Primary Music Magazine Issue 7.2: Summer 2023

Top

FROMTHEEDITOR

O4. A warm welcome to this issue from Dr Liz Stafford

25. POSITIVEBEHAVIOUR Classroom management tips for instrumental work

33. SINGINGTOOLKIT

THEPOWEROFMUSIC

05. Exploring how music supports child development

12.

WHATDOESANEXCELLENT PRIMARYMUSICLESSON LOOKLIKE?

Dr Liz Stafford shares her thoughts

16. MAKINGYOUROWN MUSICALINSTRUMENTS

Fun activity ideas for classrooms and homework..

22.

TOPTEN

Tips for Music Subject Leaders

A new free resource from the ISM and Voices Foundation

35. BOOKREVIEW

A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health

Old Park Primary, Telford

Image: The Music Partnership

F R O M T H E E D I T O R

Welcome to our Summer 2023 issue, which is jam-packed with features written by teachers from all across the UK, reviews of new teaching resources, and information about free projects to get involved with!

This issue has a particular focus on singing and instrumental work. Whether you're looking to make your own instruments or use the ones you've got more effectively, get more singing into your school day or help children take care of their own voices, we've got something to inspire you We also have a great feature on how music benefits other areas of childhood development which should provide lots of food for thought, and help you to continue to advocate for music!

This issue, like every other, is funded solely through advertising revenue and reader donations, helping us to keep the magazine free to access all around the world. If you would like to make a small donation to our running costs you can do so by clicking on 'Buy us a coffee' at the end of each article.

THE POWER OF MUSIC

Claire Stacey, Music Lead at London Meed Primary School and Chair of the Traditional Youth Marching Bands Association, considers the latest research into how music helps children develop

As music educators and musicians, we are highly aware of the benefits of music both through the evidence we see on a daily or weekly basis in the progression and growth in our students, but also from our own personal experiences. Music has the power to impact on people from childhood and throughout life. Music calms, enhances, motivates and provides emotional support at times of joy and struggle and many people turn to music in moments of hardship or stress.

In our roles as music educators, we see first-hand the power that music has to help young people to develop and grow and we advocate for music through our lessons and ensemble work. The children and young people that we work with can articulate their views on the benefits to be had from participating in musical activities. But how specifically does music help young people to develop and what is the research-based evidence that supports our gut feeling?

There is a wealth of scientific evidence comparing musicians (those that have undertaken music lessons and activity for a minimum of two years) and nonmusicians which suggests that “music education is beneficial if undertaken at any age. ” Neuroscientists have found, during research, that the brain reacts to music and musical activity in a way which no other subject does. Anita Collins (2014) suggests that when participants were listening to music during scans in the research process, the brain was “lit up like fireworks” and the scientists had “ never seen so many areas of the brain being used at once."

They also found that musicians had developed a larger pathway across the two sides of the brain when compared with non-musicians, suggesting that music develops brain activity. Collins goes on to suggest that “music education uses three areas of the brain at once, the motor, the visual and the auditory cortices” of the brain. These findings suggest that when musical education is undertaken, the brain is developing in a number of areas and so it makes sense to deduce that cognitive capacity could be increased.

Carolyn Phillips (2023) identifies a number of benefits in her article Twelve Benefits of Music Education. Phillips and Collins agree that exposure to music education at a young age can have a profound impact on the development of the part of the brain responsible for language processing.

Collins suggests that music and language processing is closely connected because we need music to be able to process language Therefore, skills learnt from musical activities that enhance processing will transfer to other activities that involve similar processes. This evidence is supported by research on newborn babies that showed, through scanning, that the babies heard music in their mothers’ voices

If music can impact on the language processing skills of newborn babies, then it would seem sensible to infer that music can impact on the literacy skills in children of any age Hallam (2010) found cognitive improvement in eight year old children, with just 8 weeks of musical education Hallam went on to explain that music can enhance skills related to detecting patterns and differences in speech which helps to develop phonological awareness and links to the success of learning to read Hallam explains that learning to play an instrument enhances the ability to remember words and research undertaken in this area found a 17% increase in the retention of verbal information in musicians than nonmusicians This evidence points towards a school solution in the fight against children falling behind in reading

