TUNE ME IN | MAY Menza

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Discover wide-ranging repertoire lists, which now feature more female and international composers and contemporary works.

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Personalise the exam — students can choose to perform their own, original composition, a duet at Initial to Grade 3 and a selection of supporting tests.

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With face-to-face and digital options available, students can take their exam in the format that works best for them.

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'Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa'

Ben Lau (Chair) - Wellington blau@newlands.school.nz

Kat Daniela (Deputy Chair) - Tauranga kdaniela@papamoacollege.school.nz

Jeni Little (Secretary) - Auckland jeni.little@hobsonvillepoint.school.nz

Charlotte Nicklin (Treasurer) - Auckland c.nicklin@maristcollege.school.nz

Jade Browne - Hamilton jadebrowne@outlook.co.nz

Duncan Ferguson - Christchurch DFE@stac.school.nz

Megan Flint - Taupo meganjude@xtra.co.nz

Priya Gain - Wellington priyagain@gmail.com

Wendy Hunt - Hawke's Bay wendyhunt0@gmail.com

Anne-Marie Lalakai - Auckland Anne-MarieL@wesley.school.nz

Christian McDonald - Northland christianm@taipa.school.nz

Makaira Waugh - West Coast sweetcardamom@gmail.com

Chair of MENZA Network of Expertise Steering Committee

Priya Gain & Christian McDonald networkofexpertise.menza@gmail.com

MENZA ISME National Affiliate Representative

Linda Webb lgwgwebb@gmail.com

For advertising enquiries, contact Pauline Logger: admin@menza.co.nz

Editor: Duncan Ferguson duncan@learningideas.co.nz

Co-Editor: Chris Moore c.moore@dilworth.school.nz

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TUNE ME IN is published by:

MENZA: Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa.

The professional magazine for all New Zealand music educators.

MENZA Vision:

Making Education brighter through Music.

MENZA Website: www.menza.co.nz

The postal address is: MENZA PO Box 14127

Tauranga Mail Centre TAURANGA 3143

The Editorial team encourages reader feedback. If you have any comments or experiences that relate to articles published in Tune Me In, please mail or email them to Pauline Logger, the MENZA Administrator at admin@menza.co.nz

These may be printed in the next edition of the magazine or published on the MENZA website. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the MENZA Board and the Tune Me In Editorial team.

The Editorial team request that sources are rightfully acknowledged in all MENZA publications. Where it is felt a breach of this protocol may have occurred this can be notified to the editor or directly to the writer.

MENZA has an expectation of ethical practices in the matter of disclosures.

ISSN 2381-9987 (Print) ISSN 2381-9995 (Online)

Integrating Radio into a Music Course

MCMILLAN-PERRY

9

37

BIG FAN GEMMA & JOEL LITTLE

MENZA Pasifika OPELOGE AH SAM

GREG

Puawaiata

34 TE TAI TOKERAU

MANA WHENUA HUI

- Christian McDonald

Pasifika

37 MENZA PASIFIKA

- Opeloge Ah Sam

38 TEACH THE MUSICIAN

- Celia Stewart

39 Obituary

NEVILLE FORSYTH EULOGY

- Celia Stewart

42 HOW WE MIGHT BEST STRENGTHEN THE 'EIGHT CS'

- Wendy Hunt

44 A CHAT WITH 100 YEAR-OLD DOUG KELLY- Judith Bell

POIPOIA TE KAKANO KIA PUWAI

Nurture the seed and it will blossom

Welcome to the first “Tune Me In” magazine for the year. 2022 has already been a challenging year in many ways with COVID cases all around the motu. Hopefully it has not been too stressful and the COVID information that we put on our Facebook page and website has been helpful. Perhaps you have also had a chance to have a look at and potentially use the classroom resources we have made available too.

I chose the whakatauki above as MENZA has been working hard behind the scenes ‘planting seeds’ in different areas of Music Education. Some are starting to blossom now, and I am very proud of the work MENZA and its board members have done this year already.

In February, the MENZA Board had a two-day Hui via Zoom to focus on the priorities of MENZA and to look at the future direction of the organisation. It was a very enlightening and insightful two days for the Board. We managed to narrow down six areas to focus on: Relationships, Governance & Structure, Resourcing, Advocacy, Sustainability and Growth.

Our board members Christian McDonald and Priya Gain have been appointed as the new administrators of MENZA’s NEX (Network of Expertise) space. They are replacing Tim Carson, who has stepped down so that he can give more time to his work for the Ukulele Trust. We wish Tim well and thank him for all the mahi he has done for MENZA over the years. Also, in the NEX space, we have had several hui with TDA (Teacher Development Aotearoa). In the hui we have been discussing how we will be spending the NEX funds to aid Music Educators around the motu and how to engage with mana whenua. Our first hui with mana whenua was in Northland in the April holidays and it was a great opportunity for MENZA to establish a connection with iwi in that area.

Board member Jeni Little is continuing her work with Safer Spaces in Music Education. I was very fortunate to attend a symposium in January in Wellington. It was facilitated by sexual harm prevention experts Rachel Harrison and Mel Calvesbert. At the symposium they focused specifically on the creation and promotion of safer spaces in music education. It was very informative and gave us an opportunity as educators to meet kanohi ki te kanohi to discuss the specific issues facing harm prevention in music education contexts, and collaboratively develop proactive solutions, with the support and guidance of experts in the field.

Finally, I hope you all like the new look “Tune Me In” magazine. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes in refreshing the magazine and our website. We will also be establishing more of a social media presence via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I would like to thank Duncan Ferguson, Pauline Logger and Charlotte Nicklin for all their work.

Ben Lau Chairperson

AND GROWTH

WE MANAGED TO NARROW DOWN SIX AREAS TO FOCUS ON: RELATIONSHIPS, GOVERNANCE & STRUCTURE, RESOURCING, ADVOCACY, SUSTAINABILITY

There is still plenty of mahi to be done and hopefully we will be able to share more information soon.

In our reviews of the magazine over the last few years we have identified areas we wanted to improve in:

• Overall design aesthetic

• Readability of the magazine

• Balance of articles from ECE through to Tertiary

• Environmental impact of posting out magazines

• ‘Repeatability’ of the articles

• Communication with our membership

So, in 2022 we have been busy taking some steps to improve your experience with our magazine.

In your hands right now is our newly designed magazine. I hope you agree that it looks amazing, but more than that, I hope that you appreciate the new structure making sure that all areas of music education in New Zealand are well served.

EHARA TAKU TOA I TE TOA TAKITAHI ENGARI, HE TOA TAKITINI

We have thought long and hard about making this magazine digital only and emailing it to everyone as a pdf. However, feedback from many teachers has been that they prefer to read a hard copy than off a screen, and it makes it easier to share with their staff in their music departments. Therefore, as a balance, we are reducing the magazine from three editions per year to two in recognition of wanting to have less of an environmental impact. One thing that has always bothered me is that many of the excellent articles in each edition of the magazine will get read once, and then they don’t have any ‘life’ beyond that. Therefore, we are also in the process of restructuring our website so that we can have many of the articles in this edition online. We will then share the articles through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at regular intervals so that the wisdom and knowledge that is shared in them will be read by as many people as possible, for as long as possible.

We want our membership to engage with the articles, discuss them and most importantly, use them as part of their teaching practice. The whole purpose behind this magazine is to inspire teachers to be better teachers. To support you, encourage you, and to give you ideas for making the musical experiences of your ākonga richer and more engaging. I am hopeful that these changes will enable this to happen.

Ngā mihi, Duncan Ferguson Editor

I am so excited to share with you our newly designed and constructed MENZA magazine, “Tune Me In”

WE WANT OUR MEMBERSHIP TO ENGAGE WITH THE ARTICLES, DISCUSS THEM AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, USE THEM AS PART OF THEIR TEACHING PRACTICE

The whole purpose behind this magazine is to inspire teachers to be better teachers. To support you, encourage you, and to give you ideas for making the musical experiences of your ākonga richer and more engaging.

The New Zealand Ukulele Trust

Te Rūnanga Ukurere o Aotearoa

Enriching children’s lives with music

WHAT IS THE NZ UKULELE TRUST?

♪ Inspired by Bill Sevesi’s dream that every child would learn to play the ukulele, the NZ Ukulele Trust was established in 2008.

♪ We are a volunteer-run charity, registered with the Department of Internal Affairs - Charities Services CC32347. We rely on grants, donations and volunteer time.

♪ We are dedicated to improving access to music for New Zealand children.

WHAT DO WE DO?

THE UKULELE

Encourages singing ☑

Encourages songwriting ☑

Easy to teach and to learn alongside your students ☑

Portable and cheap ☑ Kids love it ☑

♪ We support hundreds of kiwi kids to play the ukulele every year - these are our Kiwileles!

♪ We provide schools with an online teaching resource - the Kiwileles Songbank - packed with songs and waiata specifically chosen and arranged by educators and musicians for NZ tamariki. The resource includes song sheets, teaching tips, practice tracks and lyric videos, with a focus on New Zealand songwriters and bands.

♪ We support Kiwileles Uke-Hub Leaders to run regional events and teacher workshops across Aotearoa.

♪ We encourage our Kiwileles to strive for excellence through our NZ Ukulele Junior and Senior Squads.

♪ We help schools get started through our ‘Ukes in Schools’ programme, thanks to generous support from our sponsors.

WHY DO WE DO IT?

♪ Children, teachers and whānau experience the joy of making music together!

♪ The benefits of music education early in life are well researched. There is a growing body of evidence to confirm that learning to sing and play an instrument increases confidence, academic progress, empathy, listening, social skills and sense of wellbeing.

♪ We support the NZ Music Industry by focusing on NZ songs and waiata and by ensuring our programme is copyright compliant.

♪ We recognise that our Kiwileles need to sing songs about ‘us’ and be inspired by local talent.

THANK YOU TO…

♪ Our advisors and sponsors, composers, arrangers and recording artists, who make the Kiwileles Programme such a success. Thanks also to our NZUT trustees and administrator, both past and present, for their hours of dedicated work. Please refer to the NZUT website for an updated list of acknowledgements.

♪ Our immediate past Chair and co-founder of the Trust, Maria Winder MNZM, who worked tirelessly to develop the Kiwileles Programme.

♪ Thank you to our Kiwileles teachers who enrich the musical lives of children, and to the principals who support music education in their schools.

♪ And of course thank you to our Kiwileles for their enthusiasm, perseverance and continued enjoyment of ukulele playing.

FIND OUT MORE

♪ Head to the NZUT website, YouTube channel or join us on Facebook.

♪ If your school is keen to get involved, email the NZUT Administrator.

BIG FAN: THE STORY BEHIND A BIG-HEARTED GIFT TO AOTEAROA

Joel and Gemma Little to open not-for-profit music facility in Morningside

Nine years on since the album Pure Heroine was made by Joel Little with Lorde, the Grammy-Award winning songwriter and producer is putting New Zealand on the world music stage again with BIG FAN. BIG FAN is a music space in Tāmaki Makaurau with recording studios and a live music venue all under one roof, dedicated to helping people fulfil their ambitions through music.

The world-class space, created and developed by Joel with his wife Gemma, is the Little’s family gift to Aotearoa. Fittingly, it is just around the corner from the studio where Lorde’s Pure Heroine, and Royals was born in Morningside.

BIG FAN will be run through their charitable trust, The Little Family Foundation. This not-for-profit entity will be supported in part by venue and studio hire, with all revenue invested back into the space and the work carried out there.

“Music has benefited our family in a multitude of ways, and BIG FAN is an opportunity to give something back, to reinvest in our industry and to support the future of New Zealand music. I feel like there’s a responsibility that comes with success, so I’m glad I can use it to do something like this,” Joel says.

“I want BIG FAN to provide the same sort of support network for music that exists for other industries in our country – that has made the All Blacks, our film-makers and tech sector world-leaders in their field.”

BIG FAN is one of the largest gifts ever made to New Zealand music, which could not have come at a better time given the pressures live music venues have faced even prior to the global pandemic. The inspiration for BIG FAN came about in 2018 when Joel and Gemma returned to New Zealand from several years living and working in Los Angeles. They were dismayed to learn the local music industry continued to face an old obstacle – the lack of quality space for musicians to use. It will become a thriving ecosystem for people and music, not just providing three state-of-the-art recording studios and a 180-person capacity live music venue in the city fringe, but also offering workshops covering all aspects of music, mentoring, along with multiple educational and up-skilling opportunities.

Savina Fountain appointed as General Manager & Ignite to return.

Big Fan is in great hands, with industry stalwart Savina Fountain appointed as the General Manager to fulfil this vision and run the day-to-day operations. Savina will spearhead the organisation to make BIG FAN a self-sustaining and thriving hub for New Zealand music, putting her almost two decades of experience working in Aotearoa’s music and events industries to good use.

CONTINUED on next page...

BIG FAN is one of the largest gifts ever made to New Zealand music, which could not have come at a better time given the pressures live music venues have faced even prior to the global pandemic.

"

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GEMMA AND JOEL LITTLE IN THE GARAGE AT BIG FAN (PHOTOGRAPHY: GUY COOMBES)

Ignite Programme, which she founded in 2016, will be returning this year as one of the first programmes delivered by Big Fan. This innovative programme will engage eighteen rangatahi aged 15-18 in Tāmaki Makaurau with three streams on offer in 2022 - Event Management, Music Production and Event Production. Ignite is centered on the power of mentoring, with opportunities to experience and upskill to develop a solid foundation to apply their knowledge to a real-life context.

Engaging with communities and individuals throughout Aotearoa is paramount for BIG FAN’s kaupapa, with plans in place for programmes and initiatives that will grant access to the recording studios and venue, and providing industry upskilling and networking opportunities to those who would not typically have access to it. The idea is that the center will become a community space where people can both learn from the experts and inspire and encourage one another.

“We know that music can change lives and affect communities in positive ways. We also know that although Aotearoa has a wealth of talent, not everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential” says Savina. BIG FAN aims to be a nurturing and supportive space where this talent can grow and provides the facilities for people to gain real world experience in nearly all aspects of the music industry.

“I remember what it was like in the early days for me,” Joel reflects. “There was nothing like this and it would have made a huge difference. I was lucky that I was given the right support along the way. It’s tough for young musicians to find the support and the finances to help their development.”

Big Fan boasts three fully equipped recording studios, which have been kitted out with the same gear Joel used to produce hits with likes of artists Taylor Swift, Khalid and Imagine Dragons. The studios are designed to make the most of Joel’s global music network and be a destination for international artists, writers, and producers to come and collaborate with local talent.

“The not-for-profit aspect is important as it levels the playing field for anyone to access it no matter their financial resources,” adds Gemma Little.

For more information, please visit www.bigfan.co.nz and sign up to the mailing list to receive updates. More details around the official launch will be announced in due course.

