Primary Music Magazine Issue 8.1 Spring 2024

The magazine for primary music teachers, by primary music teachers

Inside:

Magic Moments from the BBC Philharmonic’s Musical Storyland

IImprove your Singing Assemblies with Lin Marsh

Tour the music room at Edenbridge Primary School

What does ‘high-quality’ music education really mean?

Image: l

FROMTHEEDITOR

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

07.

WHATIS‘HIGHQUALITY’ MUSICEDUCATION?

Dr Liz Stafford investigates a ubiquitous phrase.

14. MAGICMOMENTS

The BBC Philharmonic’s new initiative to bring musicians to your classroom

20. WHATAREYOUTRYING TOPROVE?

Defining progress in the primary music curriculum

25. IMPROVEYOUR SINGINGASSEMBLIES

Lin Marsh shares her advice

MEETMEINTHE MUSICROOM

Tour the facilities at Edenbridge Primary School

39. TEACHINGINSTRUMENTS TOBEGINNERS

Top tips from the authors of Stringtastic!

45.

30. REVIEW

Exploring Trinity’s Digital Music Theory Exams

F R O M T H E E D I

Welcome to our Spring 2024 issue which, as ever, is jam-packed with features written by teachers just like you!

This issue has a great range of features on everything from musical TV programmes to singing assemblies, classroom layout and resourcing to musical progress, teaching instruments to assessing musical theory, and more! I know you will find lots of inspiration from within our pages.

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 the 'Buy me a coffee' button at the end of each article

14TH MARCH 2024 - SLOUGH

Keynote: Christopher Stevens HMI, Ofsted’s National Lead for Music

Workshops: Beat Goes On, Da Capo Primary Music, Drums for Schools, Ex Cathedra, Kapow Primary, and more!

tickets available from just £25!

What is ‘high-quality’ music education?

Dr Liz Stafford investigates a ubiquitous phrase.

If there’s one phrase that is pretty ubiquitous in England’s music education policy documents it’s ‘high-quality’ The Model Music Curriculum and the National Plan for Music Education are peppered with frequent references to ‘high-quality’ and even ‘highest quality’ but these documents struggle to define the term.

This is not really that surprising, as a broad sweep scan of academic research in the area of quality basically just reinforces the finding that everyone thinks that ‘quality’ is a good thing, but no-one can tell you what it is How can something that we think of as being so important, be so difficult to define?

Take my local butchers for example, who have a sign proudly advertising ‘high-quality meats’ Firstly, is this really a selling point? I doubt anyone is actively advertising ‘low-quality meats’ as an alternative, as surely all customers are looking for ‘high-quality’. If customers are looking for anything to be ‘low’ in this scenario, it will be price, not quality! But does low price automatically equal low quality? There is no attempt to further define what is ‘high-quality’ about the meat; perhaps one can assume it might be ‘organic’ or ‘farm-reared’ or ‘free-range’ but is that really an indicator of quality, or just of care for the environment and a moral obligation towards the animals? Presumably as a foodstuff we would

be looking primarily at taste and texture as an indicator of quality, but this is highly subjective, and will vary personto-person, and indeed meal-to-meal I love a bit of lean steak mince in a bolognese, but if it’s a beef burger then for me steak mince is way too fancy to give me the flavour profile that I’m after!

The National Plan for Music Education has a stab at identifying ‘key features of high-quality school music provision ’ These are listed as:

Timetabled curriculum music of at least one hour each week of the school year for key stages 1-3

Access to lessons across a range of instruments, and voice

A school choir and/or vocal ensemble.

A school ensemble/band/group

Space for rehearsals and individual practice.

A termly school performance

Opportunity to enjoy live performance at least once a year

The main problem with this list is it that it would be possible to do all of these things incredibly badly, and just ticking the items off the list will not in any way ensure ‘high-quality’ provision This is just a list of activities and resources, not a definition of what high-quality provision looks like in practice Clearly this is not overly helpful in a document which carries so much political weight (albeit non-statutory, and introduced by

a government who may not be in power when it comes fully to pass); how can we aim for something that we can’t define?

