
Nose rub from a village elder in Cacavei. Photo © Gillian Howell
![Page 40: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
How many people know that, throughout
most of continental Europe, roads are
free of lorries on Sundays? Whether the
matter is of passing interest, such as traffic
regulation, or one of our more passionate
concerns, such as music education policy,
we are often less well informed about the
practices of our European neighbours than
we like to imagine.
I have spent two of the last six years in
Hungary furthering my own musical
education. The experience was
transformative – shatteringly so.
Fortunately, some of the shattering was of
my own musical ignorance and narrowness
of perspective. From being a teacher only
of my instrument (the oboe), I now teach
musicianship to learners of a variety of
ages and abilities.
The most distinguishing feature of
Hungarian lessons is the extent of and
reliance upon singing. The singing voice is
held to be a properly functioning organ of
every child (without exception) and, in
combination with the ear, the simplest and
best means for grasping fundamental
musical principles. In yet sharper contrast
to UK practice, there is an insistence on
the learning of ‘solfa’ as a grammar of
musical tones and a key to emotional
meaning in music. This system was
brought to Hungary in the inter-war period
by Zoltán Kodály who had encountered it
on a visit to England in the 1920s.
Impressed by the quality of our choral
singing, which then used this method, he
returned to promulgate it as a simple and
effective way of singing, understanding and
memorising both melody and harmony.
Solfa gradually fell out of use in this
country, although it has been spectacularly
revived recently in Scotland, specifically in
the National Youth Choir of Scotland
(NYCoS) initiative. It is widely
misunderstood in the remainder of the UK,
however, and this is partly because it
cannot, conceptually speaking, be
explained in words but only in conjunction
with vocal demonstration by an expert.
There is no point in delaying an admission
that ‘classical music’ vastly predominates
over all other styles in the Hungarian
system. Here, at last, we may have reached
a sticking point from a UK perspective. The
running commentary thus far may have
been: ‘Singing? Yes, a good idea in
principle. Solfa? Sounds interesting, worth
a try. But a diet of classical music? No,
that's turning the clock back.’
The Hungarian case offers us a way out of
this deadlock. Classical music is taught
there in a way which has never been
attempted here, that is to say, from the
inside. You don't listen to a recorded
nugget of Beethoven – you sing it! And the
experience is more real than Rattle and
the Berlin Philharmonic. They have
returned classical music to its embodied,
visceral originality.
A snapshot of a typical Hungarian music
lesson would fuel many a Western
European observer's suspicion of its being
excessively old-fashioned. The children sit
at desks, face the front, only speak when
they're spoken to and are rarely addressed
individually by the teacher. On the other
hand, they do not wear uniforms, they are
respectful of, yet familiar with, their
teachers and they inhabit airy classrooms
and well-built school premises. A yet more
striking difference, and a question I would
like to go into, is why the Hungarian music
lesson remains unwired. One answer is
that technology breaks the link between
the child and her singing and moving body.
The teacher too no longer engages the
children but becomes their intermittent
supervisor. It is true that this modern
configuration supports a notion of
‘differentiated’ learning and, if carefully set
up, offers an interesting model of self-
support and personal responsibility on the
part of the pupil. But is it a stage to aim for
before the musical basics have been
learnt collectively?
The British model here is the exception,
globally speaking. I have observed and
taught in a French Middle school and can
report that the new technologies are used
in much more restricted ways. Even class-
room instruments spend much of their
time as venerated objects of display, used
only for judiciously selected purposes,
unlike the caravan of roughed-up disparate
instruments we see so much of in Britain.
As for ICT in music education in general, I
am often put in mind of the psychology we
adopt towards the school bully. That is to
say, a lot of nice things have to be said to
his face before we can softly voice our
reservations to one another. Teachers up
and down the land feel constrained from
protesting at the hideous uses to which
these resources are routinely put, whether
in their capacity to crunch the input and
distort the output of the learner's musical
efforts or, on another front, to enhance and
provide a short cut for coursework in the un-
avowed interest of improving exam results.
Music learning in Hungary is a long game –
at both ends. Not only does it begin in
crèches and kindergarten but also the
child's learning is uninterrupted by any
external examination until the end of her
Secondary education. I find this peculiarly
suited to the nature of musical learning.