MUSIC ACQUISITION STARTS BEFORE BIRTH: SING TO YOUR UNBORN BABY

At birth the newborn baby recognises and knows the mother’s voice, whether the mother is talking, laughing, crying or singing. Not only is the newborn able to recognise the specific pitch and rhythmic patterns of his mother’s voice, but is also able to discriminate his mother’s voice from others. The baby is a social being, born to communicate. The mother plays a vital role as a loving, nurturing musical play partner.

Inside the womb, surrounded by amniotic fluid, her baby heard her voice and the muffled external sounds around her. His auditory system was fully functional about 20-22 weeks after conception. He heard and felt his mother’s heartbeat, at times speeding up, at other times slowing down.

A baby’s first language is music and this language training begins long before birth through the speech, laughter, crying and song patterns of the mother’s voice. It is the musical qualities of the mother’s voice: the emotional tone, melodic contours, rhythmic patterns, tempo, dynamics, and form that acquire meaning for the foetus.

The basic elements of music: sound, rhythm and movement are imprinted on the unborn baby’s sensory system. Sound is a total bodily experience, from the sounds of the mother’s voice, the vibrations and movement from her body and external sounds including the more muffled sound of the father’s voice. As the auditory system and the brain continue to develop, the foetus senses, remembers and learns. Musicality provides the foundation of communication, experience and learning, even before birth.

When Toby was two days old he was fretful, crying and was not pacified by cuddling or feeding. His mother sang him his little song she had sung to him every day from about 23 weeks during her pregnancy. Toby’s response was instant. He gave a little whimper, stopped crying and gazed up at her “with a look of wonder and recognition”. His mother Sarah said “I know he recognised the song, he watched me with this wide-eyed concentration for the duration of the song”. birth he began to make little vocal sounds in response to his mother talking to him.

Sing to your unborn baby. Stroke loving rhythmic patterns on your baby bump in time to your singing. Your song and musical patterns are at the heart of loving communication, relationship and learning.

Julie Wylie & Louise van Tongeren juliewyliemusic.com

My daughter Sarah sang a loving little song to her unborn baby Toby every day as she patted the steady beat of the song on her stomach.

I’M LIVING PROOF THAT THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DO MAKE IT ARE THE ONES WHO GET A CHANCE TO TRY,” SAYS JOEL. “BIG FAN AIMS TO GIVE EVERYONE THAT CHANCE " "

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Find Your Voice with Vocal Synthesis

Boldly defying convention, the CTS1000V does what no other keyboard can do: Speak or type your lyrics into the free Lyric Creator app for iOS/Android, transfer them to the CT-S1000V, and play the keys to hear your words come alive. Choose from multiple vocalist models, and adjust age, vibrato, portamento and other parameters in real time. Choose from choirs, robotic sounds, vocoder-like textures, and more.

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Lyric Creator Mobile App

WAYS TO USE THE WINNING HOOK, LINE & SING-ALONG SONG

Each April/May the winning Hook, Line and Sing-along is released after a national competition that students can enter in March.

Young composers write to a set of guidelines including length, using a NZ topic, suitable pitch range, suitable tempo for signing, singability and easy uke chords. The release of the recorded and notated winning song is timed to be able to be used in May, NZ Music Month. It has often been celebrated on the 31st May at noon with multiple groups around NZ singing it at the same time!

This year’s winning song “Summertime” was written by Finn (13) and Hugo (11) Clark who are homeschooled by their mum Rosie in Hawke’s Bay.

HERE’S SOME IDEAS of ways to use the HLS song that we have used at Chisnallwood Intermediate over the years:

1. The School Choir and all school classes learn

2. Ukulele players (ensemble and classes) learn it to perform in May.

Summertime

3. All students learn to sign it (NZSL videos are produced each year) and perform in May.

4. Have a school Sing-along or sing-off. For a few years we had a whole school sing-off competition where each house performed the song as well as singing it massed. We brought in outside judges and gave house points to all houses, but more to the house who had learnt it/performed it best. This often came with a lot of creativity from classes in what they wore, actions, and use of instruments.

5. Combine with another school to celebrate NZ music month. We combined with our next door primary school for some years, singing it together to celebrate NZ music month with a sense of community.

2022 Hook, Line and Sing-along winning song Words and music by Finn and Hugo Clark

6. Run a local community event and invite schools and whānau to join in. We have held this at our central library (Tūranga) in the past and ran it as an open event. Anyone was welcome to turn up and could optionally bring or borrow a uke. We had school groups register and come along who ranged from an Early Childhood centre to primary schools, intermediate school choir and uke group, secondary singing and signing group, and the general public visiting the library. We warmed up with a couple of kiwi songs, had a rehearsal and then filmed the final rendition of the Hook, Line and Sing-along song, with participants’ permission.

7. Make a school-wide compilation video with different classes contributing their footage. We did this for the last two years due to Covid restrictions not allowing the full school to be together. It turned out to be a fabulous way of learning, preparing and performing the song that digitally brought the whole school together with a video the students could be proud of. We included classes, groups such as choir, and in 2020 individuals at home in lockdown. There was some fabulous creativity shown in these. It’s much easier when all videos are filmed to the complete backing track all the way through in one -take, and filmed in landscape orientation: youtu.be/P8423QltBxU

8. Perform it in a huge festival later in the year such as Strum Strike and Blow in Christchurch, or NZ Kiwilele Festival around NZ. Thousands of tamariki have performed the winning song each year in these awesome festivals and sometimes with the composer as a guest star! youtu.be/zQxg2YwQUkc

9. Play the song at home on your own or with your family or friends. It can simply be used as an at-home sing-along! Previous winning song resources are also available on the website for a music session of discovery and kiwiana.

10. Use the song to inspire budding songwriters to compose an entry to the following year's song competition. Guidelines and deadlines are available on the Hook, Line and Singalong website: hooklineandsingalong.com

Thank you to the team at Hook, Line and Sing-along, MENZA and the NZ Music Commission for helping keep NZ music alive.

Judith Bell

2022 Hook, Line and Sing-along winning song Words and music by Finn and Hugo Clark

FINN AND HUGO CLARK

HOW TO TEACH PIANO TO PRESCHOOLERS: OUR EXPERIENCE & TOP TIPS FOR TEACHERS & PARENTS

When to start lessons, and what to focus on when beginning piano at a very young age are questions we receive all the time from parents who have children interested in learning piano or keyboard.

From teaching music to young children for many decades and taking on the role of that piano teacher to our own children we have gained valuable insight that may be of use to others in the same boat.

The most crucial thing to remember is this: Young children learn best through their own exploration and play. This means we need to try and forget our own agenda and follow their lead when it comes to piano learning. This can be really tricky, especially for trained teachers!

So how do we do this?

OUR TIPS FOR TEACHING PIANO TO PRESCHOOLERS ARE:

• Access to a piano (of a proper size)

This is where it all starts. It needs to be set up in a way that children can explore it in their own time, in their own way and without adult input. Let them discover the piano and realise how much they enjoy playing. Children are quick to sense if we try to help them too soon, and we have seen students "put off" because of this. Have patience, let them ask questions (or not!) and allow them to build their own curiosity.

• Put a sticker on Middle C

This way they always know where to find it. Play with finding ALL of the C's on the piano and show them how to.

• There is no rush

Children need time to discover how the piano works. That there are high notes, low notes, chords and clashing notes. That some notes sound great together and other notes don't work as well to their ears. They need time to figure out, for themselves, that if you start a little pattern on one particular note, the melody won't sound the same if you start on another note.

• Adjust positioning gently and casually

In our experience, spending too long focusing on hand positioning and posture can backfire. It is really important that children learn these things, but it must be approached casually and gently rather than insisted upon in those early days. We suggest showing them that "spider hands" mean you can move faster - just like a fast spider! That a straight back means you can reach all of the notes - including the funny-sounding notes at the top or bottom of the piano! Keep it light and you are less likely to meet resistance.

• Create stories and games

Rather than starting with music, create stories together that the piano accompanies. We love making up stories about ferocious tigers chasing lovely little butterflies, with the angry tigers being the low notes and the butterflies being the high notes. Let the children play around and choose where each animal should be represented. We slide our fingers up and down to create snakes, play chromatic scales to create "spooky" sounds and form staccato chords for frogs and leaping rabbits. The key is keeping the process creative and fun

• Read books

Again, the focus is on creativity and a simple pattern to copy. We love reading stories at the piano, and the child helps to choose where each part of the story could be represented on the piano. For example, we read Hairy Maclary and all of the animals have their own sound. Scarface Claw is a huge run from top to bottom (which always ends in hysterics). Every time the phrase "Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy" is repeated we repeat a melody that we have already created together previously.

• Listening Games

We don't spend all the time sitting at the piano. I ask children as young as three to sit on the floor, or lie down, and listen to the music I play for them. We experiment with hearing minor scales (sad) major (happy) scales, chords and simple melodies. To extend interested students I show them how I can easily change a happy chord to a sad chord by changing the 3rd note! They are always fascinated by this.

• The Blues Scale

This may sound complex, but it isn't at all. I always teach children the Blues Scale after the C Major Scale - or even before. My own children could all play the C Blues scales from age 3 (with some help from stickers if needed) so that they could experiment with improvising. I would play the 12 Bar blues and they would experiment and improvise on top. Children LOVE the Blues and they love this game. This allows then to practise their hand position in a fun way and build on their creativity. I want them to love the piano and the blues scale helps achieve this

• Play the Black notes

Using the pentatonic scale by playing on the black notes of the piano. Means children can play songs that "sound good". It is a great way to practise positioning, engage them in duets and show them how fun music can be.

• Let

them work out songs for themselves at first

The very best musicians can play by ear as well as following music. Let them develop this skill early - right from day 1. Whenever we start a new song, the children are asked to figure out where the notes might go next. 4 year-olds are more than capable of figuring out nursery rhymes. Support them if they get frustrated, but only show them if they ask. Let them try and figure this out, even if they are finding it difficult at first. They can do it.

Julie Wylie & Louise van Tongeren

"MUSIC IS IN THE SPACE BETWEEN NOTES"CLAUDE DEBUSSY

The Britannica Dictionary includes within the definition of the word space, the concept that space is to separate (things) by particular periods of time. While the space between notes is a separation, it is also deeply connected to what went before and what comes after. It is more than the absence of sound. Debussy understood that music is just as much about what doesn’t happen, as that which does.

In education we are seeing an increase in anxiety amongst our very youngest children. Might there be a connection between this rise in anxiety and the way our lives have become like a frantic piece of music, which is lacking in space? Each day arrives with crashing cymbals, loud horns or a relentless melody. Technology has crept into the very fabric of our lives, re-wiring our brains to need constant stimulation. The music of busy lives never gets to resolve and our babies and children seldom experience the place of rest.

The temporal form of music consists of sound and silence. It is the composition of tones, pauses and timbre arranged into rhythms and harmonies that creates space between notes. The notes are able to fully express themselves, to resonate and reverberate. Space is crucial for human beings and it is important to recognise that it has a purpose: it provides rest, facilitates inner healing which includes our immune systems, improves memory along with energy levels and returns us to a state of calm. This space needs to be created and protected. As teachers, if we facilitate a symphony that is constantly racing towards some great crescendo, young children will not get to experience the natural rhythm of work and rest. Cooke (1959) agrees saying music creates a continual flow of tension versus relaxation.

Neuroscience has shown us that a brain without space and rest becomes an anxious brain, living in a constant state of readiness. When adults stop and listen to babies and toddlers, the gift of space allows the child to fully experience the sound, the breath and the pause. Their growing brains are able to process, to renew, create and experience joy. “A child needs to watch, listen and wait and wonder,”(Wylie, 2019). Space within music creates anticipation, a sense of calm, time to ‘be’ and a sense of awe and wonder. It also enables the function of re-uptake to occur within the synapses in the brain which in turn creates a more powerful positive impact from the brain chemicals dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins (Berger, 2002).

Berger, D. (2002). Music Therapy, Sensory Integration and the Autistic Child. London: UK. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Cook, D. (1959). The Language of Music. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.

A nine month old baby sits on his mother’s knee. The mother and the baby face each other in silence, paused and waiting for the music to begin again. Their breathing becomes synchronised and a sense of calm settles upon them both. They look at each other, marvelling at just being together. In that moment of space between notes the mother truly sees her baby and the baby feels truly seen. The baby smiles, and gurgles excitedly, anticipating the next notes. Then the music begins again.

Silence, rest and waiting can have a profoundly positive impact upon our under-fives, as we make music together. As teachers, It is a challenge to allow this musical space and it is all too easy to want to hurry things along, ‘clock watching’ because we are trying to make each moment count. In learning to hold back, there is a realisation that musical silence contains healing power. How hard it is not to jump into that moment of bare space. We can allow music to facilitate this healing, rather than trying to provide it ourselves.

It is similar to the way in which a symphony is broken up into movements. After each movement there is a period of silence where the listener can contemplate, anticipate and allow the brain to process. Great composers know instinctively how to use space to create a piece of music that is spiritually uplifting. We rise and fall with the ebb and flow because of the space between notes.

In our busy early childhood centres we need to be aware that deliberately creating and embracing musical space can connect, heal and calm little growing brains.

Michelle Wilson

BIO: Michelle’s introduction to music was growing up in a household with a Mother who was a piano teacher. She went on to play the piano and cello to a high level.

Michelle has worked as a Primary Teacher for over 20 years and recently led a Pastoral Care & Wellbeing Project.

In 2019 she gained her Post Graduate Certificate in Musical Play Therapy from the Julie Wylie Institute of Musical Play and now works for Julie as lecturer and advisor as well as facilitating an Engagement Pilot with 18 schools. Michelle lives on a lifestyle block in North Canterbury with her husband and two daughters.

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE: RE-STOR(Y)ING SILENCED VOICES

Like many of you I have felt the absence of singing keenly over the months since Covid arrived on our shores. Not being able to sing with my choral colleagues, or with my students has struck at the very heart of who I am.

I am a singer. Melodic fragments play on a loop in my head; I remember the words to songs learnt in primary school and randomly blurt out song lyrics related to something you just said. I don’t remember becoming a singer any more than I remember learning to speak. All I know is that “so much of my identity is wrapped up in being a singer. It’s not just that I sing, it’s that I am a singer” (Meizel, 2020, p. 180; emphasis in original).

Much of my identity as a singer was formed through interactions with early musical models and experiences: my mother whose singing calmed my fears, stopped my tears and floated me to sleep; singing hymns in church; my teachers: Miss M who played the bass drum in a marching band, Mrs B whose playing of the walnut-coloured piano in my Primer 2 classroom accompanied our folk dancing, and singing with guitar-playing rockstar teachers Mr F, Mr T, Mr J, Mrs F. Classroom singing, choir and kapa haka carried me through my primary and intermediate school years. Singing brings me joy, and connection to others; it is my life and my livelihood.