Being a solutions-focused kind of woman, I decided to make this my problem to solve! But clearly one person cannot be responsible for telling everyone else what quality is, especially given the problems researchers, the government and even butchers have in defining it It was time to put my network to the test with a call-out on social media asking the question ‘what constitutes high-quality music education?’ And boy, did people have opinions about this!

Many commentators centred their view of quality around inclusive practice, including having realistic expectations and flexibility of approach On LinkedIn, Josephine McNally commented: “High quality music education is simple…. Take your students from where they ‘are’… not where they ‘should be’… and help to make them better What works for one group may not work for all…..” This was echoed in comments from Clair Gregory, “High quality music education is an approach that is accessible to all. That allows learners of all abilities to engage and participate, at a level appropriate to them, whilst being exposed to a wide and contrasting repertoire ” Vincent James added: “For me, high quality music education includes an interactive component and is individualized to the needs and wants of the student.”

as a key component of ‘high quality’ provision As Dr Paul Abbott commented on LinkedIn: “It starts with people who are good musicians using techniques which help others to learn… and all the technical bits, of course, but in my view it is of quality when it provides the space for a student, at whatever level, to explore without pressure or prejudice It allows room to filter - accept, enjoy, reject and dislike ”

Other commentators were clear that the teacher’s own level of skill and experience has a significant part to play. On Threads @amgrgu commented: “One thing that sticks out to me is having teachers who have a wide breadth of experience in music –meaning teachers who have music experience outside of strictly teaching. When music educators can call on a wide variety of experiences in life for their lessons like performances, masterclasses, collaborations even music they’ve worked on professionally, students learn and grow from it and are better for it ” On X, Dan Francis suggested that a high quality music education is: “Delivered by professionals who understand the different functions that music serves and how their students can build on the skills and understanding they already have to confidently identify as musicians existing within, or across, these different functions.” And on LinkedIn Cathy Phillips Brady added: “Immersion in real life music with qualified professionals, wherever it is

possible to access them When I say qualified, I mean actually expert, not people who can get you through grades on an instrument as their third tutor role, I mean people who are truly immersed in that instrument or culture as their specialism and can show you the real sparkle and speciality of the music ”

Whilst I do agree that specialist provision from ‘real musicians’ can be extremely beneficial, I am also aware that we rely on generalist teachers to deliver the majority of primary music in the UK and there is a danger that if we identify ‘specialism’ as a mark of quality, this will suggest that generalists cannot create a high-quality experience just because they are not themselves professional-standard musicians As Alan Cameron noted on LinkedIn, it is possible for in-service training to have a part to play in the quality of provision: “Primary teachers should have regular opportunities for professional development in delivery of music programmes ”

It was interesting that there was not much discussion of the content of curriculums, or pedagogical approaches as markers of quality. Perhaps this is because these elements are heavily contextualised and cannot be applied well across all settings? Having said that, a few commentators including Jimmy Rotherham on X mentioned the principle of ‘sound before symbol’, and there was also a fair bit of discussion around the need for a diverse range of

music to be studied, including this from Gemma Carroll on LinkedIn “Inspiration! Immersing pupils in high quality music of a wide range of styles/genre Even though tempting, not always playing to pupils popular choices/pushing the boundaries opening to the world to the pupils. We have such a wealth of music at our fingertips!” Also on LinkedIn was this lovely quote from Kirsty Hunter, “Telling the story of music, from the cultures, history, people and innovators who set the tone Bringing diverse genres to evoke connection with all learners Immersion in production, performance and audience. Being part of a collective, so learners know the importance of their contribution to the whole.”

