music education uk issue 4 (winter 2012-3)

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

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

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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


Editor Cathy Tozer

[email protected]

Digital Learning Editor Tim Hallas

[email protected]

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

[email protected]

Subscriptions & [email protected]

Print & digital [email protected]

Design Jules Richardson

Page by Page Design

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musiceduk

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

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


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.


Dr Carnival. Photo courtesy of London Borough of Tower Hamlets

On Liberation Street. Photo courtesy of Richard Kaby


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


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


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

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!


Bethia (far right) and some of the girls singing at Womad


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


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

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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,

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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

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.


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)


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

Twitter

@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)


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)


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.’

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.


Singing Up! Photo courtesy of Chris Christodoulou


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


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

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


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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


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.


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


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.


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


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

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.


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


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

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


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

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.


Making music at Rewind. Photo courtesy of Claire Thompson


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

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.


Top of page: Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford

Musical Collaboration. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford

Learning together. Photo courtesy of Kevin Clifford


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

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.


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


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.


Local children participating in one of the early Veranda Jams. Photo © Gillian Howell


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.


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


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

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.


For further information please contact Dr Lewis Peterman

[email protected] / 619-440-7046

www.centerforworldmusic.org/tours/tours.html


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

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.


(A) bow hair under tension (B) bow slide at full slack position

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


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


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

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]


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.


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