When I became a primary school teacher, my classroom was bursting with song. Now, as a music teacher, I am even more grateful to those people who filled my childhood with the joy of singing. How do we ensure that post-Covid, every child in every school is afforded a songfilled education? Many of the classroom teachers I have worked with are not comfortable singing in the classroom or in school assemblies; not pōwhiri or staff meetings either. They are whakamā and afraid of the judgement of others. “I can’t sing!” they protest. The thought of singing conjures up feelings of embarrassment and anxiety (Abril, 2007; Knight, 2013; Whidden, 2010). Yet generalist teachers in the primary school have an important role to play in the formation of musical identity (Dinham, 2011 and Button & Holden, 2006, cited in Heyning, 2011; Pascale, 2013). Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence that identifies the critical role that singing plays in child development, including physical, social and language skills (Pascale, 2005; Neumann, 2008; Heyning, 2011).

How is it that so many primary school teachers feel anxious about singing? We aren’t born with a sense of being unmusical or being unable to sing. Instead, the ‘you can’t sing’ label is often imposed by others whose judgement stems from a narrow, socially constructed view of singing. This pronouncement, usually passed during the formative years of childhood and adolescence, and often by family members or teachers (Abril, 2007; Knight, 2013; Numminen, Lonka, Rainio & Ruismäki, 2015; Richards & Durrant, 2003; Whidden, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015), becomes self-fulfilling – I’m not a singer so I don’t sing; I don’t sing, therefore I’m not a singer.

SILENT VOICES

I can’t sing

I know because he laughed when I was five she suggested “don’t sing” when I was six he questioned “can’t you hear how out of tune you are?” when I was seven she directed “stand at the back of the choir” when I was eight he advised “just mouth the words” when I was nine she demanded “stand and pretend” when I was ten So I did. So I do.

An abundance of research literature documents the trauma that is being told ‘you can’t sing’, and the effects of this experience are often felt for a lifetime (Numminen et al., 2015; Abril, 2007; Knight, 2013; Richards & Durrant, 2003; Whidden, 2008, 2009, 2010; Heyning, 2011; Swain & Bodkin-Allen, 2014). To make sense of this experience, non-singers develop a narrative (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990) centred around singing as being a “gift for the gifted” (Phillips, 2003, cited in Neumann, 2008, p. 42) – either you can sing, or you can’t (Numminen et al., 2015; Knight, 2013). Predicated on the notion that singing is an innate, fixed talent, this narrative leaves no room for the fact that singing is developmental (Knight, 2013; Neumann, 2008).

While the narratives we construct to make sense of our lives and experiences provide meaning and continuity, they can also limit our ability to grow and develop since “we live into [our stories] as well as out of them” (White & Epston, 1990, cited in Cahill, 2008, p. 22). Anxious singers get stuck inside their stories of not being able to sing, afraid of being judged again. Restoring the voices of non-singers requires disrupting this ‘I-can’t-sing-because-I’m-not-talented’ narrative (Le Fevre, 2019) and presenting opportunities to enable a “re-storying” (Kenyon & Randall, 1997, cited in Le Fevre, 2019, p. 222). Challenging old stories allows people to create new possibilities for themselves (White & Epston, 1990, cited in Cahill, 2008).

Disrupting the ‘talent’ narrative will require reframing our view of singing. A singing aesthetic that prioritises performance and entertainment as primary functions values singing in tune and confident voices of soloistic quality (Knight, 2013; Pascale, 2002), leaving many people to recoil from describing themselves as singers. Indeed, the word ‘singer’ has weighty associations (Whidden, 2010). What claims are we making if we say yes to being a singer?

If we could say yes, I’m a singer but I am a singer that sings to her baby at night … But if I say I’m a singer, it is expected that I can get up on stage and sing. Maybe if there were different levels allowed, then people would dabble. (Marjorie, personal communication, Whidden, 2010, p. 96)

American researcher and music educator Professor Louise Pascale elaborated on this idea in her doctoral dissertation, asserting that the term ‘non-singer’ is a myth; given the right conditions, we all are singers (Pascale, 2002). For some, it’s the solitude of the shower or car; for others, the presence of friends or the lubrication of alcohol. If this is the case, is it possible that some teachers have silenced their own voices, judging that they don’t meet a perceived ‘singing standard’?

A broader and more inclusive definition may encourage non-singing teachers to be more open to seeing themselves as singers. A popular

HOW CAN WE, AS A MUSIC EDUCATION COMMUNITY, HELP OUR PRIMARY SCHOOL COLLEAGUES WHO WEAR THIS ‘I’M NOT A SINGER’ LABEL TO RE-STORY THEIR EXPERIENCES OF SINGING AND FEEL EMPOWERED TO REDEFINE THEIR MUSICAL IDENTITY? "

proverb from Zimbabwe celebrates: If you can walk, you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing. This empowering perspective presents an alternative aesthetic for singing – one that prioritises participation and community over performance and entertainment (Pascale, 2013).

Hungarian musician, ethnomusicologist, composer and teacher Zoltán Kodály advocates for the singing voice as the primary instrument for music teaching and learning (see Kodály, 1974). The singing voice allows all human beings to participate in the production of music, a truly embodied experience. Kodály was so convinced of the personal and social benefits of a life filled with song that he maintained singing and music learning should begin with young children nine months before the birth of their mother (Kodály, 1974). How can we, as a music education community, help our primary school colleagues who wear this ‘I’m not a singer’ label to re-story their experiences of singing and feel empowered to redefine their musical identity?

A 2018 action research project carried out in a Christchurch primary school after the devastating 2011 earthquakes investigated singing for wellbeing (Rickson, Legg and Reynolds, 2018). The teachers became passionate advocates and facilitators of daily singing despite professing low self-efficacy in relation to teaching music. They saw for themselves the impact that daily singing had on their students’ wellbeing. In order to develop the confidence to participate in and lead the singing programme, many of the teachers had to challenge long-held beliefs about music (Rickson, Atkinson, Reynolds & Legg, 2019). Merely telling classroom teachers that they can sing is not likely to persuade them they can (Pascale, 2005) so the process of disrupting an established non-singer narrative can only be achieved through self-empowerment and personal agency.

As teachers, we are often called to act beyond our own fears in our dealings with students to ensure that these are not projected onto them. I can recall numerous occasions where I had to repress my anxieties around all things creepy-crawly so that children’s curiosity wouldn’t be influenced by my trepidation. Taking a cognitive approach to the task of singing in the classroom can be a way for teachers to begin the process of building personal confidence: understanding the value of singing and not wanting the children to be afraid of participating (Rickson et al., 2019). This message is most comprehensively delivered by doing; children need to see teachers as models of learning particularly when the tasks are challenging and make them vulnerable (Abril, 2007).

Once teachers have made the decision to facilitate singing with their students, further growth can be achieved through the support of colleagues. Novice teacher-singers are able to observe more confident colleagues, benefiting from their practice and experience. This “legitimate peripheral participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991 cited in Zaffini, 2018, p. 38) establishes a safe space for growth, a ‘community of practice’ (Zaffini, 2018). In this way, novice teacher-singers are able to participate and learn alongside their students, and take time to construct a new narrative based on their own positive singing experience.

Singing is a human birthright. Everyone deserves to feel confident to sing and have opportunities to develop their skills - teachers and students alike.

Our challenge, as music educators, is to help our colleagues reinvigorate classroom singing practices in primary schools throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Let’s ensure that voices aren’t silent any longer.

BIO: Megan Flint (MMus(Hons), PGDipEd(Dist)., DipTchg., ATCL) has a background in education and music, as both a primary school teacher/leader and music specialist. Singing is at the centre of all of Megan’s work. She is a choral singer and conductor, a national conducting mentor for the New Zealand Choral Federation and a passionate practitioner of Kodály-inspired music education. In 2022, Megan has begun doctoral study investigating the delivery of music education by general classroom teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand primary schools.

REFERENCES

Abril, C. R. (2007). I have a voice but I just can't sing: a narrative investigation of singing and social anxiety. Music Education Research, 9(1), 1-15. doi.org/10.1080/14613800601127494

Cahill, H. (2008). Resisting risk and rescue as the raison d’etre for arts intervention. In A. O’Brien, & K. Donelan (Eds.), The arts and youth at risk: global and local challenges (pp. 13-31). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved from searchebscohost-com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login.aspx? direct=true& db=nle bk&AN=553528&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2–14. doi.org/10.3102/0013189X019005002

Heyning, L. (2011). “I can’t sing!” The concept of teacher confidence in singing and the use within their classroom. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 12(13), 1-28. Retrieved from ijea.org/v12n13/ Knight, S. (2013). Exploring a cultural myth: What adult non-singers may reveal about the nature of singing. The Phenomenon of Singing, 2, 144-154. Retrieved from journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/singing/article/view/669/583

Kodály, Z. (1974). The Selected Writings of Zoltán Kodály. Boosey and Hawkes. Le Fevre, D. M. (2019). Narrative and educational change: the power of intentional interruption. In S. Farquhar & E. Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Innovations in Narrative and Metaphor (pp. 221-234). Springer. doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6114-2_14

Meizel, K. (2020). Multivocality: singing on the borders of identity. Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190621469.001.0001

Neumann, C. (2008). The Singing Classroom. The Canadian Music Educator, 49(4), 42-43. Retrieved from ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com. ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/docview/231066496?accountid=8424

Numminen, A., Lonka, K., Rainio, A. P., & Ruismäki, H. (2015). “Singing is no longer forbidden to me - it's like part of my human dignity has been restored.” Adult non-singers learning to sing: an explorative intervention study. The European Journal of Social & Behavioural Sciences, 12(1), 1660-1674. Retrieved from: ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ docview/1672284946?accountid=8424

Pascale, L. M. (2002). Dispelling the myth of the non-singer: Changing the ways singing is perceived, implemented and nurtured in the classroom (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved from ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ docview/305477931?accountid=8424

Pascale, L. M. (2005). Dispelling the myth of the non-singer: Embracing two aesthetics for singing. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 13(2), 165-175. Retrieved from ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com.ezproxy. auckland.ac.nz/docview/1510751?accountid=8424

Pascale, L. M. (2013). The power of simply singing together in the classroom. Retrieved from semanticscholar.org/paper/The-power-of-simply-singingtogether-in-the- Pascale/0860d93244937c0ea1fa57260bb52a90cc2bc992 Richards, H., & Durrant, C. (2003). To sing or not to sing: a study on the development of `non-singers’ in choral activity. Research Studies in Music Education, 20(1), 78–89. doi.org/10.1177/1321103X030200010501

Rickson, D., Legg, R., & Reynolds, D. (2018). Daily singing in a school severely affected by earthquakes: potentially contributing to both wellbeing and music education agendas? New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 15(1), 63-84. Retrieved from eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1230126

Rickson, D., Atkinson, J., Reynolds, D., & Legg, R. (2019). “Let the people sing!” Action research exploring teachers’ musical confidence when engaging learners in ‘singing wellbeing’. Journal of Teacher Action Research, 6(1), 44-62. Retrieved from practicalteacherresearch.com/uploads/5/6/2/4/56249715/%E2%80%9Clet_ the_people_sing_%E2%80%9D_%E2%80%93_action_research_exploring_ teachers%E2%80%99_musical_confidence_when_engaging_learners_ in_%E2%80%98singing_for_wellbeing%E2%80%99.pdf

Swain, N., & Bodkin-Allen, S. (2014). Can’t sing? Won’t sing? Aotearoa/New Zealand ‘tone-deaf’ early childhood teachers’ musical beliefs. British Journal of Music Education, 31(3), 245-263. doi.org/10.1017/S0265051714000278

Whidden, C. (2008). The injustice of singer/non-singer labels by music educators. GEMS – Gender, Education, Music & Society, 4, 1-15. Retrieved from citeseerx.ist.psu. edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.509.1654&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Whidden, C (2009). Hearing the voice of non-singers through narrative. The Canadian Music Educator, 50(3), 24-27. Retrieved from ezproxy. auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ docview/231190369?accountid=8424

Whidden, C. (2010). Hearing the voice of non-singers: Culture, context and connection. In L.K. Thompson, & M.R. Campbell (Eds.), Issues of identity in music education: narratives and practices (pp. 83-107). Information Age Publishing. Whidden, C. (2015). The creation of singing identity in our music classrooms. Canadian Music Educator, 57(1), 38-41. Retrieved from ezproxy. auckland.ac.nz/login?url=search-proquest-com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ docview/1760212795?accountid=8424

Zaffini, E. J. (2018). Communities of Practice and Legitimate Peripheral Participation: A Literature Review. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 36(3), 38–43. doi.org/10.1177/8755123317743977

INTEGRATING RADIO INTO A MUSIC COURSE

It was 2006, and I had recently moved to Hutt International Boys’ School from a school that had gone through the rigorous process of becoming accredited to teach a National Certificate in Production Sound (Recording).

I had heard through the grapevine that the Production Sound qualification was due to expire, so getting HIBS accredited was not going to be an option. I had several level 3 students wanting to use the school recording studio and I was looking for a way in which to utilise it to offer credits that could go towards NCEA.

After searching through the NZQA site, I came across the Technology Domain, in particular Digital Media. Although written more for computer-based tasks you would find for ICT, I interpreted the standard to cover the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) we were using. I asked our head of Technology to moderate the task design to make sure I was covering everything, and he noticed I hadn’t determined a context for the task. Basically, a ‘why’ the recordings were being made.

“For the radio,” I told him.

“Which radio?” he replied.

“Ahhh…the School Student Radio…” I bluffed.

And that is how it started.

After some research into low power FM (LPFM) licences and determining what was permissible, I tracked down a small laptop and 2 channel mixer, a 0.5 watt transmitter and antenna, and started broadcasting on 107.7FM. At first, it was a small ‘hobby’ station that would be on air once or twice a week, playing a few songs and hosting a couple of student interest programmes.

Over the next few years, word of mouth increased the popularity of the station and soon I had more students wanting to host their own shows, which ranged from sports shows, music shows and a quirky ‘Anewsing Times’, whose catchphrase was “Talking about all the useless news that nobody really wants to hear…”.

As more and more students became involved in the station, I could see the potential for it to fit into other areas of the school. One year we were fortunate to have a few boys on our arts committee who were also avid radio show hosts, and they started suggesting ways we could use the station. They wanted live, lunchtime events - such as stand-up comedy in the library and un-plugged music performances outside the Performing Arts block.

With these initiatives driven by the students, I decided it was the right time to invest a little more into the project. I installed outdoor speakers in the canteen courtyard, and on the exterior of the music room, facing one of our basketball courts.

Our school has a large catchment area but is geographically located in a valley, which makes our permissible 25km radius broadcast patchy in places. To solve this issue, online streaming was added, so that the school community could be reliably broadcast to.

Seeing the level of engagement from the boys in all year levels with the radio station spurred me into thinking of ways in which I might be able to include it in my Music programme. I already had the level 3 context for the technology standard (which was later superseded by US28807 SOND 3) and wanted to use it at other levels.