My initial idea was to collate opinions, write this article with some helpful pointers towards identifying quality, and then move on However, the response was so overwhelming, and so disparate, that another plan formulated in my brain We all agree that quality is important, but as a sector we have lots of different, very contextualised ideas as to what this constitutes Wouldn’t it be great if someone (me!) could get as many opinions as possible from as many different contexts as possible, and analyse these for common themes? Wouldn’t that be useful for music educators to consider their own ideas of quality, and how to develop ‘ more ’ quality within their own contexts?

So here I am, asking you, the readers of Primary Music Magazine for your ideas on what constitutes ‘high-quality’ music provision. The link at the bottom of this article will take you to a short survey where you can share as many or as few thoughts as you like regarding this subject, up until 30th April 2024 I will then have the (huge!) job of analysing all this data to create a research report that will be freely available to all, and I’ll be sure to update you on its main findings in our next issue!

Access the Quality in Music Education survey via this link

Dr Liz Stafford is editor of Primary Music Magazine and author of The Primary Music Leader’s Handbook.

Magic moments

Jennifer Redmond reveals how the BBC Philharmonic has found an alternative way of taking musicians out of the concert hall and into

Two years ago, we developed The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man, a film re-telling the classic children's tale featuring musicians from the BBC Philharmonic. Unable to visit schools because of the pandemic, we were forced to find an alternative way of connecting with children in preschool through to year 2 The film was a runaway success I couldn’t have imagined the journey that the little film would take us on

the classroom

The Gingerbread man film was based on an interactive workshop developed by one of the orchestra’s cellists, Rebecca Aldersea Rebecca and two colleagues had been visiting schools for a number of years, performing the interactive workshop The pandemic stopped all of us in our tracks. Unable to bring children face-to-face with our instruments, we decided to film our musicians instead. In an unexpected turn of events, the film was broadcast

on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer (the original intention was to publish it on the BBC Philharmonic website, together with the accompanying classroom activities). Although we have some of the world’s best musicians in our orchestra, the response to the film took us all by surprise. Together, we unexpectedly created something that children love to watch again and again It led to an unbelievable opportunity to film 10 more musical stories, this time formally commissioned by CBeebies and BBC Education.

I’m fairly confident it’s the first time an orchestra has ever been commissioned to make films for network television We were so excited to stumble across this brilliant opportunity to collaborate with the CBeebies and BBC Teach teams. We threw ourselves into creating 10 new films from scratch and we called it Musical Storyland.

Musical Storyland is a place where children’s favourite fairy tales and traditional folktales are re-told and reimagined with the magical, musical touch of musicians from the BBC Philharmonic, inspiring a love of music and singing, and an interest in musical instruments in the audience.

The musicians are integral to the storytelling The small ensembles of western classical instruments of the orchestra are, depending on the tradition of the story, enhanced with musicians from other traditions to

ensure a breadth of authentic diversity in styles and representation on screen For example, the guzheng features in The Great Race which is a story from China and the n ’goni and djembe feature in a story from West Africa.

The music was specially composed by Daniel Whibley and written in careful consultation with early years music specialists, Note Weavers. The actions, songs and musical elements across the series are all informed by national curricula of the UK: National Curriculum in England, Curriculum for Wales, Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

When we devised the idea for the Gingerbread Man, we were acutely aware that many children have no access to a live musical performance of any kind There are many who have not seen a musical instrument up close or had an opportunity to play an instrument It’s something that the orchestral community as a whole feels passionately about And as a sector, we work tirelessly to give as many children as possible these opportunities.