Language is not the only academic area in which music can help to develop increased cognitive capacity. There is a causal link between spatial intelligence and reasoning which is a skill used in the study of mathematics Whilst Phillips identifies this as one of the benefits of music education, Hallam suggests that research into the link between music and mathematics had mixed results due to the fact that there are many areas of mathematics and

not all of them involve tasks that share similar processes to music For example, learning to read music notation may benefit children when they are learning to understand basic fractions, and the ability to form mental pictures through listening and engaging to music may help to learn advanced mathematical concepts.

Phillips also identifies a link between music education and the aesthetic by stating that studying the arts helps to develop critical thinking Questions about music and the arts are often more open ended and challenging due to the absence of a simple or straightforward answer. Students are required to research and process, solve problems, and eliminate outdated perspectives “rules and assumptions ” This ability to think critically will most certainly help children and young people in their dayto-day life as they navigate the challenges of life choices and develop their own morals and beliefs

These critical thinking skills may transfer into other academic subjects as will the development of creativity in children and young people. Music, as a creative subject, naturally lends itself to further development in creativity. Music is a craft and, through the study of musical craftsmen, children and young people will learn how the “details are carefully put together and what constitutes as good rather than mediocre work”. This creative understanding could go on to underpin the work produced by young people and could see them apply sustained effort in order to achieve or even “strive for excellence” (Phillips, 2023) Striving for excellence in musical performance has a concrete result of which children and young people are rewarded.

Studying music not only teaches children about our own cultures and creative history, but it also gives them insight into other cultures and can lead to the development of qualities such as empathy and compassion. Spiritually, children need to learn to understand the world around them in order to develop their own unique “inner-core” of “personality, physical self-image, emotional self-image and their learning style”. Freeman quoted David Elliott (1995) who claims that "music education improves one's health, mind and soul”.

Freeman went on to state that in the last few decades, researchers have been increasingly aware of and responsive to children’s spiritual needs. He argued that “the arts, and particularly music, possess creative and critical thinking elements to nurture the spiritual needs of children” OFSTED states that the spiritual development of pupils is shown by their “sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them.” Music supports this ideal by allowing children to use their imagination and creativity and also gives them the opportunity to develop their “willingness to reflect on their experiences”. Through the teaching of music listening and composition, children will most certainly benefit spiritually. This benefit is increased when music educators teach within a musically spiritual environment

Research has shown a link between music education and increased cognitive capacity; however, this was greater where enjoyment was also present. The enjoyment of listening to music and participating in music lessons and activities has a direct link to understanding emotions and emotional intelligence “Music has been linked to the capacity to increase emotional sensitivity,” and the identification and recognition of emotion shown through music is also closely related to increased emotional intelligence.

My own research identified a relationship between listening to music and emotional regulation with many of the male participants identifying that music helped to calm them down, or to improve their mood. The group of young people that completed my survey were all aged between 13 and 17 - five boys and five girls I found that they all listened to music to support them with everyday tasks such as walking to school/college/shops, revision, doing homework, getting dressed/ready for school/college and cooking. Almost of the young people gave ‘relaxation’ as the main reason for listening to music which implies that these everyday tasks have the opposite effect on the teenagers It was, however, the boys that identified a link between music and the regulation of emotions with two of them specifically mentioning that music assists in improvement of mood and the understanding of their emotions The ability of music to create positive attitudes in young people is a significant

opportunities which can help children to develop socially Hallam suggests that the opportunity to be part of a musical group that “promotes friendships with like-minded people,” may increase learning and again, support higher levels of general attainment Furthermore, young musicians that experience and learn within an environment providing such benefits are likely to transfer their secure social skills to the workplace in the future.

The research into academic benefits of music education points to a simple solution to increasing overall performance in school age children However, it is important to remember that children are unique and they all start from a different starting point. Whilst Collins suggests that music education impacts everyone, and “ you don’t need to be smart to start with,” I would suggest that enjoyment of music education will have a big impact on how significant the development is. My own research identified a correlation between academic success and how much they enjoyed their music lessons and activities. Analysis on the small survey I prepared showed that those that enjoyed music lessons and saw the value in musical activities as transferable skills for the future were more successful academically than those that identified music lessons and activities as entertainment.