In 2016 I introduced a composition task at level 1 where the piece was to be inspired/based on a children's book. I could see the potential for a cross-curricular task and asked a local primary school for books that they used for their remedial reading programme, with the intention of producing audiobooks that could be used as teaching resources. These

could also be played on the radio at a scheduled time so they could be listened to at home. The boys composed a one-minute piece that could be used as theme music and incidental music throughout the narration. Diving into the technology domain once more, I created a task that assessed the construction of the audiobook. The boys found the context of composing for a school reading programme both motivating and rewarding, as the audiobooks were later gifted to the primary school. Conscious of copyright issues we might be breaking, I turned to the internet for royalty-free stories, although the amount of editing to make them fit for purpose got me thinking - what if we asked students to write the stories during English class as part of their portfolio? What if the Māori class narrated stories in te reo Māori and we broadcast them during Te wiki o te reo?

In the following years, I wanted to accommodate the neuro-diverse students who struggled with the writing and literacy components of the music course. I was looking for ways in which they could achieve in areas other than just performance. In the level 2 course, for example, I modified the ‘Aspects of NZ Music’ task to allow for it to be presented as a radio show/podcast, which would be aired during NZ Music Month. The task allowed them to use musical examples and speak more freely, in a way that would engage a young audience.

Once the Music Technology and Performing Arts Technology Standards were introduced, my course was able to be diversified even further. Students were able to tailor their programmes to suit their strengths and interests. I always kept a core music base of theory and research (although not necessarily assessed), but they were free to choose from any of the other standards.

As with many Music departments, I found that I was being asked to allow boys into the senior classes who had not had any previous experience in music but had run out of subject options to take. Many of these boys had special learning differences and struggled with reading and writing. Because a traditional music course wouldn’t be attainable for them, I created a new course to run alongside my music students. It was a mixture of Media studies, Digital Technologies, and Music/Performance Technology.

LEVEL 1

AS90993 - Design and plan a media product - Radio advertisement

AS90994 - Complete a media product - Radio advertisement

AS91073 - Produce a digital media outcome - Audiobook (Radio/Podcast)

US32300 - Sequence (Radio Jingle/ Audiobook music)

US26687 - Sound Technology - PA set up - understanding microphones, mixers routing etc.

The students wanted to continue with the course into the next year, but I was concerned there was no clear pathway for them, especially if they continued through to Year 13.

The boys showed a real interest in the radio aspects of the course, so I investigated how I would be able to include standards that would best suit their needs. Not being accredited to teach or assess standards from this domain, I approached Whitirea Polytechnic to see if they would be willing to provide some resources that I could teach from and get them to assess against the standard. They agreed to the arrangement and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was established. During this time, I liaised with our school’s careers advisor to see if STAR funding could be used for the costs involved. I was also conscious that boys would be gaining standards under the course heading ‘Music’ which was not representative of the programme

they would be undertaking, so I asked for their class to be labelled in KAMAR as ‘Studio Broadcasting Technologies’.

THE LEVEL 2 COURSE COMPRISED OF:

AS91278 Investigate an aspect of New Zealand music

US27658 Demonstrate knowledge of electronic music production and notation application(s)

US10313 Plan and broadcast a radio programme using an automated system

US10319 Write a voice report for radio

US26553 Demonstrate knowledge of radio broadcasting.

The course flowed nicely, as the standards AS91278 and US10319 provided quite a bit of content for the pre-recorded radio show required for US10313. The rest of the programme included original compositions from the level 2 and 3 classes. They used US27658 to write the introduction and incidental music for their radio shows.

Unfortunately, the Radio School at Whitirea was discontinued the following year, and I was left with the task of sourcing another provider that would be willing to adopt a similar relationship with our school. I approached the NZ School of Radio, based in Tauranga, with a proposal that I create the resources so that they were contextualised specifically for our students and radio station, they moderate the task designs and carry out the assessments, then our school would enter the grades awarded. They were happy with the proposal and a strong relationship between our schools was established. The advantage of this arrangement was that I could choose which standards we included, whereas we needed to offer only the ones Whitirea provided us.

BIO: HOD Music at Hutt International Boys’ School (Wellington, Upper Hutt) A multi-instrumentalist who has played in numerous rock bands, wind bands and orchestras, Greg McMillan-Perry has been involved in music education since 1995 when he started as an itinerant music tutor teaching oboe and bass guitar. He has been the HOD of Music at Hutt International Boys’ School since 2006. Alongside his music, he has a strong interest in ICT and Music Technology and enjoys looking for innovative ways to deliver music education.

AT LEVEL 3, THE COURSE HAD BECOME ENTIRELY RADIO-BASED, AS THE NUMBER OF CREDITS FOR EACH WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER. US10183 Present on-air for radio US10235 Write a basic radio commercial US10308 Record and edit for radio broadcast.

The year went smoothly, with the boys busy writing scripts and recording interviews, although a significant amount of time was spent on regular, on-air segments where they honed their craft, developing distinctive radio personalities. As neuro-diverse students, these boys had always struggled with school and it was wonderful seeing them happy, confident, and succeeding in an area that was giving them real pathways into a potential future within the broadcasting world.

The radio station is now embedded into our Music department culture, with a junior radio club and 2 online streams - one of which is fully automated and runs continuously with 100% student content (aptly named HIBS 24/7). As it is student-driven, there are, and will be, ebbs and flows as far as its popularity, but having the station has certainly made a difference for many students and is something I will continue to find ways to include in my programme.

Greg McMillan-Perry

HOW BAND DIRECTORS CAN BUILD A CONFIDENT & RELIABLE PERCUSSION SECTION

I can’t count the number of school percussion sections

I’ve worked with in the last 25 years, but I know that it’s a sample size big enough to satisfy the most stringent Marketing Research firms.

Whether it was teaching my way through University in the USA or with Auckland Philharmonia’s extensive Education Programme (APOPS), every school had their own set of identities and characteristics unique to their location, population, funding, and teachers. Yet with every school visited, I became acutely aware of the similarities between them.

Percussion sections can be hard to manage…there’s all the equipment, the mallets, part assignments, changing drumheads, not to mention, the NOISE! Band Directors have a unique challenge trying to get 10-15 different sections to play their instruments which often leads to percussionists being left alone for entire rehearsals without playing a note or even being spoken to. This can encourage students to become disruptive, with a contagious negativity that can spread throughout the ensemble.

As a former “neglected” percussionist, I believe these students deserve what all sections deserve; focused attention and reasons to stay engaged during rehearsal time. I’m going to focus on a few simple actions to aid you in establishing a confident and reliable percussion programme. The concept could be likened to farm life: aim to develop younger students who become responsible and capable enough to “bring up” the next generation…like Farm life. For that to happen, it means committing some energy into your “first -born” students.

Taking pride in your equipment

Every other member of the band has their own case, that opens to a beautiful and shiny instrument with its own towels, oil, reeds, bows…etc. Percussionists are typically looking around the band room for a matching set of mallets to play the Xylophone on wonky wheels, or an untuned snare drum with a 17-year-old head on a drum set stand that’s down to their knees. My favourite is the piece of string tied tightly to a triangle, played by an old steel rod, that most likely belongs to the Bass Clarinet.

I cannot solve your budgetary constraints, but what I can say is that a little elbow grease over the break can start to nourish some pride and responsibility in your students. Your most valuable tool during this setup? …a Label Maker. Channel your inner Marie Kondo and find a place for every percussion instrument and hide the useless ones. “A place for everything, and everything in its place” as my

grandmother repeated to me thousands of times. After every rehearsal (when all the other students are packing away their instruments), kindly remind the percussionists to put all their items where they belong. It will take a while to set the habit, but you will reap the rewards in the future when you have less to tidy every day. Creating an environment that looks important enough to take care of will immediately cause a reaction from your students. It’s the same as knowing you’re not supposed to touch anything in the museum or to be quiet in a library…the standard is set when you walk in the door.

Pro Tip: If you end up with a box of “random” equipment, I recommend keeping this tucked away in your office or a closet and only supplying the items when needed. Anything that looks untidy will promote the primal and irresistible urge of students to be untidy. As for the students, I deeply believe in asking them to purchase their own equipment. This can be as simple as a mallet bag with pairs of sticks, xylophone mallets, and timpani mallets. Whether it’s a starter Snare Drum and Stand or at the very least a practice pad with stand, owning their own gear creates a sense of pride and responsibility for their instrument. This is one of the best lessons a student can take away from their musical experience and percussionists are often deprived of this by not being required to own or manage their own equipment.

Where this may not be possible, an alternative to consider is to use part of your budget to invest in a collection of stick bags, practice pads, and drums. Label each one with the name of a famous percussionist and sign them out to students at the beginning of each year, making it clear that it’s their responsibility to look after the gear and to bring it back and forth from home to rehearsal.

KBB carries Mallet Scholastic Packs HEREwww.kbbmusic.co.nz/promark-scholastic-pack

Full Percussion Starter Kits HERE - www.kbbmusic.co.nz/ antigua-pk3300-percussion-rolling-kit-includes-snare-drumpractice-pad-and-32-note-glockenspiel-with-rolling-carry-bag

Full Accessory Kits HERE - www.kbbmusic.co.nz/ black-swamp-bspack2-intermediate-performance-pack

Time to engage

Now that we’ve tidied up and started to nurture a sense of pride into the section, how can we keep them activated throughout the year? I always ask Band Directors to find at least 30 seconds a rehearsal to address the percussion section about something musical. In my own small ensemble rehearsals, I make it a point to address each

player at least once per session. It can be very simple (balance is an easy one to discuss), but the goal is to engage the entire section every rehearsal. Make them all stand up behind their instrument while you’re addressing them and if you can, have them play by themselves. This regular engagement will become conditioned as an expectation and the group will slowly start paying attention more, waiting for their “moment”.

If it’s difficult to find a spot for the section to play solo, look for moments when they can play with other sections. Even if it’s one player on a Bass Drum with the low brass section, or a triangle player with the woodwinds, it’s great to keep them engaged. It also opens the rest of the band’s ears to the sounds of the percussion section.

It's ok if you’re not sure how to address technical issues in their playing. Continue to speak with your percussionists as you would with any other instrumentalist. Using musically driven language to achieve the outcome you desire.

“Can you find a way to make that shorter, drier?”

“Can that possibly be a warmer sound?”

“What if that had some more energy to keep us moving?”

“Could you try to blend that sound with horns?”

“Can you help us create more of a happy feeling here?”

Giving them space

The next step is to give them space to grow by finding something to work on for themselves which is outside of the Concert Band or Orchestra. Band Music can be boring for a percussionist when they only have 3 triangle dings and a suspended cymbal roll. I have r ecently become a big fan of using the ABRSM books to give young percussionists achievable obstacles to conquer. If you have a rehearsal in which the percussionists might be under-utilized, this would be a great time to allow them into another space where they can collectively work on an ABRSM solo. Consider keeping the entire section on the same piece so that they can learn together.

Begin with Grade 1 even if you believe they are capable of higher levels. It’s tempting to advance them early, but I urge caution here. Grade 1 may appear simple, but I’m often shocked that Year 11’s in very good music programmes can’t play them right away. Starting with Grade 1 will allow them to progress quickly which is more fun for everyone and creates a sense of achievement in ticking through each solo. This will also allow you to focus on some fundamental building blocks that are easy to skip over if the works are too difficult. While working on their own is important, you will obviously need to check in on them from time to time. Depending on how many instruments you have, I suggest allowing them to perform a solo in unison during a full band rehearsal. A deadline and a ‘performance’ date will certainly motivate most of them.

How Can I Help?

It’s easy enough for me to discuss what could be done to help build your percussion programme, but it’s another to find the time to accomplish this. Start slow and remember that this can take several years to cultivate (remember the Farm Life analogy?). If you take one thing from this article, I do believe organizing your equipment is the most important first step you can take.

BIO: Eric Renick is the Principal Percussionist of the APO and has been very active in percussion education in NZ and the USA. With the APO, Eric has developed a yearly percussion camp for students throughout NZ called GoAPE (the Auckland Percussion Experience), performed in an educational percussion trio, and has developed a website committed to furthering percussion education particularly for students with limited resources. www.thePercussionER.com

Tragically, NZ is lacking in available itinerant percussion teachers. While I have dedicated time to the development of young percussionists to help them step into this role, this has been mainly in Auckland. Across the rest of the motu, there are places where there may not be a percussionist within 100km, let alone one that can teach. It’s with that in mind that I created www.thePercussionER.com

The site is committed to providing resources for both students and Music Educators to help keep their students interested in percussion and advancing their abilities. I have recently recorded Video Lessons and Play-Alongs for every solo in the first 3 Grades of ABRSM with Book 4 and 5 scheduled by the end of the year. There is also a myriad of other videos, including an introductory Rhythm Series that takes students through each of the beginning rhythms, a complete guide to all 40 International Drum Rudiments and D.I.Y. videos to help with things like changing a drum- head, tying a cymbal strap, making a proper Triangle Clip, etc.

The ABRSM and Rudiment series are perfect for creating that space needed for your percussion team. You can assign them 1 Rudiment a week and have 40 weeks sorted! Each Rudiment video explains the rudiment and gives them an exercise to work on. All the exercises can be downloaded as PDFs for members.

The ABRSM videos begin with a performance (using Percussion as the accompaniments ) then a complete lesson (approx. 15 minutes) and finishes with 2 Play-Alongs (one slow and one at performance tempo). All accompaniments can be downloaded by members and used for their own practice, or simply play along with the video. THE SHEET MUSIC MUST BE PURCHASED THROUGH ABRSM OR YOUR LOCAL SUPPLIER.

These solos are a great assignment for your students. There is no need to pursue “certification” by doing the exams. Simply performing the piece by a certain date is enough to keep them interested. Graded exams can come later if they are truly interested.

ThePercussionER.com exists to advance percussion activities here in NZ and every dollar made from the site goes back into the creation of more content, or to supplementing percussion activities throughout NZ. Members will have a direct line to me to ask questions and suggest topics to be covered as well as access to over 25 hours of video content.

I owe a lot to my teachers, and this is one of the best ways I can try to give back to the activity that has done so much for me. If this is something you are interested in or you think your students might enjoy, please do have a look and forward it on to others who may wish to support the cause.

While there are many challenges to developing young percussionists, Aotearoa is not short on potential and talent. If we can take steps to help engage them and encourage them, many students will find their stride on this instrument that speaks to so many.

Find out more about Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s education programmes and resources here: www.apo.co.nz/ community-education/

CREATING A CREATIVE CAREER IN THE MUSIC

It goes without saying that to forge a successful career in the music industry you need to be technically and creatively competent. It’s difficult to develop a career as a guitarist, for example, if you can’t play the guitar! Similarly, if you are looking for a career as a live sound engineer, you need to know your way around a sound desk. But being technically and creatively competent is not necessarily enough.