Creating high quality entertainment for children that also has strong educational foundations was thoroughly rewarding. The films are accompanied by easy-to-follow resources for every classroom teacher, regardless of musical knowledge or experience. Note Weavers advised us on the choice of

stories as well as considerations such as vocal range of children, tempo, and the need to use chants alongside songs. They also created all the accompanying resources, including watching and listening guides (particularly useful for non-specialist teachers) and activities for the classroom which explore musical skills and wider curriculum connections

We felt it was important that Musical Storyland featured a mix of classic European stories and tales from other cultures Some of you may be familiar with leading storyteller, Jan Blake She has an unsurpassed oral repository of stories from around the world We worked with Jan to find stories from West Africa, the Caribbean and India that have an enduring appeal and lend themselves to musical versions. She also narrates three stories

We know the challenges schools face. Our aim was to provide good quality teaching material; a package of films and resources that can be easily woven into classroom teaching by teaching assistants up to more experienced music teachers It was also important that the films didn’t disappear soon after their release. Musical Storyland films and resources will be available indefinitely on the BBC Teach website.

There are currently five films on the BBC Teach website: Three Billy Goats Gruff, Jack and the Beanstalk, Ananse

and the Monkeys, The Great Race and The Little Fir Tree They feature an array of guest musicians, including multi-instrumentalist, Sidiki Dembélé, guzheng player, Zi Lan Liao and Deaf trumpeter, Sean Chandler. Five further films will be available from the end of March. Every film has a synopsis of the story and details of how it links to both the music and English curriculum There are detailed notes and visual displays of the instruments featured as well as the vocabulary in the stories

The BBC Philharmonic is known across the world for its exploration of new and adventurous repertoire. We have a well-established learning and outreach programme, and the orchestra is passionate about taking music off the page and into the ears It is our hope that Musical Storyland will serve to capture the imagination of school children across the UK

Jennifer Redmond is Producer, Digital and Learning at BBC Philharmonic.

The Musical Storyland films can be found on the BBC Teach website www.bbc.co.uk/teach or on the CBeebies BBC iPlayer page https://bit.ly/48ZSfkC

What are you trying to prove?

Laura Foster discusses the difficulty of defining progress in a primary music curriculum

Progression in primary music can be described as ‘progression in musical skills, knowledge and understanding’ How does this definition impact and influence primary music curriculum design?

Progression in music could be interpreted as reading, performing and singing music which becomes increasingly more challenging as pupils move through KS1-KS2, particularly when you consider Ofsted’s Pillars of Musical Progression (technical, constructive and expressive).

But what about learning similar pieces of music, on a variety of different instruments, throughout KS1-KS2? Could this show good progression? For example, playing pieces using B, A, G on xylophones in Year 2; pieces using B, A, G, on ocarinas in Year 4; and pieces initially using the notes B, A, G on keyboards in Year 5? I previously thought not, but now I wonder - if taught in a musical way which includes the development of general musicianship skills, then perhaps good musical progression can be made after all?

We know that ‘mastery’ in music requires repetition and practise in order to deeply embed the learning. In KS1, it is harder to play B, A, G on an ocarina than a xylophone; and increasingly difficult to play B, A, G on the keyboard using the correct finger pattern; and more difficult again on a clarinet or a French Horn Rhythmically, pupils in Year 2 will be playing B, A, G using crotchets and quavers, and Year 5 may be playing the same notes using syncopated and dotted rhythms (and may move on to five-note pieces within a few weeks).

However, musical progression is much more than this. After all, you could play through 100 pages of a ‘Piano from the Beginning’ book and still lack skills of performing with confidence, playing using a variety of dynamics, or ensemble musicianship. A lot depends on how musically the lesson is being taught – are pupils being taught how to make a good quality sound, using the correct instrumental technique? Even in Year 2, pupils can be shown how to hold xylophone beaters correctly and how to play gently ‘as if tapping an eggshell’. These details make a huge difference to the musical quality of whole-class instrumental learning.

Ofsted’s Music Subject Report (Sept 2023) makes the following statements:

“What can pupils realistically learn, rather than just encounter, in the curriculum time available?…

The schools that were successful focused on deliberately teaching pupils to get better at music rather than assuming they would get better by simply ‘doing’ music…

Leaders in these schools understood that it takes a lot of time to develop fine motor skills on any instrument Consequently, they decided to narrow the range of instrument choices within the curriculum By contrast, where the practice was weaker, pupils often had shallow encounters with too many instruments or insufficient time to rehearse and practise. Consequently, pupils’ musical responses were often mechanistic and showed limited expressive quality.”