In conclusion, it is clear that music education can help children to develop on both an academic and a personal level The significance of the development may, however, depend on how positive the overall experience of music education is Those that experience a highly positive and rewarding music education are likely to further develop in all aspects of the aesthetic, spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, creative and academic areas Therefore, the quality of music education has a considerable part to play in the power of music and its benefits.

REFERENCES

Anita Collins, 2014 What if every child had access to music education from birth?

Carolyn Phillips, 2023. Twelve Benefits of Music Education

Susan Hallam, 2010 The power of music: its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people.

Freeman, T. R. 2002. Spirituality in music education: Respecting and elevating students with music.

Religious education in English schools: Non-statutory guidance 2010.

WHAT DOES AN EXCELLENT PRIMARY MUSIC LESSON LOOK LIKE?

Dr Liz Stafford, our Editor, and Director of Music Education Solutions® shares her

thoughts

Excellent primary music lessons are MUSICAL Children participate in real music-making activities that would be recognisable as such outside of the classroom. They listen to, perform and compose real music from a range of genres, cultures and styles.

Teaching is adapted, not just for general ability level, but musically. Pupils bring their instruments to lessons and in so doing make connections between their curricular and extra-curricular musical lives Pupils’ musical tastes are taken into consideration and valued, so that the music that they bring to the classroom is given equal importance to that provided by the teacher.

Music is the dominant language of the lesson. Verbal instruction is concise, and pupils spend the majority of the session making music Wherever possible, pupils demonstrate understanding through music-making rather than through verbal or written response.

Music is taught for music’s sake Music lessons may link to other areas of the curriculum, but their sole purpose is not to support other subjects. Music lessons are based around the national curriculum, and the progressive development of musical skills, knowledge and understanding, not around ‘topic songs’ or other such cross-curricular concerns

Pupils sing, move, play and create to internalise musical concepts, which are then made conscious by the teacher to ensure both practical and theoretical understanding. Theory and practice go hand in hand so that music is both felt and understood.

Pupils are supported and challenged as listeners, composers and performers, and demonstrate high levels of enjoyment and engagement. The teacher also demonstrates a high level of enjoyment!

MAKING YOUR OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Jhodi Kennard, creator of

www.getkidsintomusic.com shares some ideas for end of term activities on a budget!

It is coming up to the end of term, and concentration levels of the children in your classes are plummeting daily. You find yourself wondering what on earth you can do with them to keep their attention while they are tired from getting close to the end of term and distracted by the lovely weather out of the window, but that is still a good, educational activity to do

How about getting them to make their own musical instrument? This is a great activity for children of all ages, but particularly primary aged children It is a bit different to the work that goes on the rest of the school year and may get their attention just by virtue of being a bit different It is also a great fun activity with the added benefit of the children having something that they can take home, proudly showing off what they made in music class to their parents

I have made musical instruments at home with my children over the years starting from when my youngest was about 3. My eldest is 9 and we will be continuing to make different instruments at home this summer Both of them have always enjoyed making their own instruments, and the end up in our music box for years until they fall apart!

Making their own musical instrument is a very easily accessible way for the children to have an instrument of their own Of course, the instruments they make are not the same as a real musical instrument. It can, and will fall apart eventually, it will not make the same sound as a real musical instrument, it will not have the same range of pitch or ability to control how you make that pitch, but it is theirs, and it will work Making your own musical instrument does not come with the expense of buying or hiring a musical instrument, and is a great way of trying out how it feels to be able to play an instrument, to make your own music

When we make our musical instruments, we generally construct the instrument itself and then decorate it The children are given free rein to choose how to decorate their instrument from the materials we have at home - we have used paint, felt pens, crayons, washi tape, stickers, even some very pretty gaffer tape They love being able to make their instruments look exactly how they want it to look, making it their own. Music is a great tool for developing a child’s skills in self-expression, as is art, and this activity beautifully combines the two