Indeed, we likely all know of musicians that craft extraordinary songs in their bedroom, which no-one gets to hear. Or wannabe music producers that are technically masterful and yet unknown. Increasingly, research has indicated that alongside technical capabilities and creative talent, musicians also need a raft of transferable skills to build a sustainable career. As the name suggests, transferable skills are those skills that can be easily transferred from one career to another. They largely deal with ‘the way we work’, ‘the way we interact with others’ and ‘our ability to self-reflect’. While you need to be good at your work, you also need to be good to work with.

SAE Creative Media Institute - a global network of over 50 campuses across some 23 countries - has explored the importance of transferable skills for the development of a sustainable creative career. Surveying the creative industries worldwide, including speaking directly to successful creative practitioners as well as organisations that employ creative graduates, revealed a list of 12 transferable skills that are key to creating a creative career.

In New Zealand, SAE has one campus - based in Parnell, Auckland. SAE Auckland is a degree granting institution and was graded as Category 1 by NZQA in their most recent External Evaluation and Review (EER) - the highest possible rating for a Tertiary institute. SAE Auckland offers Diploma and Degree qualifications in Music Production, Audio Production and Screen Production. Central to these degrees is the transferable skills that frame SAE qualifications worldwide. The SAE Transferable Skills Framework includes:

1. Positive Attitude and Resilience: Developing a mindset that recognises opportunities, doesn’t focus on the negatives, and allows you to bounce back from and adapt to life’s challenges.

2. Work Ethic: Demonstrating that you utilise time efficiently and show care for your work by committing to completing tasks to the best of your ability.

3. Self-Reflection and Deliberate Practice: Reviewing your own experiences to gain insight and improve the way you work, paired with the conscious effort toward practising specific things in measurable ways to improve your skills.

4. Working Under Pressure: The ability to maintain a level of resilience when adverse conditions arise, such as urgent situations, changes in plans, sudden time constraints or something unexpected that has happened outside of your control.

5. Ability to Deal with and Learn from Criticism: To be critical is to find both the positive and negative aspects and communicate these objectively. You cannot control how other people may provide criticism, but you can control how you deal with it and learn from it.

6. Ability to Collaborate: A strong collaborator is someone who works well as a member of a team or group, or as an effective component within a wider production.

7. Critical Thinking: Addressing a problem or issues through use of a formal framework to form an objective opinion, enabling you to present evidence for your point of view, rather than relying on subjective reasoning.

DR SUZETTE MAJOR

MUSIC INDUSTRY

8. Flexibility and Adaptability: Having a professional and optimistic attitude towards change. If we accept that change is inevitable, we can also reframe our attitudes towards it.

9. Self-Confidence: The ability to believe in yourself, your skills, your goals, and your ability to learn and succeed. It is about taking action and asking questions when you don’t know something, being willing to try new ideas, standing up for yourself and not being afraid to fail.

10. Time Management: The ability to organize and plan the time spent on various activities. Time management involves skills such as planning, setting goals, meeting deadlines, and scheduling the time to improve your skills or performance.

11. Problem Solving: The ability to identify problems or barriers that stand in the way of a certain goal, study these issues, then work through a process of observation, inspection, and fact-finding about the issues in order to identify potential solutions.

12. Communication: The exchanging of information, ideas and meanings from one entity or group to another. Effective communication skills are fundamental to success in many aspects of life and are a core element of many of the other transferable skills.

These 12 transferable skills are not mutually exclusive. They are interrelated and collectively provide a useful framework for reflecting and analysing personal strengths and weaknesses; an important exercise to undertake periodically at all stages of a creative career.

The global SAE research that has been undertaken aligns with similar studies elsewhere, such as the often quoted Trilling and Fadel book 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, in which the 4Cs of Creativity, Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking are cited as critical 21st century skills. Even the World Economic Forum recommends focusing on such competencies to help students develop skills needed to approach the complex challenges of this century. Lai and

Viering (2012) similarly argue for the importance of transferable skills as educational outcomes.

So, while SAE Auckland is not unique in talking about Transferable Skills while developing music producers, audio engineers or filmmakers of tomorrow, we have recognised that these are not ‘nice to have’ subjects but rather central to creative media education. Our goal is to produce graduates who can launch their creative career in the music, audio or screen industries with confidence that they have the very skills needed to succeed. In the 30+ years that we’ve been operating, we’ve increasingly recognised, and now have global industry research to indicate that such success rests not only on the technical and creative merits of our graduates, but also on their ability to communicate, collaborate, think critically, selfreflect, problem solve, work under pressure, manage their time, be flexible, learn from criticism and to bring self-confidence, a strong work ethic and a positive attitude to their creative projects. And of course, it helps to have outstanding technical competencies and creative talent!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lai, E & Viering, M. (2012). Assessing 21st Century Skills: Integrating Research Findings. Vancouver, BC: National Council on Measurement in Education. Rotherham, A. & Willingham, D. (2010). “21st-Century” Skills: Not New, but a Worthy Challenge. US: American Educator (Spring).

Trilling and Fadel book 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, World Economic Forum (2022). 21st-century skills every student needs www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/21st-century-skills-future-jobs-students/

DAVE JOHNSTON

CURRICULUM UPDATES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In 2021, the University of Canterbury School of Music celebrated its 130th anniversary. Since its inception, the music programme at Canterbury has always had at its heart a rigorous training emphasising participation and leadership in the community—the School of Music has sought to serve the community.

From its beginnings in 1891 under the direction of George F. Tendall, closely connected to Christ Church Cathedral, to the 1930s when Douglas Lilburn was a student under J.C. Bradshaw, to the introduction of performance in 1965, to the current era where the school has branched out from its classical roots to embrace a broad range of genres across classical, popular, and world music traditions, UC Music has continually adapted to meet changes in society, in student needs and interests, and in the music profession. We have recently updated the curriculum to cater to the diverse range of students who study Music at UC. Recognising that in the modern music profession, fluency across different disciplines within music—performance, composition, scholarship, and technology—is an advantage, our revised programmes are designed to allow students to learn and collaborate across all of these areas. Building further from this, we also recognise that students often wish to combine Music with other areas of study, both in the Arts and beyond. For that reason, we now offer the opportunity to include Music in a number of ways within various other University of Canterbury degrees.

By encouraging students to think across genres, across disciplines, and across fields, our curriculum fosters versatility and adaptability. As David Epstein notes in his 2019 book Range, “the more contexts in which something is learned, the more the learner creates abstract models, and the less they rely on any particular example. Learners become better at applying their knowledge to a situation they’ve never seen before, which is the essence of creativity.”

Bachelor of Music

Our flagship degree, the Bachelor of Music (MusB), was revised in 2021. We now offer four majors: performance, composition, creative music technology, and music studies. At the heart of the MusB is a core of courses—in musicianship and music theory, world music, and community music. Students—who come into the programme with diverse skills in music notation, some having been self-taught or coming from aural musical cultures, and others from a classical, score-based background—graduate fluent in translating between the written score and the heard sound. They are able to notate the music they hear, and hear (and sing) the scores they see written down. Additionally, students gain a practical understanding of how music may be used to build community and how communities can make music together within the context of bi-cultural Aotearoa New Zealand. In this way, students are trained to be literate musicians engaged both with the local community in the context of a globalised, multicultural world.

ROMEO AND JULIET.

ARTS,UC-STAFF-GALA-CONCERT

In their final year, a Capstone project allows students to pull together their knowledge from across the curriculum in a project of their choice, drawing on their training in music scholarship, performance, composition, and music technology. Recognising that students today discover their passion for music via disparate channels both formal and informal, vernacular and notated, entry into the MusB and into all of the majors (except Performance) is open to all students with University Entrance.

Bachelor of Arts in Music

All of our MusB courses are also available in the revised Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Students often ask whether they should choose the MusB or the BA. The BA majoring in Music is an excellent option for students who wish to combine two or more areas of study, as all BA students take a major and a minor subject (or two majors). It also allows more flexibility in course choice.

Within the BA there is also the new option to choose a specialisation instead of the traditional major and minor. A specialisation includes more courses than a major, but spread across different subjects. Thus, it embodies the principles of range and flexibility as students can delve into several related subjects and draw connections between them. In particular, the specialisation in Creative Industries and Contemporary Practice (CICP) allows students to combine courses in music, film and media, art, and creative writing and is ideal for those wishing to work in the broader arts sector.

BIO: a is Associate Head of Humanities and Creative Arts (Music) and Associate Dean (Governance) in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Canterbury, where he teaches courses in music theory and musicianship, musicology, ethnomusicology, and community music. His research interests are in French baroque music, music in early twentieth-century New Zealand, and community music. He is also active as a performer on baroque and modern cello.

Music as a minor

Music has long been offered as a minor in the BA, but is now available (alongside all other Arts minors) in a wide range of UC degrees. This is a popular option both for those who wish to go on to teach multiple subjects at secondary level, and who wish to combine advanced music study with a degree in a different field.

A gentle start: CertArts and GradDipArts

Sometimes students may not wish to commit straight away to a three-year degree. Others may have studied music in the past, but wish to upskill with some new courses from our curriculum. The Certificate in Arts is a good option for this. It allows students to take 60 points (four courses) of their choice which can either be taken together in one semester, or one or two at a time. One option, for example, is to take the four Musicianship courses (MUSA 100, 101, 200, 300) to upskill in music theory; others may be interested in taking a suite of composition, songwriting, or music technology courses.

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For those who have a degree in a subject other than Music, the Graduate Diploma in Arts (120 points) allows students to take the equivalent of a full year of courses, half of which are at 300-level. This option is often used by students who have a non-Music degree and wish to transition to studying Music at postgraduate level. It may also be of interest to those who have a degree in a different subject and who wish to add Music as a teaching subject at school.

Postgraduate options

For those who have completed their undergraduate study in Music and wish to advance further, there are several options for postgraduate study. A common progression is from the MusB or BA in Music to the MusB(Hons) or BA(Hons), both of which are one-year programmes which can then lead to the Master of Music (MMus) in performance or composition or the Master of Arts (MA) by thesis.

A new option is the 180-point MA. This allows students with a Bachelor’s degree in Music to combine 400-level courses with a dissertation, thus completing a Master’s degree in three semesters.

Safer Spaces in Music Education

In the last two years there have been an increasing number of stories about harmful behavior in music education spaces. The stories have been about people we know, and people who have been highly regarded in music education circles. These stories motivated many of us to come together to actively work to prevent sexual harm in these spaces.

Safer Spaces in Music Education began with a Zoom hui of people from across the music education sector. Together we represent tertiary, secondary, primary, and early childhood providers, small studio/private teachers, itinerant music teachers, community music providers who target youth, and of course the voices of our students.

A one-day Safer Spaces in Music Education symposium was held In Wellington in January 2022 - this was kindly funded and hosted by Massey University. It was well attended, and participants were very positive about the training in preventing sexual harm in an educational context.

MENZA is committed to continued work in this space and in May 2022 we applied for a Capability Grant from the New Zealand Music Commission. This application was successful and SSME was granted $10,000 to meet our key objectives for 2022 listed below:

• Appointing a project manager/administration person to support the resource tailoring and development and to apply for further funding.

• Development of a Harm Prevention Checklist.

• Developing a Code of Ethics/Conduct template - blending the SoundCheck Aotearoa Code of Conduct template & IRMTNZ Code of Ethics.

• 6 D's (detect, direct, distract, delegate, delay, dialogue) of Bystander Intervention poster design.

• Instructional information for staff to respond well to disclosures of sexual harm.

• The creation of a student-facing posters (two) which outline what sexual harassment is, who to tell, and what will happen if they tell.

Any of these Master’s degrees can lead on to doctoral study. Options are the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), a three-year advanced programme in performance or composition, or the PhD by thesis where students complete a piece of original scholarly research in a Music-related area.

Future plans

There are more exciting developments on the horizon. UC intends to introduce a new Bachelor of Digital Screen degree from 2023. This will include a major in Screen Sound which will be of interest to many students with a music or audio background. Future plans include introducing a PhD in Creative Practice which will allow students to combine scholarly and practice-led interests across the Creative Arts. As we look forward to the next 130 years, our programmes will continue to develop and grow in response to student needs and changes in the profession, equipping students to be the cultural travellers and interdisciplinary border crossers of the future.

Dr. Francis Yapp

All these resources will be freely available via the MENZA and SoundCheck Aotearoa websites. These resources will form the basis of Sexual Harm Prevention Training for Music Educators to be developed in the future. We believe that it should be compulsory for all educators to complete this training in how to prevent sexual harm, as part of the teacher registration process. There is still much work ahead of us and if you think you would like to be part of this group please email me to indicate interest (jeni.little@hobsonvillepoint.school.nz), or visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/saferspacesinmusicednz. None of this would be happening without the hard work and considerable support from:

• Rachel Harrison and Mel Calvesbert

- SoundCheck Aotearoa facilitators

• Oliver and Nikky Harrop - SoundCheck Aotearoa

• Dr Catherine Hoad and Massey University

• MENZA

• Hobsonville Point Secondary School

• Recorded Music NZ

• New Zealand Music Commission

If you have experienced harm and need someone to talk to, HELP is a specialist sexual harm crisis agency that it is available 24/7 nationwide by phone 0800 623 1700 - you can call anonymously email info@helpauckland.org.nz or directly via their website www.helpauckland.org.nz

HELP can provide information, support and practical assistance to anyone anywhere in New Zealand who has experienced sexual harm, and anyone supporting a friend or family member who has experienced harm. SoundCheck Aotearoa also has a resources and tools page created for the music industry which will form the basis of education specific resources www.soundcheckaotearoa.co.nz/resources-and-tools

DID YOU KNOW?

We’re pretty big

With over 400 members, MENZA is one of the largest, strongest and most organised subject associations in New Zealand. We represent a broad spectrum of music educators, from ECE to primary and secondary schools, itinerant teachers, private tutors and more.

We’re delivering on professional development In the last 12 months, over 150 members attended professional development workshops, talks or events across six different regions. That is over a third of our members benefiting from MENZA PD opportunities around the country. Later this year, we are looking to provide opportunities for teachers in Northland and Nelson, as well as the main centres – watch this space!

We provide a platform to get your events noticed. We can help you promote events, activities and performances in your area by providing FREE event listings on our website. We also encourage members to join and share events on our facebook group – because music should be heard, shared, celebrated and enjoyed! List your event today. Visit menza.co.nz/events

We’re making some noise on behalf of music education. In previous years, our advocacy work for primary education saw MENZA interviewed on Radio New Zealand and featured in the Dominion Post and New Zealand Herald. We are proud of our advocacy work for instrumental music teachers, working with the IRMT to develop a teacher education refresher course tailored for ITMs that is now more affordable, relevant and manageable for all concerned.