Ofsted makes a clear case for focusing on a ‘less is more ’ approach to drive meaningful progression. However this does not necessarily mean limiting your instrument choices. It could be a far more interesting and enriching curriculum to allow pupils to experience a range of instruments, as opposed to mastering a single instrument It would be potentially limiting to narrow the curriculum to, for example, just recorder from Year 1 – Year 6 The outcome may be that pupils could fluently play more difficult pieces by Year 6, but at what creative cost (not to mention loss of interest for those whom recorder was not their chosen instrument). As some pupils may find rhythmic instruments such as xylophone more accessible than the

fine motor skills needed for the recorder, we also risk possibly excluding them from fulfilling their musical potential by choosing their ‘main’ instrument for them at KS1/2.

As a comparison, PE teachers do not teach one sport in KS1 - KS3 in order to maximise progress, and neither do Science teachers only teach Biology. We teach Biology, Chemistry and Physics so that all pupils receive a broad scientific education, before specialising only at A level I struggle therefore to see the justification for teaching just one instrument Musicians do of course benefit from choosing a ‘main’ instrument at some stage – but curriculum music lessons should remain diverse and creative, including a wide range of genres and instruments to learn, at least until the end of KS3

I believe that flexibility is needed when looking at musical ‘progress’ As long as a robust progression framework has been thought through, I think that teaching a range of instruments can be justified and used to make good progress A more creative curriculum where a narrower range of instruments are taught can also be justified and used to make good progress, again with a progression document that has sufficient thought and detail

In summary, I think this is a complex issue On the one hand, I would value and pursue a highly creative music curriculum which has ‘musical development’ at its heart. On the other hand, I can see the practicalities and logic of teaching pupils in a way which prepares them for the next Key Stage, including making GCSE accessible to ALL by teaching fundamental musical skills from KS1.

Perhaps creativity, variety and choice are of equal value to mastering a single instrument, as without these, we could quickly lose the interest and commitment of pupils who could have great future musical potential After all, creativity, variety and autonomy are surely at the core of what we look for in our very best composers, performers and music professionals, and are arguably the very essence of what it takes to be a ‘great musician’. Perhaps, designing a musical curriculum unique to your school, taking into account pupils’ prior background and knowledge, and taking into consideration which route will enable the greatest success for YOUR pupils within YOUR school, enables ‘best musical progress’ to be made, after all.

Laura Foster is Music Teacher at Samuel Ryder Academy in St Albans.

Improve your Singing Assemblies

Music educator and composer Lin Marsh shares her advice

If you ’ re in charge of the singing assembly at your school, you may already have come across my Songscape series, which is all about songs that allow children to use their imaginations to tell a story! They all have lyrics that appeal to young singers with topics that children can understand, providing a bridge into curriculum work in other subjects. Importantly, the songs always have vocal ranges appropriate to young voices – this is so crucial when leading singing for younger voices, and is often an issue when using pop songs, for example

Whether we ’ re exploring a part of the world, a piece of history, or a feeling, I always start by talking to children about the lyrics. By starting with this rather than by tapping a rhythm or learning notes, you ’ re beginning with the story: this way, children are truly engaged with the performance, leading to a much more rewarding experience for both students and teacher. That was something that was important for me in compiling the Songscape books – I wanted the songs to be ones that teachers would enjoy teaching and singing too!

Assembly singing can often be quite sterile if you have children just singing from a whiteboard, with no connection to the meaning of the lyrics or the performance. When I teach workshops, I always teach by rote – one line at a time While this may seem daunting, students of all ages are capable of incredible feats of memory when we give them the right tools! The tunes and lyrics of all the Songscape songs are designed to be easy to learn and memorise Another thing we can do to help children memorise songs is to incorporate performance elements, which can then act as memory signposts. For example, drawing a rainbow for the word rainbow or mimicking raindrops falling for the word rain These signposts will map out the song through movement and create a physical story too.