A creative activity that gets children interested in musical instruments and in making music

It is easy to adapt each instrument to suit the age of the children you are teaching. Firstly, your choice of which instrument to make Some musical instruments are harder for very young children to play than others - for example making a Japanese hand held pellet drum is easy for the youngest children in your care to play, whereas a set of panpipes may be more suitable for the older children When constructing the instruments you can adapt how much of the actual construction the children do depending on your class’s age. When my youngest was 3 and 4, I would prepare the different parts of the instrument in advance and lay them out for her to choose from, she would stick them together and decorate them. My older child would cut shapes out to practise scissor skills, thread beads to develop his hand-eye co-ordination.

When we first started making these instruments together we just made the instrument, decorated it and had a go at playing it. It was great fun. As the children have got older, we have started to talk, as we go along, about why we have made the instrument the way we have - panpipes is a great example. Making panpipes allows you to talk about how different pitches are made, how the longer straws produce a lower notes, and shorter straws produce higher notes When making drums with balloons stretched over a container (something I would not do with a large group of

small children as inevitably one will try to put the balloon in their mouth!) We have talked about why balloons make a good material for this kind of drum, about the tension made by stretching the balloon can affect the sound the drum makes. Finally, as my son has got older, making musical instruments with him, and talking to him about why we constructed the instrument the way we did, has inspired him to design and even make his own musical instruments. He has designed his own balloon shaker, and a shaker that he constructed out of lego.

This is all very well, but with over stretched budgets, especially at the end of the school year, how do you get hold of the resources you need to make musical instruments with a class full of children? There are a couple of options, - you can buy them in, raid the stationery cupboard/art department if you have one, or the children’s parents if they would help you with the materials

Firstly looking at buying resources in The best resource I have found for DIY musical instrument kits is the online retailer Baker Ross They have a number of different kits available in multipacks. These multipacks range from quite small packs of 3 or 4 to much larger multipacks that are suitable for schools. I find their prices to be very reasonable as well - I have found other DIY kits available for sale with other online retailers but they tend to be very complicated kits and expensive as well

The advantages of buying your resources in:

they make life and this activity easy because everything is prepared and ready for you the instruments you produce actually sound more like real musical instruments - a tambourine or a woodblock that sounds like a tambourine or woodblock they look more like a real instrument, every child would have made something that looks good, and is realistic.

Resource Recommentations:

There are some disadvantages though, not least the expense involved in purchasing the kits themselves, and the fact that because everything is prepared for you there is less autonomy or opportunity for self-expression All of the children will make an instrument that looks and sounds very much like everyone else’s

Baker Ross DIY Tambourine Kit

Baker Ross Woodblock kit

Some of the kits feel more like a decorate your own instrument rather than a make your own instrument And with these kits, especially the wooden ones you have to think carefully about what you give the children to decorate the instruments with - for example, using washable paint, you need to give the instrument several coats of the paint, and so this would be a task that would need to be spread over a number of sessions to complete If you are working with very young children you need to watch out for kits with small parts like bells as they tend to be brightly coloured, shiny and very tempting to try to swallow!

The option I prefer is to use materials you find at school, or ask the children to bring things in from home. I prefer to make instruments this way not just because the materials can often be found at home lying around, but it gives you a lot more flexibility to choose what you want to make, and how to tailor the instrument to be age-appropriate. Personally, while there are downsides to this approach (you have to actually get hold of the materials yourself, and the instrument you end up with will probably look very different to a real musical instrument, and will probably not sound anything like a real musical instrument), I find the benefits outweigh those downsides:

Instead of having to make whatever instruments a retailer has available to purchase, you can be really creative and make any instrument you feel like!

You can choose whatever materials you want to work with It is much cheaper than buying in supplies, with little to no upfront costs depending on how you get hold of the materials required. Using materials found at home or in school can lead to discussions with the children about repurposing things that would ordinarily be thrown away, thinking about recycling at home.