The case is surely of a process which
involves long and irregular maturation with
spurts and hiatuses occurring at
undetermined points. The so-called ‘Kodály
system’ in Hungary took wing from post-war
Voice from the frontZoltán Kodály brought ‘solfa’ to Hungary from the UK. While it has largely fallen outof fashion here, it remains at the heart of Hungarian music education. We ignore itat our peril, says musicianship teacher and oboist, Nicholas Benda.
40 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
![Page 41: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
For further information please contact Dr Lewis Peterman
[email protected] / 619-440-7046
www.centerforworldmusic.org/tours/tours.html
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 41
conditions of a centralised political system
and economic destitution (singing, after all,
comes free). Our present ‘austerity’ is a far
cry from that kind of poverty and we are
even more chary of the chastity and
obedience which certainly underlie the
Hungarian musical ethos. But its example
still stands in the face of appalling odds in
the modern world. We avert our eyes from it
with shame and to our cost.
Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute of
Music
www.kodaly-inst.hu
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
www.lfze.hu
British Kodály Academy
www.britshkodalyacademy.org
About the author
Nicholas Benda is a freelance oboist and
musicianship teacher. He has taught in Primary and
Secondary schools and recently completed an MA
in Kodály Music Pedagogy at the Franz Liszt
Academy of Music in Hungary.
The Kodály Institute, Kecskemét, Hungary
and Related ArtsPrograms Abroad 2013
center for world music
![Page 42: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
Winter is the most dangerous season for
stringed instruments. The cold and dry
weather – particularly in continental
climates but also in modern houses with
central heating – can be potentially
devastating for instruments.
Stringed instruments are made principally of
wood which expands in the humid Summer
months and contracts in the Winter. The
glue holding instruments together is made
from natural animal-based glue and is
water-soluble. Expansion and contraction
can cause minor inconveniences such as
buzzing or open seams or major problems
such as cracks. Dry weather can also affect
the bow as the wooden stick, the metal in
the adjustment mechanism and the hair are
susceptible to drying out.
Long-term exposure to very dry climates or
a short shock from a rapid change in
temperature can have several effects on
stringed instruments. Some of these may
not become apparent to the musician but
the instrument’s performance can be
subtly changed over time.
WARNING: A modern house with central
heating can be devastating to stringed
instruments
Very simply: If you and your body feels the
Winter, then so will your instrument. If your
lips and skin are dry in the Winter, the air is
probably very dry. There are certain things
to beware of and preventative steps you
can take.
Symptoms of over-exposure to a dry
Winter climate
1. Pegs become difficult to turn and slip
often
2. Strings break or tune above pitch
3. Seams and joints open up. Old
cracks re-open or new cracks appear,
especially in the table or ribs
4. The strings become too low above
the fingerboard
5. Endpins on cellos and basses
become stiff
6. The bow cannot be loosened
7. The bow is too straight and has lost
its strength
Causes of these problems and prevention
1. Pegs become difficult to turn: This is
caused by the difference in density
between the peg and the wood for
the scroll. The different woods
expand at different rates. Do be sure
to tune your instrument from the
pegs regularly rather than using fine
tuners on the tailpiece. If the pegs
are stuck, tune down and pull out at
the same time. If completely stuck,
seek professional help. The worst
thing that can happen is to break
the peg.
2. Strings break or tune above pitch.
Gut strings in particular lose
moisture and become tighter and
therefore can go above pitch.
Constant changes in temperature
can cause metal windings to lose
their tensile strength and snap.
3. Seams and joints open up. The glue
holding the plates to the ribs takes
on moisture and becomes less
effective. Once an opening has
occurred, seek professional help
from your violin-maker or repairer.
4. The strings become too low above
the fingerboard. This is caused by the
neck angle (elevation) rising. The
woods in the instrument and the neck
expand at different rates. If the
strings are too low, seek professional
help from your violin-maker or
repairer.
5. Endpins on cellos and basses
become stiff. The wooden socket
contracts around the metal endpin
shaft making it stiff to move. You can
grease the shaft of the endpin.
6. The bow cannot be loosened. The hair
loses moisture and shrinks, becoming
too short for the stick. The frog cannot
then be loosened off. Put the bow in
the bathroom when having a hot
shower. Be sure to wipe any moisture
off the stick and frog afterwards.