One of the huge benefits of not using a whiteboard is that you can really engage with the children and watch them engage with the performance! Singing is such a valuable tool for teaching children to express themselves and communicate, but if no one is engaging with them in return, these benefits are lost!

My song ‘Believe’ from Songscape Assembly has been a particularly popular one At the heart of that song is something that is found across the Songscape series but particularly in Songscape Assembly: the theme of empowerment. It’s about starting the

day with a positive message of confidence, hope, inspiration, and empowerment. So many children and young people are struggling with mental health, particularly after the pandemic, and I think music can have a part to play in boosting self-esteem and helping them to feel uplifted and empowered.

One of the great opportunities with singing is to help children understand other cultures through their music and language My latest collection, Songscape World brings together songs from a wide range of countries and cultures, each presented in their original languages as well as an English translation I encourage teachers not to be daunted by the challenge of teaching other languages – for each song, I sought out a native speaker of the language so that the guidance tracks would be as accurate as they can be One of the interesting things that this brings up is a wider palette of timbres and sounds This can be interesting and rewarding to work on with young singers, helping them to explore their voices and just have fun making sounds! If you have a native speaker in the class, it’s also a great opportunity to for them to demonstrate the sounds of their language, which can be so meaningful for that individual, as well as a valuable learning tool for the rest of the class

I have tried to find songs that lend themselves to performance and playing with sounds. For example, the Arabic

song Has’seesan is about chicks and involves a fun clicking sound to mimic the sound of baby chicks! Another one of the songs, Kiša pada, is about rain falling, so we can include actions or sound effects using the hands to create the effect of rain Whenever I am leading a workshop, I am always looking for moments to include sounds and performance – and asking the children for their own ideas too!

If I could give one piece of advice to music teachers for their assemblies it would be keep it short and sweet! Never be afraid to cut a song down if it is going to allow it to end on a high note and kep pupils engaged The goal is to send them out buzzing and energised from an assembly, never bored!

Lin Marsh is a renowned music educator and composer with a wealth of experience in leading singing workshops across the globe. Her Songscape series includes collections of music for children to enjoy singing, while also enriching their learning and development across the curriculum.

Meet me in the Music Room

Helen Byard takes us on a tour of her music space

I am very lucky at my school as I have my very own music room It isn’t a multi-purpose room it is a dedicated music room. Such a luxury. In the same way as a class teacher has their own room, I too have responsibility over the contents, arrangement of furniture, storage, displays and equipment in this room. But this is not usually the case in a Primary school Previously, my music room has been ‘a cupboard in the hall’, a ‘shelf under the stairs’, a ‘boxes in the maths cupboard’, ‘a trolley’ and ‘the most unreachable shelf in the Art supplies room ’ . I understand that a library, a computing suite and maybe an

intervention room will usually trump a music room but I would like to put forward the argument for a music room as a great option when deciding how to use the space available within a Primary school.

Firstly, this will sound obvious but having a dedicated music room means you always have the space available to get out big equipment, like 15 keyboards or to create a drumming circle of large djembe drums It can be an adaptable space to suit all year groups; put desks to one side to create a large open space for musical

movement and response and for singing games sitting in a circle for KS1 or organise desks for the pupils to be sitting facing forward to learn playalong tutorials on the glockenspiels You do not have to negotiate the hall timetable or pack up equipment before the lunch tables get put out. And if you have this ready prepared space set up then you will be far more inclined to use it, hence promote more regular music lessons in schools