On my blog you will find a number of different musical instruments that you could make with your children, but I will give you three here as a suggestion of musical instruments to start off with. There are detailed instructions on materials required, and step by step instructions for each of the instruments below if you click through on the link provided, and you will also find more suggestions for DIY musical instruments to consider making

DIY Kazoo

In the link below you will find step by step instructions for making the kazoo. Why is this a good instrument to start with, well it is easy It is easy to make, needing just 3 things to construct the instrument itself - the insert from a toilet roll, kitchen roll or gift wrap roll (the latter will need cutting up into suitable size sections), a piece of baking paper to cover one end of the cardboard tube, and an elastic band. It is also an easy instrument for children to play Kazoos make a fun sound, and are a great instrument that even 3 and 4 year olds can play independently

Click here for full instructions

Cardboard Box Guitar

This one is good for older and younger children The materials are easy to get hold of, and it can be made very simply, like in the blog post below, with just a cardboard box and some elastic bands; or the children can attach a kitchen roll insert to use as a handle This is a great instrument to start talking to the children about how stringed instruments work, and about how different length or thickness of elastic bands can produce a higher or lower pitch

DIY Panpipes

This is a great instrument to make with slightly older children. Though I think my youngest was just 3 when we made them, she found it very hard to get any sound out of them at all. At the time, my eldest would have been 6 and he found it much easier to get a sound out of the panpipes. We made the panpipes out of plastic straws, because that is what we had at home They can be made with paper straws and they will work, but they won’t last as well just because paper straws are less robust, and will deform, especially when wet. Nevertheless, they allowed me to talk to the children, especially my eldest, about some of the science behind how music is made - sound being vibration in air, about how longer straws produce lower notes, and shorter straws producing higher notes

Click here for full instructions

Click here for full instructions

Dr Liz Stafford shares her tips for

non-specialist Music Subject Leaders

“We’ve decided to make you subject lead for Russian next year ”

“Um, but, I don’t speak Russian!”

“Oh don’t worry about that, there’s some wonderful resources in the cupboard”

“But I can’t read all these Cyrillic letters!”

“Don’t worry, we know you’ll rise to the challenge!”

This is the analogy I often cite when describing how it must feel to be given the job of music coordinator when you haven’t had any musical training. Music can feel like a completely different language, and your lack of experience – not able to play an instrument, not able to read music - like an insurmountable obstacle. However, the good news is anyone can lead and teach music, given the right support and guidance!

Find out if anyone else in your school is a confident musician, and seek their help (obvious, but effective!).

Create partnerships with the other music leaders in your cluster, consortium or trust, or if you're based in England, join the networks organised by your local music hub and find out how else they can support you

Read my Primary Music Leader's Handbook, which tells you everything you need to know about leading music in a primary school!

Investigate commercially available schemes of work that can support you until you feel confident to go it alone with your curriculum

Investigate CPD course opportunities such as those offered by us at Music Education Solutions®. In particular the Primary Music Leadership Certificate is designed to support you with your subject leader role

Check out free teaching resources for music such as BBC Ten Pieces, or any of the millions of YouTube playalong videos out there.

Have a look at resources and organisations that support singing in schools, which is going to be your easiest & quickest road in to music teaching if you haven’t had any musical training before

Catch up on all the back issues of Primary Music Magazine, you're bound to find lots of ideas to inspire and support you!

Remember that your colleagues are probably even less enthusiastic about teaching music than you, otherwise they’d have volunteered for the subject leader job! Try to find non-threatening ways into music teaching that you can all try out together. For example try starting with listening, with each teacher sharing their favourite piece of music (in any style) with their class. If you think about the reasons that you enjoy a certain piece of music you’ll realise you already have a lot of appreciation & understanding skills to share

Don’t panic! Do you have an A level or degree in every other subject that you teach? No of course you don’t, and you don’t need one! That old saying “ you only have to be one step ahead of the children” really applies here! And you know what? Once you settle into the role, you’ll find you ’ re 2, 3, 4 steps ahead, and before you know it, you’ll be an expert!

Positive Behaviourit's instrumental!