Stringed instrumentcare – how to look after your
instrument in Winter
Have you ever wondered if the harsh UK Winters are having an effect on your violinor cello? String players the world over have to consider the effects of climate ontheir instrument. Here, violin dealer, Justin Wagstaff, gives us some handy tips onstringed instrument care.
42 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
(A) bow hair under tension (B) bow slide at full slack position
![Page 43: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
7. The bow is too straight and has lost
its strength. As a result of No. 6, it
gradually loses its shape (camber).
Seek help from your violin-maker.
General tips for everyday care in Winter
1. Put your instrument away in its case
when you are not playing.
2. Use humidifiers: A humidifier inside
the instrument or case can help to
maintain a balanced ambient
humidity. Some good products on the
market are the Stretto (a simple drip-
free mechanism) or the Dampit or
Trophy humidifier (a snake-like product
that fits inside the f-hole of your
instrument)
3. Protect your house against the drying
effects of central heating: Again, the
best protection for the room you keep
your instrument in is a humidifier.
Alternatively, place cups of water
around the room and on window sills.
4. Never leave your instrument in a car
overnight. Not just for the risk of theft
but also because night-time
temperatures can drop several
degrees below zero.
The Sound Post Ltd
www.thesoundpost.co.uk
The Wessex Violin Company
www.thesoundpost.co.uk/wessex/start.html
About the author
Commercial Director of The Sound Post Ltd, Justin
Wagstaff, has 20 years’ experience in the violin
business. He joined Hong Kong-based Sandra
Wagstaff Violins in 1993 and it was there that his
love for the violin blossomed. With access to first-
class Italian, French and English instruments
through the shop, including several by Stradivari,
he quickly developed an understanding of antique-
makers and their instruments. His latest project is
working with English violin-makers to produce new
violins and cellos through the Wessex Violin
Company.
(A) Stretto humidifier pouch for mounting in case (B) Trophy humidifier mounted in bass f-hole
(C) Stretto electronic hygrometer for mounting in case
![Page 44: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
44 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
At the Musicians' Union, the whole
issue of whether it is better to be
employed or self-employed continues to
be a conundrum. Traditional union
activities are all about protecting the
rights of workers and making sure they
are not exploited in the workplace yet the
majority of our members – and musicians
in general – do not work for one employer
and have freelance careers working in a
variety of situations.
As freelancers, most musicians' working
lives include a combination of self-
employed and employed work and our
members fiercely try to maintain and fight
for their rights to be both employed and
self-employed.
So what are the implications of working
either way and why are we particularly
concerned about the changes that are
taking place?
The definitions of employment and
self-employment and the middle
ground of 'worker' status are complicated
and not as easy to clarify as one would
think. There is information at
www.musiceducationuk.com/employee-
worker-self-employed as to the legal
definitions yet one of the main issues we
have to address when initially dealing
with a case is whether the individual has
employment rights or not.
Often, individuals consider themselves to
have rights in the workplace because they
have worked there for a long time but
when things go wrong, if they haven't got
a definitive contract in place, members
can find themselves losing out financially
with no grounds for compensation.
Many of our members are happily self-
employed because they like being in
control of their careers and finances
and want the freedom this offers. Yet
being employed includes rights in the
workplace such as sick pay, maternity
and paternity pay, pensions and
redundancy pay, all of which have a
value. But these rights sometimes come
with compromise.
For instrumental teachers, we are seeing
a move away from employment to self-
employment in some circumstances yet
they are expected to continue to behave
like employees without the benefits.
This is a trend with which we completely
disagree and we have made our position
very clear to those employers with whom
we have experienced this so far. Another
trend we see increasingly in private
schools is an introduction of fees which
are charged to teachers to allow them
to work as self-employed individuals.
These range from token nominal fees to
what we feel is extortion. Recent cases
include schools taking 15% of collected
lesson fees or making charges to parents
of over £50 per hour of which less than
half is passed onto the teacher.
Unfortunately, we are now seeing similar
behaviour with some of the newly created
music education hubs which we find even
more abhorrent as they have access to
public money.