So, now you have the room what should be in it? What is helpful and necessary? What is useful and usable? Again, may sound obvious but I have created my music room to suit my music curriculum. I know that all my year groups study music genres from the 20th Century music so therefore I have created a permanent timeline linked to this that I can refer to constantly throughout the year If it is Black History month, we can put the music into context by looking for example at Scott Joplin, at the beginning of the timeline, to discuss his music using this visual aid and what was happening at this time in History. Likewise, during Women’s History month, pupils identify influential female musicians throughout the timeline, and I have carefully chosen musicians to represent diversity. A regular question from pupils is ‘Are they still alive?’ A natural question I suppose, as this timeline represents the far distant past to them, then I show them my birthday date in the middle of the 70’s

I have some displays that will stay up for a while unless I either change the curriculum topic or I want the space for another idea Having a long-term display is quite helpful if it’s referred to often Like the timeline, the musicians on the ‘Wall of Fame’ are referred to often Here I have chosen a diverse selection of musicians to help represent music from different backgrounds from around the world. The children’s eyes know where to go to if asked a question about pulse or rhythm or to identify an instrument of the orchestra or to find the right adjective to describe the music they are listening to

There are several displays to celebrate pupil’s work. Mostly, pupil’s work is recorded on the iPad in audio and video clips and filled in (very organised) year group folders. But we also have lots of pupil’s work showing graphic composition, Western notation, drawings of instruments and expressive responses to music that are on display As with all subjects, pupils love seeing their work on display.

I have also created a display to celebrate all the other music happening throughout the school, not just during their music lessons. This includes choir concerts, band performances, recognising private tuition, whole class instrumental tuition and all other musical achievements I hope this reminds pupils that music is available to them in many forms A third of our pupils are Pupil Premium and so we

use funding to heavily fund some music tuition, such as private violin lessons and Rock Steady bands. Pupils don’t always think these opportunities are available to them so a visual reminder seeing their friend playing the saxophone is a great way to promote musical experiences. There are instruments in the room that the pupils are encouraged to touch and hold

Good storage systems are quite important If used as intended, you’ll be getting the instruments in and out constantly Labelling all the percussion boxes means the pupils can tidy away quite efficiently and clear visual cues in

the classroom particularly helps our neuro-diverse pupils I also have a selection of relevant Makaton signs on display too, such as ‘loud/quiet’ or ‘stop/play’. Recently, we attached some simple doweling to the wall to store the keyboards vertically (I don’t have enough room to store them horizontally) and that has stopped them from falling over like dominoes

My favourite storage is hanging the ukuleles on the wall You can buy these hooks in bulk at a reasonable price. Easy access and they look aesthetically pleasing too. I’d also recommend Velcro to stick boomwackers to the bottom of

the whiteboard, or to a cupboard door, which has stayed stuck so far I’ve managed to fill my music room with a variety of instruments funded from music grants, freebies from local secondary schools and parent donations, buying from second-hand sources Facebook marketplace and renting from my music hub

There are not many opportunities to just sit and read in the music room, except on World Book Day, but I am building up a music focused book corner, promoting ‘amazing stories about music and musicians’. These books are allowed to be borrowed and various books relate to topics we cover, such as Carnival of the Animals. I have a signed poster on display of the Kanneh-Mason recording as I like to create a bit of ‘superstardom’ around musicians who are great role models I also have several closed and openended questions dotted around the room too to promote intrigue

My music room started life as a completely empty room and it has taken me 4 years to create what I hope is an inviting, informative environment for our pupils to enjoy their music making in. I have even started to spread out into the corridor with a music mural and photos of our Year 6 productions on display The support of my Head, SLT and all staff at my school have made it possible for me create all of this Even though a few music displays do not determine whether the music curriculum is an excellent standard it is an indicator of the value of music within a school. If the space is available at your school, then definitely fight for a music room It’s a happy place.

Helen Byard is music subject leader at Edenbridge Primary School.