Does the set-up of musical instruments contribute to behaviour management in the music classroom? Is it explicitly taught for trainee music teachers, in a music teacher’s early career, or even at all? If you were a general classroom teacher, teaching music for the first time, where would you even begin when thinking of how to organise and give out boomwhackers, djembes or drumsticks with a very lively Year 6 class?

I work as a primary music curriculum teacher in six schools, teaching 30 classes a week from Nursery through to Year 6 A few of the schools are lucky and have enough drums for every child to have one each However some of the schools only have a couple of drums, and the rest are percussion instruments which just allow for one per child, with no spares There is not always a dedicated ‘music room ’ ; most of my lessons take place in school halls, some in classrooms, and the rest in music classrooms I know well the challenges of transporting instruments around a school, setting up in different classrooms, and changing instruments around for the next lesson with only a couple of minutes (or no time at all) between classes!

I believe that the more thought and advanced-planning as to how instruments will be distributed, the smoother the lesson is likely to go – especially with trickier classes For this reason, I would suggest that trainee teachers/EQTs should have a section of their lesson plan for ‘instrument/room set-up’, and more experienced teachers could make a note of it in their medium term plans.

A tip I was given as a trainee teacher in a school in Caerphilly, Wales, in 2008, was “It’s all in the preparation!” This was for a very lively class with a high number of SEND pupils and not enough additional adult support. The room was set up as much as physically possible – instruments ready, music sheets already handed out, and a task already on the board to start as soon as they entered the room. So ‘extreme preparation’ is still a technique which I continue to this day for any particularly lively class, although as it is time-consuming, so I only do it when absolutely necessary

Another tip, from someone on my current team, was to “Always start with call and response – no matter what the instrument!” I have found this extremely

Laura Foster, Primary Music Consultant for Hertfordshire Music Service, discusses how to manage instruments in the classroom

helpful and use this from Nursery right through to Year 6 It means we can all play the instruments straight away, to ‘get it out of our systems’, as we all know how tempting it is to have an instrument in front of you but not play it!

Nursery copy very simple patterns, whilst Year 6 copy syncopated rhythms, dotted rhythms and triplets They are then ready to listen and ready to learn.These rhythmic C&R patterns work fine on all percussion instruments including tuned percussion (you could just use one note to do C&R rhythmic patterns on xylophones), and boomwhackers of different notes are fine to be played alltogether if just doing rhythmic patterns It is probably the one tip which has had the most significant impact on my behaviour management with instruments than any other.

Boomwhackers

Boomwhackers are fantastic, but also have the potential for musical chaos! When organising the room, I first line up the Boomwhackers in order – this only takes a few minutes if you have written down the ‘notes needed’ in your lesson plan (an absolutely essential part of boomwhacker lesson-planning)

Boomwhacker YouTube videos also display the ‘notes needed’ in the introduction.

then rotate half-way through so that everyone gets a turn

For example, I would set up boomwhackers on the classroom floor like this to be able to play the ‘chorus’ of Star Wars, checking that I have a minimum of 30 boomwhackers available using the required selection of notes. If not – I would use untuned percussion instruments like claves to fill the gaps,

As a class, we then discuss (EVERY lesson, briefly) the 3 rules of using Boomwhackers - keep within your personal space; where to bounce the boomwhacker (not at the very end – this will dent it!) and trying your very best not to lean or tread on them when moving around the room

For ‘Star Wars’ I then separate the class into 6 groups (because there are 6 different notes in this piece) – then one group/colour at a time, they are asked to collect their boomwhackers.As soon as they take one back to their place in the circle – they have to make a ‘boomwhacker pipe’ on the floor and sit behind their own one. They also have to do this every single time we stop or have a break from playing and they soon learn

This is a quick and effective way of getting everyone to stop playing, and not pick up the boomwhacker again until the next instruction is given; I have found this to be an essential tool in all of my boomwhacker lessons.

Percussion Vintage

Few schools will have access to 30 drums, so in schools which have between 10-15 drums, I would set up the room like this (alternating drums and claves/egg shakers). This also helps with overall volume so is a technique which can be used with more lively classes, even if there are 30 drums available. If there are fewer drums (even as few as five), you can still rotate a number of times so that over a couple of lessons, every pupil will get a turn on a drum.