At the MU, we want our members not only
to be properly remunerated for their work
and to have sustainable careers but also
to be financially secure in periods when
they cannot work such as sickness or
retirement. We want to protect our
members’ rights to work as employed or
self-employed as they choose and to fight
for them when they are forced to change
their status.
It is in this area that being a member of a
union is so important. At the MU, we can
represent a body of musicians whereas
individuals sometimes find it hard to fight
their own cases. It is an area which will
continue to be a challenge for us but one
to which we will always rise.
Musicians Union
www.themu.org
MU Music Education Hub Pack
www.musiceducationuk.com/musicians-
union-hub-pack
State of the UnionThe Musicians’ Union (MU) has recently set up its own Music Education Hub Pack onthe Music Education UK website. The Hub Pack contains a wealth of information onMU resources, including legal advice for musicians who teach. One of the big issuesis around employment status and here, MU National Organiser for Live Performanceand Teaching, Diane Widdison, looks at the pros and cons of being employed or self-employed.
To be employed or
self-employed, that is
the question
![Page 45: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 45
Review
‘Community music’ can refer to very different approaches to music-
making, depending on whom you ask and where you are. In the opening
paragraphs of Community Music: In Theory And In Practice, practitioner
and scholar, Lee Higgins, addresses the complex question of defining
this diverse field of music practice and acknowledges that it includes a
multitude of approaches. Nonetheless, Higgins establishes from the
outset that his book is primarily concerned with community music as an
active intervention between a music facilitator and a group of
participants.
He describes this approach as one that is grounded in values of inclusion,
accessibility, social justice and cultural democracy. Like the community
cultural development movement, this model of community music often has
a social change agenda. Higgins proceeds to take us on a detailed journey
into the heart of this practice, communicating his passion for the subject
and his expertise.
The book is organised into two parts: the first, Inheritances and Pathways,
offers the reader a comprehensive description of the growth of community
music and the historical contexts that contributed to its development, in
particular, the counter-culture movement of the 1960s and the community
arts movement of the 1970s. The greatest detail is offered on the UK
community music context but historical developments in the United States
are also charted.
In the second part, Interventions and Counterparts, Higgins sets out his
theoretical framework for supporting community music as a distinctive
musical discourse as well as conceptual tools for analysing and
understanding community music practice. Higgins positions the
‘community’ in community music as an act of hospitality that offers a
deliberate and conscious welcome with an inherent ethic of acceptance
and inclusion.
The emphasis is not wholly on history and theory. This is a book that is
grounded in practice and Higgins makes frequent reference to real-life
examples and situations throughout the text, including a detailed case
study of a community samba band and further ‘illustrations of practice’
from around the world. My own work with recently arrived immigrant
children in Australia is one of the projects that is featured. Some of the
programmes described may be familiar to readers but others exemplify the
dedicated but often unheralded achievement that is a feature of many
community music initiatives around the globe.
As the first full-length work on the subject, it is likely that Community Music:
In Theory And In Practice will quickly become essential reading for students
of community music, teachers and trainers as well as music leaders from
within the field and beyond. For experienced practitioners wishing to
research their own community music practice, Higgins offers invaluable
tools for critical analysis.
And for those practitioners working outside the well-established UK
community music tradition, knowing their music work sits somewhere
between the boundaries of mainstream music education and music
therapy, there will be a delight in recognising their practice – ‘This is my
approach. This is where it fits’ – through Higgins’ descriptions of a very
creative, inclusive and responsive approach to music-making.
About the reviewer
Gillian Howell is a musician, educator and facilitator of diverse creative
music projects in communities and schools. She has established and
directed the community outreach and engagement programmes for both
the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Australian National Academy
of Music. She devises and leads composition projects, residencies and
collaborations throughout Australia and overseas, including with many of
Australia’s flagship orchestras and festivals, with newly arrived refugee
communities and in post-conflict and developing countries.
Singing Maths is a compilation of music activities for use as educational
tools for the lower Key Stage 2 mathematics curriculum. It has 20 songs,
along with recordings, that can be used in five areas of maths: Counting;
Numbers; Calculations; Measure; Shapes and Space. Each song is
presented with a teaching focus, lesson ideas, extended activities and
reproducible word pages.