Teaching Instruments to beginners

Mark Wilson and Paul Wood share their advice

One of the most important things when teaching beginners is not to overload them by introducing too many new concepts at the same time This is something we ’ ve learned over many years as teachers and was one of the key principles behind our string method, Stringtastic. So, for example if you are introducing a new rhythm, make sure that you do it while using a finger pattern that the student already knows – and vice versa

You should also not be afraid of detail. Teachers so often worry that they will

bore people with attention to detail, but in fact this is not true! You can say the same thing in many different ways. Take the time now to get things right to make teaching easier later on. It is crucial to establish precise and accurate technique as early as you can – to avoid frustration for the student later in their learning journey! Take time to consolidate and build strong foundations, and don’t be afraid of the detail

Sometimes, building technique can appear boring, but it shouldn’t be! We

like to think that we have made it possible to learn technique in a fun and entertaining way, through the pieces we have written We had the idea of ‘ open string melodies’ which we use right from the start, so that even in the very first lesson the student can end by playing a proper piece and feeling a sense of accomplishment!

Try asking students in one of the early lessons what they think is the most important part of the body for playing their instrument – answer, the brain! No matter how much physical technique you practice, the information needs to be processed and used in the right way

This is why it is important to create a positive learning environment There is no such thing as failure, it’s an opportunity to learn People want to do things instantly and be perfect, but it’s more important to create an environment where failing is good Think about ice-skating – if you fear falling over, you will never get to be very good! Make this clear to your students from the start and encourage them to get comfortable with failure and never be paralysed by perfectionism.

Ensemble playing is one of the most valuable tools for teaching. It is all about teamwork – working together, breathing together, celebrating success together, reflecting when things don’t go to plan On the technical side, it’s a

chance to practise intonation, rhythm, shared musicality, and conveying emotion. It can teach life skills that are crucial in later life – duet-playing teaches us how to take responsibility and be independent while still reacting and listening to our partner Knowing when to lead and when to follow –learning that you can’t lead dictatorially or follow passively

As a teacher, its also really important to take time to schedule in time for personal reflection at the end of term. How have your students progressed? Are there several of them who are struggling with the same thing? If so, this may be a sign that you need to tweak something about the way you are teaching – try using different language, order of teaching, or spend more time consolidating. It has taken us many years to refine our own teaching methods and strategies – so don’t feel bad about getting things wrong! This is all part of your teaching journey

Mark Wilson & Paul Wood are the authors of Stringtastic, a beginner strings method.

Trinity’s Digital Music Theory Exams

Dr Liz Stafford reviews Trinity College London’s brand new online music theory assessments

Trinity College London’s new digital theory examinations allow students to take graded theory exams under exam conditions from the comfort of their own homes. I opted to try the Grade 2 exam to see how it works

After a simple registration process I was able to access the exam portal and the practice area where I could get to grips with how the questions worked, and test my knowledge I can see this being a really useful learning tool, especially for nervous learners to get really confident with how everything works before the big day! I found the inbuilt notation software intutive and easy to operate, and - being as my theory knowledge is somewhat higher than Grade 2 - was ready to take the exam after a few minutes’ practice, although I could have had up to 28 days if I had neede extra time to prepare

The exam itself is goverened by an AI proctoring system. I had to give access to my screen, camera and microphone, to ensure that I kept to exam conditions whilst taking the test. Obviously I tested the limitations of this by talking to myself during the exam, and straight away I received a warning message on the screen I undertstand

that any potential breaches of exam conditions are investigated by a human at the other end, so I can only apologise to whomever at Trinity had to sit through me spouting nonsense at myself at this point!

The exam questions covered everything you would expect from a paper exam, just in a different format. Trinity College London have committed to also keeping the paper version of the exams, so this digital version just represents an alternative approach, rather than a complete replacement

I think these digital exams are a great option for busy families, giving the opportunity for learners to take the exam from anywhere at any time, as long as they have a computer or laptop and a wifi connection It’s also great to hear that a digital certificate will be provided - so much easier to keep track of, produce, and share than a traditional paper one!

Overall I think this is a great new addition to Trinity’s suite of qualifications, and I would definitely encourage teachers to consider it as an option for their pupils.

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