7 minute read
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.