We’re a powerful voice at the table. As the official subject association for music education, MENZA nominates and is represented by members on MOE, NZQA, PPTA and other advisory or regulatory education review groups. We listen to our members and advocate on your behalf to ensure that music education in New Zealand can thrive at all levels, all over the country.

We recognise the unique landscape of music education in Aotearoa. That’s why we provide local content, resources, research and teaching tools, written by New Zealanders with kiwi kids in mind. Our involvement in Hook Line and Singalong ensures kiwi songs are transcribed and shared to be used as a resource to sing, sign in NZSL and strum along to on your ukulele.

From practical tips on organising a recital or enjoying your school production, to researched articles on music psychology

and pedagogy, or thought provoking personal insights on creativity, inclusiveness and excellence, Tune Me In provides a platform to share teaching resources, knowledge and expertise relevant to music education in Aotearoa.

Our members are our greatest asset.

MENZA represents a committed network of music specialists and educators, many of whom give up their time and energy to support the music education community through presenting workshops, organising and assisting with music festivals and events, or simply by sharing their knowledge, ideas and experiences with other members. As a MENZA member, you are part of a supportive community of engaged, enthusiastic educators to learn from, collaborate with and celebrate music in all its forms.

We celebrate achievement - and work hard to make sure the unsung heroes of the music education community are recognised and always delight when one of our nominations makes it through to be recognised in the New Year’s and Queen’s Birthday Honours.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Spread the word. The more members we have, the wider your network of support and the greater the opportunities for collaboration and shared expertise. By representing a large and diverse community of music educators, we can stand up, be counted and influence change. If you know somebody who might benefit from membership, or may have something to offer other members, spread the word. Membership starts from as little as $34.50 per year.

Get your event out there! List your event on the MENZA website and share it with over 400 engaged, enthusiastic music education professionals at menza.co.nz/events.

Get involved. If you would like to help bring professional development opportunities to your area, have expertise you wish to share, or want to discuss how you can contribute to New Zealand’s music education community, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us at admin@menza.co.nz and we will be in touch.

Do you know someone who would appreciate becoming a MENZA member? Gift subscriptions are also available for just $34.50 (now with GST). Email admin@menza.co.nz for more information.

LATEST TECH FOR TEACHERS

It is rare that in a particular year there is a huge standout product or piece of music technology equipment. While everything is always getting better and cheaper, often it is gradual improvements to things like recording software or microphones which make the life of a recording musician and composer easier in some way. However, last year a new audio recorder came out that is particularly worthy of mention.

This is no longer a problem with 32-bit audio recording. Here is a great example of someone demonstrating this with the smaller Zoom F3: youtu.be/zpoFhCCi2VE?t=783 or tinyurl.com/32bitDemo

In the past we used to always record digital audio at 16-bit quality. This gave us a dynamic range of 96 dB. 24-bit audio quality gives us a dynamic range of 144 dB which is a massive improvement. However, with both of these formats we can never record over 0 dBFS, which is the clipping point. With 32-bit audio though, we have a dynamic range of 1528 dB, including the ability to go a massive 770 dB above 0 dBFS. The greatest difference in sound pressure level on Earth is only around 210 dB! See here for all the math: tinyurl.com/32bitMath

I can’t really underestimate what a big deal this is for field recording. In the past while recording students performing outside, or even in situations where I’m recording tutorials in my classroom, there have been times that the input signal controls have accidentally been knocked making my tracks way too loud and distorted and ruining what we were trying to record (and often I only realise that after everyone has packed up and gone home and I’m sitting down to mix!). With 32-bit recorders this is no longer a concern.

To see the Zoom F6 in action here is a recording we made of some students performing at the top of the Port Hills at sunrise: youtu.be/gYLOCGNFhcc?t=835 or tinyurl.com/ TheCallingSTAC

The Zoom F6.

Firstly, the basics: the Zoom F6 has six microphone inputs allowing you to record pretty much any kind of small ensemble. It is incredibly small (seriously, it’s much smaller than you would think by looking at pictures of it online). It records to SD card so if you are recording somewhere like the Big Sing, Rockquest or Chamber Music competition you can do recordings without having to also lug around a laptop. However, what makes this portable audio stand out from the many other portable audio recorders on the market (and there are a lot of them) is the fact that it can record 32-bit floating point audio files. Why is this important? Well, in short, it means that you never have to worry about correctly setting the input or gain levels. It is physically impossible to record too quiet or too loud.

For anyone that has any experience with recording you’ll know that if you set the levels too high on your recording interface then you’ll get clipping or distortion. Working with student bands a common problem is setting your recording levels during their sound check or practice, but when it comes to the actual performance or recording, they all of a sudden play twice as loud, distorting your audio signals.

In this setup I had two microphones setup in a stereo ORTF arrangement, three microphones used as close mics spread out across the performers and the sixth input dedicated for the guitar DI box. The audio levels were all over the place at the time of recording but using the ‘sort of free’ recording software Reaper I was able to balance everything up nicely. The microphones suffered terribly from wind noise so I had to use the excellent Izotope RX software to clean the tracks up.

So, if you do a lot of recording in different spaces, then I highly recommend you trial one of these units from your local music store.

BIO: Duncan Ferguson is the person behind Learning Ideas Ltd. He has been supplying aural, theory and music technology teaching and assessment resources to New Zealand teachers for the last 20 years. He is the Head of Music at St Andrew’s College and trains teachers how to record and mix audio through his new “Mixing Techniques for Teachers” online course. See more info at www.learningideas.org

The effective integration of technology into your music program can provide huge benefits in student engagement and learning outcomes. But successful integration requires careful planning and a solid understanding of

• current best practice

• evolving curricula and technology

• ICT and classroom infrastructure

• budgets and funding options

• professional development needs

Music EDnet has been working with teachers, ICT staff and decision makers at all levels of education for 30 years in Australia and 5 years in NZ, with industry experience spanning more than 45 years.

In that time we have designed, installed and commissioned hundreds of music and digital media labs and a huge range of music, audio and video technology in schools across the region. This includes multi-million dollar performing arts building projects.

Let us help you plan and build a successful future with music and technology.

• Music & Media Software

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Live streaming Kodaly training across Australia

NCEA AND EXTERNAL MODERATION UPDATE

Kia ora koutou, haere mai to the first NCEA and external moderation update!

This is going to be a new and regular feature for Tune Me In, and it is certainly timely with less face-to-face workshops on offer during the pandemic. The main aim is to keep secondary school music teachers, including ITM’s, in the loop regarding the Review of Achievement Standards and External Moderation.

Review of Achievement Standards

The NCEA Review of Achievement Standards (RAS) for Music is currently focussed on trialling the draft Level 1 standards. Several pilot schools are teaching and assessing all 4 draft standards (2 internals and 2 externals) during 2022 as part of the Mini-Pilot process.

The Mini-Pilot is being run to:

• further test the standards and assessments and identify how they performed and how they can be improved

• test the piloting process on a small scale

• produce exemplars to help others: and

• to lead the way in beginning to realise the key goals of the NCEA Change Programme.

A larger Level 1 pilot will run in 2023 during which time Level 2 standards will also be developed and ready for piloting in 2024.

The draft Level 1 standards can be found at: ncea.education.govt.nz/arts/music?view=assessment

External Moderation

In the meantime, current Level 1 standards will not be required for External Moderation.

With Year 11 ākonga potentially having had less tutoring time with Itinerant Teachers of Music (ITM) due to Covid-19 disruptions, be aware that the benchmark for Achievement for Level 1 performance could look different from pre 2020 performances. This is because for this year, some schools could have learners in at “least their third year of ITM lessons” having had half the usual contact time with their instrumental teacher during Years 9 and 10.

Make your holistic assessment judgements for 91090 and 91091 based on your knowledge of how far your learners have progressed while at your school/kura, together with a sensible approach to the benchmark of what a third

THIS IS BECAUSE FOR THIS YEAR, SOME SCHOOLS COULD HAVE LEARNERS IN AT “LEAST THEIR THIRD YEAR OF ITM LESSONS” HAVING HAD HALF THE USUAL CONTACT TIME WITH THEIR INSTRUMENTAL TEACHER DURING YEARS 9 AND 10

year of group tuition looks like, particularly for vocalists/woodwind players.

It is suggested that Level 1 performers complete their solos as late in the year as possible.

Digital moderation submissions

These sit at around 95% of all Music moderation. Most digital submissions are easy to access. However, at times Google Drive, Dropbox links etc., cannot be accessed as permission settings need to be set to “anyone with the link can view”, or a guest username and password should be created and provided for moderation.

Videoing evidence

(that may or may not be required for External Moderation)

Some general tips:

• If possible, video pianists from the side so the keyboard is clearly in view

• Encourage vocalists to sing to their audience rather than directly to the camera

• With Covid restrictions audience numbers may be limited, however as for the above do encourage performers to acknowledge and engage with their audience regardless of size.

Online courses

These can be accessed using your Education Sector Logon. Courses available for Music include:

• Making Assessor Judgements (91270, 91849)

• 91278 Investigate an aspect of New Zealand Music

• Group Work in the Arts.

Another MAJ workshop for 91425 (Research) is in the process of being built and should be available soon. Until next time, take care. Ka kite, Delysse.

BIO: Delysse Glynn, National Assessment Moderator for NCEA Music. I’ve been in the role for 10 years and over that time have led a very consistent team of contractors, who like you, are secondary school music teachers. Recently, the team increased from 5 to 13. This is to prepare for the increased workload that RAS will create. It is a privilege to work alongside these highly experienced teachers and hear first-hand the peaks and troughs of music teaching.

As a community minded individual I’m involved in the Auckland Bagpipe band scene as a drummer in the City of Auckland Pipe Band and perform regularly with a wonderful group of musicians at the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph, Auckland. Like all community music groups, we’ve struggled through Covid-19 restrictions and mandates. It’s made me realise how important these groups are for my mental, physical, and social well-being. At least my other hobby, learning Italian, could be held on Zoom!

TE TAI TOKERAU - MANA WHENUA HUI

On the 21st April 2022 at Taipa Beach Resort, Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa (MENZA) held a strategic planning hui with Mana Whenua from Te Tai Tokerau.

Interest in the hui and engagement from all corners of Te Tai Tokerau attended all wanting to see how this new space is going to shape up and create exciting new opportunities for our tamariki, rangatahi, whānau, communities, hapu and iwi.

Guided by whanaungatanga, aroha and manaakitanga we started with a whakatau to acknowledge where we are, who we are and where ‘we’ are going. Wiremu Sarich led whakawhanaungatanga through whai (traditional Mãori strings games) that told pūrākau to connect us to each other, connect

us to a journey (he waka eke noa) and how effective it could be with rangatahi, kaiako, whānau to reinforce mātauranga.

Horomona took the floor to kōrero about Haumanu and its journey in a new innovative space that is keen to tautoko wānanga here in Te Tai Tokerau and around the motu. The kōrero gave us insight into the demise, the state of revival and future direction of Taonga Puoro and where it can be utilised alongside other Ao Māori Arts to reinforce and empower us as a people, as a whānau, as a hapu, iwi and nation. The undulation effect will be felt widely, and we need to develop a solid space to deliver an effective and genuine kaupapa to support the need.

Te piko o te māhuri, tērā te tupu o te rākau - To the way in which the young seedling is guided and nurtured, determines how the tree will grow. With strong foundations and the right supports we can guide and nurture. Nga mahi a rehia, nga mahi a puoro, nga mahi a whare pora, nga mahi a tapere, a taakaro, a rongoa, a whakairo a toi Māori.

Guests were put into groups to discuss and present back their aspirations and dreams for Toi Māori in Te Tai Tokerau. Here are some of the main points:

- Marae Wānanga - Kura, ECE, Kaiako, Whānau

- Integrate Educational Achievement

- Learning whakapapa, karakia, kia waha, whakataukī, waiata, moteatea

- Seasonal Wānanga based on Maramataka

- Develop a mentorship - career guidance stream - succession plan

- Rangatahi ‘spots’ - pop up spaces to learn different aspects of Toi Māori

- Wananga in different rohe

- Purposeful use of technology

- Removing European systems - systemic scheduling of ‘school’ systems

- Cultural and/or Region Exchanges

- Embracing ‘haututū’, embracing and exploring gifts - leadership activities

- Explore local histories, stories - through taonga tākaro, fun activities

- Balance between kapa & whare tapere

- Access to Intellectual Property protected digital resources and access digitally to hui, wānanga

- ‘Toi Wiki’

- Puoro tour/festival

- Traditional uses, connection & sense of belonging

- Collaboration of funding to ensure continuation of wananga

- Normalising the Arts/Reo as a facet of accelerating numeracy and literacy (read/write) skills in our rangatahi.

Ma te tuakana ka totika te teina, ma te teina ka totika te tuakana - effective pedagogy has no age, gender or race restrictions, let us walk with purpose with a korowai of manaakitanga me kairangi - excellence, me whakāro nuiwisdom, handed down and given by your tupuna - herea ki te here o te aroha -  tied with love.

Watch this space…

Christian McDonald

FUNDING ASSISTANCE

EXCELLENT RANGE QUALITY INSTRUMENTS

MENZA PASIFIKA - OPELOGE AH SAM

The end of 2021 saw a coming together of a handful of Music teachers & educators who identify as Pasifika to start a talanoa (conversation) about forming a group and space called MENZA PASIFIKA. They had planned a first Talanoa Conference in the beautiful Far North of NZ hosted by Dr Opeloge Ah Sam (Kaitaia College) but was unfortunately postponed due to Covid.

The beginnings were encouraged by teachers such as Sola Vuna (Manurewa High School, AKL), Anne-Marie Lalakai (Wesley College)and Dr Opeloge Ah Sam with the support of then MENZA chair Jeni Little (Hobsonville School, AKL).

The group now has 22 teachers of Pasifika heritage and identity who communicate regularly through FB and messenger as ways of supporting each other, sharing ideas and making plans to further improve the success of their students. MENZA PASIFIKA has been enriched by the voices of various Pasifika educators and musicians within the group that bring a variety of perspectives into the sharing such as Peau Halapua, Loata Mahe, Ronise Helen, David Tipi, Linda Filimoehala and Grace Ikenasio to name a few. Their success and high-level experiences in the music industry through performance and other aspects provide a fantastic backbone of knowledge to the team.

Amongst the MENZA PASIFIKA goals is to find ways to best provide support to our Non-Pasifika music colleagues to deliver the curriculum in a way that is more relate-able to Pasifika. This can be through suggestion of repertoire, arranging of music, talking through protocols and challenges that require culturally responsive approach and understanding.

We are also keen to push for curriculum to further value Pasifika music to be included in the selected scores for NCEA

Samoan musician and educator

Dr Matatumua Opeloge Ah-Sam was at the top of his game when he turned down a number of significant opportunities overseas to instead make a return to the grassroots by helping the youth of the far north reach their musical potential.

and to develop music units that can fit into more of the NCEA standards such as research (cultural contexts), composition and performance (Polyfest). The group are currently discussing ideas in the hope of refining and solving some of these challenges and sharing the results with everyone soon.