Reviews
Title Community Music: In Theory And
In Practice
Author Lee Higgins
What it is Book on music-making
outside formal teaching and learning
situations
Published by Oxford University Press
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/
9780199777846.do#.UJYfU7R3s6U
Price £17.99
Title Singing Maths
Authors Helen MacGregor and
Stephen Chadwick
What it is Songbook and CD
designed to support maths teaching
at lower Key Stage 2
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/singing-
maths-9781408140864
Price £15.29
![Page 46: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
Several of the songs may sound familiar but have new lyrics to make the
maths experience more memorable. Each song, new or familiar, is provided
with a creative musical beat that will grab the students’ attention. If you’re
not a great singer, don’t worry. Singing Maths provides two tracks per song,
the first with demonstration singers and the second with accompaniment
for when students feel more confident with the music.
The lessons are laid out step by step to assure the most positive
experience for non-music teachers and their students. Most importantly,
the lessons remain focussed on reinforcing the maths material as students
learn the songs. With suggested movements, the songs help students
grasp concepts, vocabulary and the communal spirit of cooperative
learning both verbally and physically.
The suggested extended activities expand lesson opportunities by using the
songs as catalysts for enhancing similar concepts. For example, rather than
counting to one hundred by tens as in Ten to One Hundred, you could get
your students to divide into groups and assign each a different
multiplication set to perform. The activities can also be used to re-teach
and reinforce areas of challenge through peer teaching.
As an educator, I feel this is a solid source. It is imaginative yet practical.
Singing Maths presents the material in a very clear manner, making it not
only easy to use but also fun for the students. The music is upbeat and
memorable, aiding the students in recalling information and encouraging
them to revisit concepts on their own. As a musician, I also appreciated
the inclusion of the actual music to songs. In this way, I could choose to
change up the experience by playing the music on my own instrument.
Overall, Singing Maths receives an A+ and I will be recommending it to
my colleagues.
About the reviewer
Dr John Wayman is Director of Music Education at Young Harris College in
Georgia, USA. Music as an educational tool for the traditional classroom is
one of his main areas of research. He has presented regularly at
professional conferences and published in the Journal of Research in
Music Education, Teaching Music, Georgia Music News and Symposium on
Music Teacher Education: Enacting Shared Visions. Most recently, Dr
Wayman was named Research Chair for Georgia Music Educators
Association and appointed as scholarly reviewer for the National Advisory
Board to the Editor for the Music Educators Journal.
This is Your Brain on Music is a book I have read and reread over the past
five years or so. Simply put, it is a book that should be read by teachers and
musicians. And, as music educators, we are often in need of even more
ammunition in the battle to keep music from being marginalised by schools
all over the world. It gives us a compelling reason to rebut music as
secondary in the development of a sound brain.
Daniel Levitin runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and
Expertise at McGill University in Montreal. Here, he makes a well-
researched presentation on how the mind absorbs music and how it helps
develop the human in us. Many of us spend much of our time reading how
to teach music. But few teachers arm themselves with the knowledge of
how the mind acts as receptor of that musical information.
What Levitin puts forth are his studies into the neuroscience of music. His
background, prior to undertaking scientific study, was as a producer and
performer in the realm of rock music and most of his music examples
come from that vantage. To some in education, this will take a little bit of
getting past if their background is more classical. Levitin makes it fairly
easy to do so. What is a bit of a struggle is making sure one has a clear
recall of the songs he references. Some of the examples are a bit difficult
to reference if the bands he cites are not in your mental recall. I had to
resort to the internet to get a great deal of the songs back into my memory.
While this was not difficult to do, it did require a bit of time and effort. But
that’s nothing new in the world of references to music repertoire in writings,
no matter what genre is employed. Authors assume that their readers have
the same repertoire base they hold. A minor point to be sure and for those
the same age as the author, no doubt easier than it was for me whose rock
wheelhouse is about ten years earlier than Levitin.
What makes this a compelling book is the science behind his work. Well-
referenced for those who wish to gain a basis for the studies, he presents
valid and reliable research. And, unlike many other books in this field, there
is neither too much on neuroscience or musical linguistics as to skew it
more towards one field or the other. Simply put, it is readable. (As a
musician, I did find a few chapters a little too basic but I simply skimmed
those areas as he suggests.)