I have included this topic as I feel that allowing some pupils to make their own decisions about whether they want to play an animal skin/fur drum is a part of positive behaviour management and promoting respect for each other in the classroom

I have mixed views around using these instruments, although I can’t really describe what is so different about them as opposed to wearing leather shoes. I think it’s that drums are inessential items, but also that some drums are ‘decorative’ with their real fur in a way that makes it quite visually obvious that it’s from an animal

Before children enter the room, I tell them – “Don’t worry if you don’t have a drum! We will move round half-way through the lesson”.We will then rotate one place round, and in some lessons, we rotate multiple times. Children like that this is fair, and it’s important they know this at the start, otherwise they may be very disappointed to have a small egg shaker all lesson when their partner has got a Tabla drum or Djembe!

For drumming using 30 pairs of drumsticks each, I keep them in the bag for the start of the lesson, recap the rules on using drumsticks, then do a body percussion piece to music whilst two pupils sensibly put a pair on the floor in front of every child. Before handing out we also do a very brief recap of the 3 rules – which helps even very lively classes stay safe whilst each having a pair of drumsticks.

I don’t discuss this in depth with any classes, but I always allow children the choice to swap their drum if they are uncomfortable using it I feel it is respectful to them to allow them this decision, for whatever reason (vegetarianism/veganism/religious) – and I deliberately don’t ask them why If a child asks what they’re made from, I briefly say that they are real animal skin/fur, probably not instruments which we would buy now, but as they have already been made and are old instruments which have been in the school for years, in my opinion ‘the damage is already done’ and we may as well make use of them I think that as long as student autonomy is respected, they could still be used (at the discretion of the teacher). Most pupils don’t mind playing them, and a couple do, so we just swap. I’m glad that I’ve had this approach, as recently I’ve had a pupil ask me about a drum because he was worried about this for Halal reasons; a valid and important reason.

I also sometimes draw children’s attention to the craftsmanship of some of the instruments their school has. For example, last lesson we briefly looked at this amazing drum, and spent a few minutes as a class wondering about the person who handmade it – and the beautiful carving which they had put so much work into, probably taking a number of weeks to complete. In this example, you can literally see marks inside the drum where it’s been hollowed out of a large piece of wood I think it’s important to occasionally talk about instruments in this way – many good quality instruments are made by hand and are sometimes ‘ one of a kind’ Of course all of these brief classroom conversations need to be handled with cultural sensitivity (and in the UK we have plenty of examples of similar use of animal skin, but it just happens that we don’t have as many examples of animal skin/fur drums) I think we can still appreciate the beauty, craftmanship and labour that went into creating them I am also honest with classes if I don’t know the name of a type of drum or the country it’s from – I’m not certain about the names or origins of either of these drums and I tell classes this. The smaller picture shows another example of a beautifully handmade drum with elaborate patterns – again which I feel is worth pointing out as something of real cultural value within the school. Many djembes also appear to have individually hand-painted designs, with each one looking different and unique

In conclusion, I believe that prior organisation and planning how instruments will be handed out/collected in is an absolutely essential part of behaviour management in music, and so should be taught explicitly when training new music teachers, or indeed any primary classroom teacher who is new to teaching music. It appears to be the part of music lessons which is the most daunting to non-specialists – so perhaps it might be helpful if it featured more in primary classroom teacher PGCE programs and on-going music CPD courses. Anything that makes a teacher find it easier and feel more confident about teaching music can only be a good thing!

Primary Singing Toolkit

ISM Head of Charity Development, Ruth McPherson, introduces the ISM Trust’s new free primary music education resource, created in partnership with Voices Foundation.

Singing is a universal instrument - we all have a voice. It is integral to musical learning and a powerful way for children and young people to become proficient musicians

Singing has also been shown to alleviate stress and improve children's alertness, behaviour and self-esteem It helps them bond – whatever the song or language. Through singing, young people can share emotions and express themselves nonverbally.

For all these reasons, the ISM has long advocated for singing to be at the heart of the school.