Perhaps one of our most pressing issues we are looking to address is the challenge of ensuring a higher number of potential Pasifika talent fulfil their potential by achieving and reaching higher level career opportunities in the music industry. Not just in performance, but also in related pathways such as Audio/Sound Engineering, Film Music, Music Therapy and more.

MENZA PASIFIKA welcome our wider MENZA community of teachers (full time, part time or itinerant) to contact us through our individual members with any questions or suggestions that you would like some support with. We would love to provide support and a balanced Pasifika perspective on any enquiries around the NZ curriculum or any other cultural and community-based challenges.

MENZA PASIFIKA are hoping to hold their inaugural TALANOA conference in the beautiful Far North or NZ at the end of 2022, which may present an opportunity for Non -Pasifika teacher colleagues to participate and share ideas. It will hopefully provide us with an opportunity to challenge ourselves, to continue to grow effectively, be responsive and continue to improve in this beautiful profession we all love.

Faafetai tele lava, Dr Opeloge Ah Sam

TEACH THE MUSICIAN, NOT JUST THE INSTRUMENT

Tips for teaching instruments to primary school children

Teaching an instrument to a primary school aged students can be really rewarding, but can also be very challenging. For this article I am focusing on two of the ways an instrument is taught in primary school – individual one-on-one or group teaching. Teaching recorder, ukulele or tuned percussion in a whole class setting would take another whole article!

It’s important for whatever setting you’re working in that these lessons are focussed, well organised and fun. Knowing what pleasure our music has brought to us in our lives and careers, we want all our students to carry on with their musical journey, so enjoying their lessons at this early stage is crucial. Our goal is not just to teach an instrument but to teach a musician who leaves our lessons buzzing with excitement at what they have learnt and with a range of skills and understandings that will ensure they develop a real love for their instrument and the music.

Whether the lesson is 20 minutes or 1 hour long it is important that it is well structured, responsive and engages the student in real music learning. Here’s some of the things that have worked for me over the years, or I have observed in others.

• Have a goal for each lesson – what do you want to achieve?

It doesn’t have to be a lengthy lesson plan because you also want to respond to needs on the day, but it’s important for the student to leave knowing they have moved one step further

• Don’t try to cover too many ideas in one lesson – focus on a particular technique, bar, phrase you want to work on

• It may seem contradictory to the previous point, but variety is also important in a lesson – include scales (more on these later), duets, some simple aural exercises (don’t leave these until a month before the exam!), some musical knowledge, maybe some improvisation on a pentatonic or a blues scale, some fun music reading or rhythm exercises – shake it up a bit in each lesson to keep the lesson fun and interesting

• Teach your students how to practise – ask them to show you how they practised! Ensure they know that playing a piece five times making the same mistake isn’t practising. Picking out the bar that’s going wrong and playing it ten times at various tempos until it’s right is a much better use of their practice time

• If you have beginners, make sure they have a tutor book to learn from. You can supplement this with photocopies if necessary, but a book makes them take their lessons more seriously and you can use it to give them goals. (“This piece on Page 50 looks hard now but by the end of Term 2 you will be playing it perfectly!”). If they turn up to lessons with some scrunched up music at the bottom of their school bag, there’s not a lot of motivation to move past it

• Make sure the student knows what they must practise – write it down with the date in a practice diary, a notebook or directly into the tutor book. Record it yourself as well and make sure you hear the bar, phrase, piece, scale they were to practise so they know you are engaging

• Don’t let the students distract you from the main goal of the lesson. We do play an important role in our students’ lives and sometimes we need to just listen, but I have also been aware of students engaging me in conversations to try and pass the time because they haven’t practised!

• Positive reinforcement is important but don’t overdo it to such an extent that your student doesn’t extend themselves. Set expectations high without putting undue pressure on them (it’s a difficult balance!!)

• Scales can be tedious – make them as rewarding as you can – have them play them at different tempi, different rhythms, different articulations. Run a scaleathon with all your students to raise money for a local cause. Scales must be musical, not just a line of notes, so be creative

• With a new piece use clap, say, finger, play – clap the rhythm, say the notes, finger the notes, play the notes – encourage the students to use this at home as well. Get to know a piece well – talk briefly about the form, the composer, the era in which it was written. Every conversation you have with them is helping to build the musician.

If you are teaching in a school that utilises Ministry of Education OOHMA* hours, it is very likely you will be teaching in a small group setting. This can be challenging but there are so many ways you can use this setting to the advantage of your students. Too often we think we must separate them into even smaller groups of same ability with even less time but there are some real advantages to teaching in a group setting and a range of strategies to ensure you make the most of the time.

• In a school setting it can be frustrating chasing children up – it is important that you develop a system with the school that works. Sometimes there’s a phone you can use, other times you may send one child to get the next. Make sure you discuss with the principal or classroom teacher the best way to make sure your time and the student’s time is not wasted

• An easy reward system can be helpful – a tick or sticker for arriving on time, another one for remembering your instrument and music and another one for showing your practice diary filled in. Young children still love stickers, or you could keep a supply of cheap music memorabilia rewards or maybe the school canteen has vouchers they will let you have

• In a group setting the ability of the children will vary –some will obviously learn faster than others but don’t let this discourage you. Give each of the children a piece that fits their ability – give them turn at playing to each other, have a scale challenge with easy scales for some and more challenging ones for others, engage some in some fun music theory while you focus on a single student for 5 minutes, play rhythm and note reading games that all the class can enjoy (some ideas later), send two away to work on a duet while you help the others, have a whiteboard with a simple activity for a small group. It does take a bit of extra planning but teaching in this way is a lot of fun and the children enjoy the camaraderie of the group.

Some fun & easy musical games

• With young children get them moving – run round the room at an allegro tempo, a largo tempo, walk with forte footsteps, piano footsteps

• Have half the group stamp the beat, the other half clap the rhythm (or this could be a teacher student activity

• Use rhythm cards – students can play memory matching the same rhythms or combine the cards to create a piece that they could add a simple melody to. If you don’t want to make these yourself, check out Teachers Pay Teachers. They have lots of great resources at a very low cost

• Children create their own four/three beat rhythms using felt circles and ice-cream sticks. Older children can use white boards to create their own rhythms.

BIO: Celia Stewart lives in Christchurch where she is Music Director of the Christchurch School of Music, runs music classes for preschoolers and teaches flute, recorder and piano. She provides professional development in early childhood and primary music throughout Aotearoa and is co-director of a local children’s music festival, “Strum, Strike and Blow”. Celia has been involved on the board of both Music Education NZ Aotearoa (MENZA) and Music Education Canterbury (MEC) and has a Masters in Education through Waikato University. She has trained in both Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly education and is a member of the Orff Levels teaching team. In 2019 she was awarded an MNZM for services to music education.

Body percussion activities.

-For younger children - Come up with four different body percussion actions – e.g clapping, stamping, patting the knees, tapping the head. Put on some music with a strong beat (eg Radetsky March) – students do 8 of each action, then 4 of each, then 2 of each then 1 of each- it always ends in chaos – great for focus, concentration and fun

-For older children each student creates a four-beat body percussion pattern which they can repeat several times.

Teaching children at this age is incredibly rewarding and will give them the best start possible to a rich and fulfilling musical life. They may go on to have professional careers, they may get lots of pleasure from playing in an amateur orchestra or band or they may be passionate listeners of music who have some valuable knowledge to enhance the listening experience. Wherever their music takes them you can be sure the time you have had with them has made a difference. Celia

Obituary Neville Forsythe

Neville Forsythe passed away peacefully at home on April 15th after a short illness. Neville was a huge personality in the Christchurch music education scene – well known and loved as a player of recorder and bassoon, an itinerant teacher, a classroom teacher, a conductor, a mentor, an advocate and a much loved husband and father.

I wrote the following eulogy to be read out at Neville’s funeral which was held on Friday 22nd April 2022.

I wish I knew more about Neville’s history at the Christchurch School of Music (CSM) – he’s just always been there! From when I was a 6-year-old recorder player, Neville was there. His passion for music and teaching was evident from the beginning – he was such an inspiration in so many ways.

The picture of Neville cutting the cake was taken five years ago to celebrate Neville’s 50 years with the CSM so today we wish to show our gratitude for his unsurpassed 55 years of dedicated service to the School.

At CSM Neville has taken on many different roles – possibly more than I know of – he has been a dedicated orchestral player, an inspirational teacher of recorder and bassoon, a department supervisor, an orchestral conductor who told wonderful stories about the music and its history, and a recorder ensemble conductor.

The Christchurch Youth Recorder Ensemble had a national reputation for the quality of playing and the wonderful choice of repertoire Neville selected. In recent years some of the more middle aged of us wanted to join so we had to change the name to the Christchurch Recorder Ensemble. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t pretend to be youth anymore! Players have come and gone from the ensemble, but Neville was there every Tuesday night up until very recently and we all loved our time with him, listening to his stories and enjoying our time together. We teased him a lot, and we had a few sayings about the musicianship he tried to instil in us – a Forsythian note was one we detached from the next note and then in the next piece he would reprimand us for detaching the notes that didn’t need to detach so we had to un-Forsythian it! We have battled on these last few weeks doing our best to honour Neville’s legacy and we will continue to get together with Neville always on our shoulders.I love the recorder and would have been there today to play for him if I was able.

Stewart

When Neville left CSM a few weeks ago I organised for the Sinfonia and Recorder Ensemble members to write some messages for him. We were overwhelmed but not surprised by the depth of feeling the students had for Neville and their grateful thanks for what they had learned from him. There is no doubt that Neville has changed the lives of so many through his passion for music.

Neville and I played together in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra – me in the flute section and Neville as principal bassoon. I will never forget the time when I was quietly tearful in a corner due to a mistake I had made in a concert. Neville noticed and came to me to reassure me and make sure I was OK – he was such a kind and generous man.

One of Neville’s great qualities was as an advocate. He was known nationwide for his advocacy of the recorder, and nothing upset him more than anyone making statements on RNZ or the television saying mean things about the recorder or how it had been taken over by the ukulele (we were never allowed to mention the ukulele in Neville’s presence!). He was also a great advocate for CSM – many a letter was written to the paper when he felt CSM had been badly treated and he was constantly coming up with great and useful ideas for how CSM could move into the future.

On our CSM and CSM Alumni Facebook pages, there are hundreds of comments from people whose lives Neville has impacted – he was so loved and admired for his warmth, humour and love for music. In my last conversation on the phone with him two weeks ago, he was recommending a YouTube clip of a Dutch recorder group that I needed to watch. I will so miss his pearls of wisdom, his knowledge, and his generosity.

Our love and best wishes to Evelyn, Julian, Fiona, Rosie and Lyndon and your families – I know you will miss him terribly, but I hope you will find comfort in knowing what a difference he has made to so many.

Haere ra Neville – it’s hard to imagine a world without you in it – your legacy will live on in so many ways.

Kua hinga he totara i te wao nui a Tane.

Celia Stewart

EMPOWERING MUSIC TEACHERS

Now that Covid-19 restrictions are easing we are increasingly free to plan domestic travel and communal gatherings. After so many cancellations and disappointments, we’re eager for professional development that involves being in the same room at the same time as one another. Something we once took for granted has become a precious luxury – one we can indulge in this Labour Weekend!

Empowering Music Teachers is a set of two consecutive Mini-Conferences IRMTNZ is holding in Otāutahi Christchurch and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 22 – 24 October. The programme in both cities features workshops on topics of relevance to all music teachers with Australian musician and presenter, Nick Peterson, and a selection of masterclasses, presentations and discussions with nationally respected musicians and educators. We’re especially looking forward to the immediacy of learning alongside colleagues and friends and the conversations that will be sparked by our shared experience. So often in life the most profound rewards are the least tangible.

Professional Development Workshops with Nick Peterson

Christchurch Saturday 22 October 2022

Auckland Monday 24 October 2022

In this inspiring series of workshops, Nick Peterson introduces pioneering methodologies that endow music teachers with the expertise to greatly increase student capabilities and enhance musical fulfilment.

Programme

09.30am PEDAGOGY

Teaching Versus Educating - was my music instructor a tutor, a teacher or an educator? What about me? Am I a teacher or an educator? Examine diverse instructional approaches that shed light on our own pedagogical practices.

10.30am Tea break

11.00am MUSICAL WISDOM

Insights to Revitalise Music Teaching - discover the straightforward, appealing, yet hidden gems of knowledge that engage students, capture their imagination, and invite the question, "why wasn't I taught this”?!

12.00pm Lunch

13.00pm RHYTHM AT A GLANCE

Mastering Rhythm Reading - provide students with the ability to effortlessly read rhythms (even difficult ones) perfectly and instantly and discover how this ability can dramatically enhance all areas of musical progress.

14.00pm Tea break

14.30pm ELUCIDATING READING

BIO: Nick Peterson Nick is a performer and composer who is classically trained graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music. Also adept in synthesizer technology, he is experienced in playing a broad range of styles in a wide array of ensembles (Jazz, Latin American, Rock, Soul, Ethnic, and Funk/Fusion).

Equipping Superior Sight Reading - consider the notion that if we can read our spoken language effortlessly, and, if music is a language, why not apply the long-established language reading methodologies to dramatically improve music reading?

15.30pm Short break

15.40pm APPRECIATING CREATIVITY

Improvisation...What is it Really? - a demystification of musical spontaneity and a welcome opportunity to put the fun back into a fundamental musical activity, ensuring creative fulfilment for all musicians.

Nick Peterson

Music educator Nick Peterson maintains that music should be taught as a first language rather than as a second. His ground-breaking methodologies generate enhanced musical perceptions that empower students to reach their potential. He asserts that adequate education in a creative art form such as music should go beyond generating clones, producing instead unique, independent and creative musicians.

Nick is a performer and composer who is classically trained graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music. Also adept in synthesizer technology, he is experienced in playing a broad range of styles in a wide array of ensembles (Jazz, Latin American, Rock, Soul, Ethnic, and Funk/Fusion). The insight acquired from such multi-faceted musicianship is at the very heart of his teaching. Nick has taught music at all levels of schooling and conducts workshops for classroom and private music teachers. An erudite and energetic clinician, he has presented for the International Society for Music Education, Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research, Australian & New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education and Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference amongst others. Nick has also written numerous books and resources in the field of music education.

Sunday Sessions

In addition to the above workshops, IRMTNZ is also holding a selection of masterclasses, presentations and discussions with nationally respected musicians and educators on Sunday 23 October (morning Christchurch, afternoon Auckland). Details to be advised shortly.