While not pretending to be the definitive book on the subject, This is Your
Brain on Music is a must-read book for those in the profession.
About the reviewer
Educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and the Universität
Mozarteum, Austria, Mark Jon Gottschalk holds degrees in Choral Music,
Conducting and Music Education. He has taught all over the world and
sung in leading and supporting operatic roles in the USA, Germany, Austria,
Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In demand as a choral clinician and
workshop presenter, Mark has written for music publications such as the
ACDA Journal and the Bulletin of the International Federation of Choral
Musicians. He currently works at Whitley Secondary School in Singapore.
Title This is Your Brain On Music
Author Daniel Levitin
What it is Book exploring the
relationship between music and
the mind
Published by Atlantic Books
Price £9.99Reviewing the situation...
Need a review?Want to write for us?
If you are interested in submitting a resourcefor review or joining our team of magazinereviewers, please email Cathy Tozer, Editor, [email protected]
46 Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com
![Page 47: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
January-June 2013
Orchestral Encounters
Various dates, January-March
2013
Orchestral Encounters invites
children aged 6-12 who play an
orchestral instrument (approx.
Grade 3-8 standard) to join the
National Children’s Orchestra for a
day. Various locations, UK
www.nco.org.uk/taking-part/orchestral-
encounters
Music for Youth Primary Proms
31 January/4 February/
10 October 2013
Inspirational free concerts
performed by young people for
young people. Great Hall, University
of Exeter, Devon/Symphony Hall,
Birmingham, West Midlands/
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington,
London, UK
www.mfy.org.uk/inspiration/
primaryproms
2013 ISME European
Regional Conference/
21st EAS Conference:
The Reflective Music Teacher
13-16 February 2013
This conference addresses music
educators across a range of
experiences – from classroom and
community practitioners to student
music teachers and researchers.
Lemmensinstituut, Leuven,
Belgium
www.eas-music.org/eas2013
Music With A Message CPD
Weekend
16-17 February 2013
Working with Global Link, More
Music will explore global issues
and use fun, participatory
activities to reflect on ways of
working with world music styles
that avoid stereotyping and
clichés. The Hothouse,
Morecambe, Lancashire, UK
http://us2.campaign-
archive2.com/?u=ca4a3d20e3abb2bc
8fdced4b9&id=6788cbd
7bf&e=bfff41ec93
Community music and music
pedagogy: Collaborations,
intersections and new
perspectives
21-23 February 2013
A mixture of paper presentations
and practical workshops will be
used to explore the full range of
community music at this
international symposium. Ludwig
Maximilian University, Munich,
Germany
www.symposium-community-music-
2013.musikpaedagogik.uni-muenchen.
de/index.html
Bristol International Jazz &
Blues Festival
1-3 March 2013
Featuring Arturo Sandoval, John
Scofield, Jacqui Dankworth and
Pee Wee Ellis plus bands,
afternoon workshops and late-
night jam sessions. Colston Hall,
Bristol, UK
www.bristoljazzandbluesfest.com
Mondomusica New York
15-17 March 2013
Violin-making tradition, world-
leading contemporary
instrument-makers and business
opportunities meet at this exclusive
exhibition for professional and
amateur string-players.
Metropolitan Pavilion, Chelsea,
New York, USA
www.mondomusicanewyork.com
Music Education Expo 2013
20-21 March 2013
This new exhibition and
educational programme offers
plentiful networking opportunities.