To help primary teachers develop the skills to lead singing in the classroom, the ISM Trust and Voices Foundation have launched a free new music education resource - the Primary Singing Toolkit.

It can be nerve-wracking for a teacher to sing in front of their class, and many primary teachers have had little or no musical training This is why the Primary Singing Toolkit has been specifically designed to help non-specialist primary teachers build their confidence when running music lessons, and find their own singing voice at the same time

Embedding singing into classroom lessons works best when teachers have confidence in their own abilities. With the English National Plan for Music Education calling on schools to use singing as a ‘golden thread’ to run through all primary education, and the National Curriculum in all areas of the UK requiring children to learn to sing and use their voices, there has never been a greater need for teachers to develop that confidence

The Primary Singing Toolkit, which was created by the ISM Trust and Voices Foundation with the support of the Schools Music Association, is made up of 14 videos and accompanying notes and lesson plans, which offer inspirational and practical singing strategies It can be accessed and downloaded for free from the ISM Trust website.

The resource leads teachers through seven full music lessons The videos and lesson plans take a holistic approach to singing, and cover areas such as: call and response, pitch and composition, notation, healthy singing practices, leading a choir, refining a song, and much more.

The videos follow Voices Foundation’s Musicianship and Choral Directors, Jenny Trattles and Charles MacDougall, supporting non-specialist music teachers at Winterton Junior School, a state primary school in North Lincolnshire. Jenny and Charles teach a song in bitesize steps, which are easy for teachers to follow and imitate in their own schools.

Since its launch at the Music & Drama Education Expo 2023, the Primary Singing Toolkit has been viewed over 4,000 times, and received very positive reviews.

Music educator and choral director, Susan Hollingworth, said:

‘I would urge all primary schools to download this new resource… This is primary music teaching at its best and a valuable resource has been created for all schools The ideas demonstrated are an exemplar for further lessons on how to use the singing voice in the classroom.’

Suzi Digby OBE said: ‘The Primary Singing Toolkit is an absolutely vital resource. It brings the very essence of singing and its peerless value into the classroom It gives non-specialist primary teachers the resources, skills and confidence to teach music, through singing, that they bring to other key subjects By building ‘from the curriculum’, through the medium of singing, this will bring the highest quality music lessons to all children, not just to those deemed as musically talented And, most importantly, it will give the skills and confidence to our primary teachers for life.’

Users of the resource have described it as ‘fantastically informative and accessible to everyone ’ , ‘really excellent’ and ‘ very helpful and enjoyable - just what I needed!’

Access the Primary Singing Toolkit for free here

15TH & 16TH NOVEMBER 2023

SNAPE MALTINGS, UK

An event to inspire anyone who leads singing with children and young people, featuring a programme of workshops, discussions, presentations and peer-sharing events curated by Music Education Solutions® in partnership with BrittenPears Arts.

Dr Liz Stafford reviews a new book for young singers

A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health

I must confess, when I was asked to review this book, I thought it was an odd concept - how could a book possibly help children with their singing health? Surely you would need interaction, video, and sound to do that? I was very, very wrong!

This is an excellent resource containing an absolute mine of information about how to keep your voice in tip-top condition, presented in an engaging format of easy to understand text, infographics and illustrations. As a singer myself, even I learned something new - who knew the air above swimming pool water was so dangerous? I may rethink my twice-a-week swimming habit during concert season!

Sensitive topics such as puberty and eating disorders are dealt with sensibly and appropriately in regard to their affects on the voice. There is also information on alcohol, smoking and drugs, and while this is obviously predominantly a resource about singing, I felt an opportunity had been missed here to signpost towards support systems, for those readers who might already be dealing with problematic relationships with these substances I liked the supportive section on performance anxiety which many young singers will find helpful, and it was nice to see some information and myth-busting around foods, medications and 'cures' for illnesses affecting the voice

This guide would be an excellent resource for secondary-aged singers but is also useful for teachers wanting to know more about how the voice works and how to protect their own and their pupils' voices when singing

I wish this book had been available when I was teaching singing at the start of my career, as I would have recommended it to every single one of my pupils!

Find out more and purchase your copy here