Author Cathy Martin

NICK PETERSON

HOW WE MIGHT BEST STRENGTHEN THE 'EIGHT CS'

I greet you with warmest wishes for health, buoyancy and cheerfulness as we endure this turbulent ride. It appears music education is in pretty good heart despite what the world is throwing at us, and I believe this is due to the energy and passion of all music teachers out there. Over the past few years, we have learned to feel what is and what isn’t ‘pressing our buttons’. It has been frustrating, it has hurt, it has disappointed.

As the new year planning swings into reality, I urge us to consider how we can each enhance our own lives, our pupils’ experiences and the life of our nation’s music. I am reminded of the various staffroom noticeboards seen on my travels as an itinerant music teacher. The most frequent refer to the ‘5 Cs’.

I will address these and a few more from the perspective of the Instrumental/Vocal tutor visiting a secondary school.

CONFERENCE

I was hoping to meet you all at Conference in October ‘21, then April ‘22, and now October ’22, to discuss how we might best strengthen the Cs (this is likely to be pushed further to 2023 – Ed). So instead, we’ll start the thinking here and continue the discussion when we do finally get together.

CARE

We all need to be pro-active in checking each other for physical AND mental health. We obviously need ventilated rooms, plenty of sanitising methods, good equipment, no trip-hazards and windowed-doors, but also, we need to ensure our tutors feel valued as people, not just specialist tutors. Is it possible to give each other a friendly wave or chat, the occasional coffee or caring note? Can we support pupil attendance (eg. physically, digitally, personally) so that the tutor is not twiddling their thumbs waiting for an uncommitted pupil who may or may not arrive? Can we hold a social gathering of all involved in music in the school, so that everyone feels part of our community, a real person rather than a shadow who floats between carpark and practice room?

COMMUNICATION

It is really helpful for tutors to have music department assessment dates and other school-event dates communicated not only at the start of the term but also if and when they change. Similarly, tutors and pupils benefit from open communication especially regarding absence (due to illness, school trips or assessments that clash with lesson times). Is there a school policy for handling such communication?

COLLABORATION

Tutors often enjoy a high public profile as performers. What opportunities are there for your tutors to share their skills with ensembles (eg. jazz band, chamber music orchestra, barbershop, choir, musical theatre), or with classes or the whole school? In most cases, your NCEA pupils will be prepared for their performance assessments by their itinerant tutors. To have a guideline of your department’s criteria and expectations,

dates and even an invitation to attend the assessment is not only collegial but solid evidence of collaboration which engenders trust and strength in the department.

CREATIVITY

When we all feel part of a well-oiled machine, a team, our creative energy can flow. Tutors may well have experience that can help the department with a creative project, or even the technical/digital issues of modern teaching systems.

CULTURE

Awareness of the school’s culture is really important so as not to unwittingly cause offence through ignorance. Does the school or department have a written handout for new staff that tutors could also have a copy of, so they understand the ethos of the school and how behavioural and cultural issues are handled in the school? This of course has bearing on providing a safe learning space for the pupil too – understanding the culture and expectations can help pupil and tutor create a smooth, satisfying path of achievement and enjoyment.

CONTRACTS

It is so confusing to have different contracts and terms of employment from school to school, with different car parking, staffroom/facilities and photocopying policies. Is it possible we might align these nationwide?

COVID

No one can deny the impact of this menace on the above eight ‘Cs and the tenacity and flexibility demonstrated by so many teachers bears testament to the passion.

However, it has also perhaps been the last straw for some who have chosen to work solely from the safety of their home or private studio. Once the pandemic has settled let’s strive to get these specialists back into our schools. If they have previously held a full practising teacher registration certificate, they can readily refresh this. They may even become your qualified specialist reliever or second teacher. Boom! Your music department strengthens, your pupils gain a rich music education, and your tutor is fulfilled. Win-win!

The IRMTNZ-TER is specifically designed to attract specialist music tutors back into school, is currently government funded and can be investigated here: learnmusicnz.org.nz

www.learnmusicnz.org.nz/ teacher-education-refresh-ter-programme/

Nga mihi mahana, Wendy Hunt Chair, Teacher Training Coordinator IRMTNZ

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.

Hurihia to aroaro ki ti ra tukuna to atarangi kia taka ki muri i a koe

Study what you love

Explore our flexible music study options

Benefit from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s breadth of study options. Continue towards a career in music with a Bachelor of Music or study music for the love of it by including performance, composition and music studies courses as part of another qualification.

A CHAT WITH 100 YEAR OLD DOUG KELLY -AN INFLUENTIAL MUSIC EDUCATOR, MUSICIAN WITH A PASSION FOR INSTRUMENTAL & JAZZ

Doug Kelly and I sat down for a chat soon after his 100th birthday. Here are some of his memories from his years as a musician and music educator over the last century!

Doug Kelly trained as a teacher in 1940 and his role in education included teaching in schools from 1946 after the war for 20 years and working as a district music advisor for Canterbury for 20 years from 1966. He introduced instrumental music to children, running orchestral and brass music for CSIM for 20 years, initiating, writing for and running the significant instrumental contribution of the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival and holiday course, writing over 60 arrangements for this from 1972, and writing, arranging and publishing for school-aged orchestras. He organised the national secondary schools’ orchestral holiday course for two years from 1966, and wrote and conducted for massed orchestras and instrumentalists for CSM for the grand finales in 1985 and 1987. He attended ISME in Bristol in 1982 with other music advisors, and helped run the ISME local conference (now MENZA) in Christchurch in 1985. In parallel to his career as a teacher he had a significant performing career. After returning from playing in the RNZAF band during the war, Doug played trumpet in the 13-piece 3YA Radio Broadcasting Band and 9-piece Latimer Dance Hall Band from 1946. Then from 1949 he directed and arranged hundreds of pieces for the weekly 3YA Radio Big Band broadcasts, spanning 40 years. He was also playing trumpet in local orchestras including the Civic, Canterbury and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and was still playing trumpet in the Risingholme orchestra as a nonagenarian!

What was music education like when you started teaching and how had it changed by the time you left?

It was just a piano and vocal. There were choirs and whole-school singing. Music education in those days was not to my liking. It was not music education using instruments - I wanted people to learn to play instruments.

Where did you teach?

North New Brighton School, Woolston School, Beckenham School and Linwood Avenue School; the last school I taught at was Heaton Intermediate and I ended as first assistant. I formed a large school orchestra there and wrote arrangements to suit their level of ability, which were performed at various functions and school concerts. Being in charge of a class as well as being in charge of school sport and orchestral music proved very time consuming. Life was also busy with study for music exams [he completed FTCL (performance trumpet), LTCL (The Art of Playing Trumpet), LRSM (teacher of trumpet), AMusTCL (Harmony, Counterpoint, Art of Teaching, Form and History of Music), all gained in 1964 and 1965], while teaching and conducting orchestras at the CSIM Saturday morning classes, Radio Band contracts and with family life at home.

Can you tell me about changing the pitch of the brass instruments so they could be included in other groups and how that affected schools?

I saw the brass instruments start to change from the older higher pitch [from A 452.5 used in brass bands to A440] so that brass players could join other groups of instruments such as the Civic Orchestra. This also influenced the possibility of school orchestras with music in schools.

What do you remember about music in your childhood and youth?

My mother and sister were lovely pianists. We had a simple childhood. All three children in our family were encouraged by our musical mother to sing and perform at the Christchurch City Competitions ... It is now unbelievable that at the age of 11, I won the song competition for boys 8 and under 12. But the voice was not my favourite instrument ...the feeling inside me was for jazz music.

Why did you choose the trumpet?

My family bought a radio and I heard a beautiful sound and asked what it was. My father said it was a trumpet, and he was able to get one for me to play. [This] really excited me even at that early age. With the valve model

radio of those days it was necessary to erect a twenty foot mast with an aerial for the reception of radio programmes. In 1937 the Christchurch Boys High School Band became the start of a dedication to the trumpet and addiction to jazz music. I later joined the first Christchurch jazz club named the “Swing Club”.

Can you think of any big evolutions that changed how music was performed, taught or learnt in your life?

The Town Hall. It meant that people could hear vocals not just accompanied by a piano, but children were able to hear and play instruments as well to accompany choirs and also play on their own.

Doug’s idea to include an auditioned representative instrumental groups, with massed items especially arranged to the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival, which up until that point had just had choirs accompanied by piano. This has continued for over 35 years.]

One of my main objectives in establishing the “New Look '' festival concept was to institute the Grand Finale with the full 100 instrumentalists of the representative primary and intermediate Orchestra accompanying the last bracket of massed items. My past experience in writing arrangements enabled me to orchestrate suitable accompaniments so that these items provided a dramatic climax to the concert. At the holiday course, it was my duty to rehearse the orchestra for these items.

[The critic Ian Dando wrote: “The key man in those impressive culminating items for choir and orchestra is undoubtedly Doug Kelly whose deft expertise with arranging has made this bracket possible year after year.”]

Music advisor role

For the first 10 years of the twenty spent in this role it was my responsibility to organise the annual National Secondary Schools’ Orchestral Holiday Course held in May in Christchurch. Bill Walden-Mills conducted the orchestra and the rehearsal of the woodwind and brass sections, and the conducting of a bracket of items was my job. One year I was sent up to Hamilton to tutor and assist with this course. It was here I met John Emeleus and formed a long-lasting friendship. He became music advisor in Southland, and eventually the principal Lecturer of the music department at Christchurch College of Education.

Right from the start of this new position of music advisor one of my main objectives was to develop and encourage instrumental training in schools. Fortunately this was possible because of generous support from departmental officers, particularly my first liaison inspector Bryon Gainsford. It was possible for me to purchase a large pool of instruments to loan to schools as well as form many out-of-school instrumental classes. It was important to become deeply involved and vigorously support the CSIM (Christchurch School of Instrumental Music) Saturday morning scheme which involved over 1,000 primary and secondary students who were taught in graded classes and also different levels of orchestras. This was indeed a model scheme with progression from pre-school classes and beginners right through to the youth orchestra and senior concert band. Fees for the primary pupil’s classes were paid for by the Canterbury Education Board under the out-of-school classes scheme.

[While conducting and arranging for orchestras 4 and 5 in the early sixties, Doug noticed a lack of young orchestral brass players in the eight orchestras and a lack of boys playing, so Doug was able to introduce brass classes for trumpet, trombone and French horn. Within a few years all orchestras had brass sections, then concert bands and a jazz big band were later formed].

It was an enormous and laborious task for one advisor to maintain such a huge pool of orchestral instruments and be involved in such a large number of instrumental classes at the same time as general advisory work at in-service courses and school visits. There were also many national courses in Wellington and Auckland for music advisors. Music festivals and curriculum committees were another aspect of the job. Normal school holidays were not part of the job.

MUSICIAN & ARRANGER MUSIC JUDITH BELL

Among the music advisors from other districts were John Emeleus, Elizabeth Mintz, John Orams and Max Stewart. [John Orams and Doug had a common interest in technology and later in “Sibelius'' and he and Doug became good friends].

Nationwide contact was an excellent part of life in the advisory service. Because of my interest in tape recording, much help was provided to classroom teachers through cassette accompaniments for songs and units of work. One important work was the writing of simple classroom music arrangements to involve players at all stages of development. In 1969 AH and AW Reed published my “Music for Classroom Instrumental Groups,” which became useful to many advisors and teachers. In my position I was not able to use my name on the book.

What advice would you pass on to current music teachers and musicians?

To listen and play all kinds of music. Even some of the rubbish.

The band moved to the main studio and tape recorders made it possible to record one track at a time and dub in the compère later. Echo boxes emerged to take out the dryness of studio sound.…as overdubbing had not been developed the vocalist was shielded behind the doors of the entrance or put in a kind of telephone style box with a microphone so that the band accompaniment could be balanced with her voice.

Gradually the recording techniques became more sophisticated with microphones for each section, then for each instrument controlled by the technician … the programmes were played nationally and some on exchange overseas….

…At first there were 12 players, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 4 saxophones and 3 piano, bass and drums, but I soon increased the reed section with the addition of a baritone saxophone to add a deeper note to my scores for a richer sound. …. All music parts were hand written.

What are you most proud of?

The influence I had over the years working as a musician, arranger, with musicians and then joining in with the education system. And also being able to influence the use of instruments - the running of the instrumental scheme, being able to hand out instruments for people to learn. I still remember one of the first people coming to me asking for a cello.

Have you travelled anywhere that has influenced your music?

Everywhere you travel you listen to everyone, all musicians. As music advisors we were sent over together as a group to the music education conference in London [ISME]. That was in my last year of being a music advisor. We took individual trips through Europe.

I haven’t travelled much, but have listened to music of all different sounds, particularly the new sounds, the jazz sound. The jazz sounds influenced me more than anything. Music was very serious. But I have found since that jazz can be serious. All music can be serious. So I more or less concentrated while I was writing, to write with that jazz feeling. Like when I took that radio band it was the first time it played swing, before that it was a dance band. In those days the halls had dances with dance bands. And they played general music and usually in those early days they used stock arrangements - you bought stock arrangements for 3 saxophones, 3 trumpets, 3 rhythm players, usually about 9 players. I broke that pattern when I started writing for more instruments.

Recording techniques

There were no multi-microphone or echo facilities, just one microphone in front of the band and there were experiments piping the sound down to the concrete toilets and back again to add an echo effect. As tape recorders were not yet used the broadcasts were direct with no chance of retakes. The theme tune of my programmes was the original composition “I'll be Thinking of You” played on trumpet with band backing to introduce the “Rhythm Rendezvous” show. When the red light went on we had to perform as if it were a live concert regardless of any mistakes!

Recordings and an interview about this concert can be found here: www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/spectrum/audio/201773442/ elevation-by-doug-kelly's-radio-band

Tell me about your song “I’ll Be Thinking Of You”

I just wrote a song in my tent during the war. I was writing arrangements for the air force band - a concert band that performed for live programmes. The song was written for his fiancée, Joy. Some of the air force members heard the melody and liked it, and when Doug got back to NZ he arranged it for the concert band and it was performed often, including on the victory tour of Australia, and published by Beggs. The melody became the opening theme of his Radio Broadcasting Big Band programmes for many years.

In 2020, over 7 decades after it was written, the RNZAF band flew down to Christchurch and performed it especially for Doug. Doug’s legacy of students and teachers that he has influenced is in the thousands, and his innovations are still seen in the fabric of the Christchurch music scene, both in education and performance. My own musical journey was strongly influenced by his work - I remember his orchestral arrangements making a large impression on me when I got to play in the Christchurch music festival when I was twelve; it made me realise that local people could be arrangers, and I was inspired to start my life-long passion for arranging immediately! Doug’s on-going support of youth jazz in Christchurch has also been notably encouraging in his recent years. Doug’s legacy of working to include instruments, technology, jazz and contemporary styles has benefited an incalculable number of people in musical development, passions, education, friendships and careers over the career of this remarkable centenarian.

REFERENCES

1. CSIM “Christchurch School of Instrumental Music” became CSM “Christchurch School of Music” when it introduced choirs.

Interview by Judith Bell

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