Barbican Centre, City of London,
London, UK
www.musiceducationexpo.co.uk
Gateshead International Jazz
Festival
5-7 April 2013
This multi-faceted weekend of jazz
features the National Youth Jazz
Orchestra, Lighthouse, Phronesis,
Christine Tobin, Ruby Turner and
the Brand New Heavies. The Sage
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK
http://thesagegateshead.org/tour-
dates/gateshead-international-jazz-
festival-2013
8th International Conference
for Research in Music
Education (RIME)
9-13 April 2013
Researchers, teachers and
practitioners gather to share and
discuss research concerning all
aspects of teaching and learning
in music. University of Exeter,
Devon, UK
http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/
education/research/events/rime
Musikmesse Frankfurt
10-13 April 2013
International trade fair for musical
instruments, sheet music, music
production and music business
connections. Frankfurt, Germany
http://musik.messefrankfurt.com/
frankfurt/en/besucher/
willkommen.html
Rhythm Changes: Rethinking
Jazz Cultures
11-13 April 2013
This multi-disciplinary conference
brings together leading researchers
in the fields of jazz studies, media
and cultural studies, history and
American studies. University of
Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
www.salford.ac.uk/homepage/events/
events/rethinking-jazz-cultures
Liverpool Sound City
2-4 May 2013
This three-day international music,
media and technology conference
and live arts/music festival brings
the best new music, film, art and
more to Liverpool. Various venues,
Liverpool, UK
www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk
July 2013 onwards
MERYC Conference 2013
17-20 July 2013
The 6th biennial conference of the
European Network for Music
Educators and Researchers of
Young Children will focus on
interdisciplinary discussion and
dissemination of new research
relating to music and childhood.
The Hague, The Netherlands
http://sites.thehagueuniversity.com/
meryc-2013/home
27th International Kodály
Seminar and Kodály Art Festival
15 July-2 August 2013
World-renowned master teachers
and performing artists gather for
an unparalleled combination of
Summer music education and
musical performances. Kecskemét,
Hungary
www.kodalyseminar.hu
musiclearninglive!asia 2013
23-26 October 2013
This multi-strand international
music education conference,
performance festival and trade
exhibition will bring 1,200+
delegates, presenters, exhibitors
and sponsors together to learn,
sing, play, share and network.
Singapore Expo, Singapore
www.musiclearninglive.asia
WOMEX 2013
23-27 October 2013
This international fair brings
together professionals from the
worlds of folk, roots, ethnic and
traditional music and includes
concerts, conferences and
documentary films. Various
venues, Cardiff, Wales
www.womex.com/realwomex/2013/
cardiff.html
6th World Summit on Arts &
Culture
13-16 January 2014
Policy-makers, government
representatives, arts managers
and cultural practitioners gather to
participate in a rich programme of
debate, learning and information
exchange. Centro Cultural Estación
Mapocho (CCEM), Santiago, Chile
www.artsummit.org/en
Listings
Want to get listed?
Visit www.musiceducationuk.com
to browse our complete event
listings and to submit your own
events to our editorial team.
Music Education UK magazine: Winter 2012/13 | musiceducationuk.com 47
![Page 48: Music Education UK Issue 4 (Winter 2012-3)](https://reader031.vdocuments.us/reader031/viewer/2022020717/568c37411a28ab02359af94c/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
@Rockschoolwww.rockschool.co.uk/facebook
Rockschool, the Rockschool logo and all other Rockschool product or service names are trademarks of Rock School Ltd. © 2012 Rock School Ltd. All Rights Reserved
The Companion Guides & Technical Handbooks go hand-in-handwith your Rockschool Grade Books. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALL BOOKS
VISIT WWW.ROCKSCHOOL.CO.UK
GREAT FOR
TEACHERS &
STUDENTSNEW 2012-2018COMPANION GUIDES & TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS
The 2012-2018 Companion Guides feature over 200 ‘unseen’ test examples that cover every grade from Debut-8. The Companion Guides contain 3 CDs worth of audio so you can nail every aspect of your Grade Exam. If you want to improve your exam performance, this is the book for you.
The Companion Guides feature examples from the following tests:
Sight Reading (Debut-5) - 6 per grade
Improvisation & Interpretation (Grades1-5) - 6 per grade
Ear Tests (Debut-Grade 8) - 6 per grade
Quick Study Pieces (Grades 6-8) - 3 example pieces per grade
General Musicianship Questions (Debut-Grade 8) - 6 per grade
COMPANION GUIDES (GRADES DEBUT-8)
TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS (GRADES DEBUT-8)
The 2012-2018 Technical Handbooks feature every riff, scale, arpeggio, chord, rudiment and technical exercise you need to complete your Grade Exam (Grades Debut-8). The Technical Handbooks contain an audio CD so you can perfect every technical exercise in your exam as well as improve your technical ability at home.
The Technical Handbooks feature:
Overview section at each grade
Every key, starting note, fingering pattern & sticking suggestion
3x Stylistic Study examples (Grades 6-8)
Frequently Asked Questions section