Primary Music Magazine Issue 8.2: Summer 2024

O4.

FROMTHEEDITOR

A warm welcome to this issue from Dr Liz Stafford

MUSICDEVELOPMENT PLANS 07.

Learn how to escape the tyranny of the template.

12. WRITEYOUROWNSCHOOL SONG

Advice from composer Kay Charlton.

16. MUSICALPLAYINTHE EARLYYEARS

Research-informed practice that really works. 46.

Ideas to get your pupils grooving MAKINGMUSIC MEANINGFUL

Using song to build a sense of connection

Get involved in Sing Up Day 26. MUSICANDMOVEMENT

How can this benefit you as a teacher? 48. BOOKREVIEWS

Music in Early Childhood

If I were a racist

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

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

This issue has a great range of features, with a particular emphasis on singing, mental health, and early years music. Remember that if you have a great idea for a future article we‘d love to hear from you, so do get in touch!, and early years music. Remember that if you have a great idea for a future article we‘d love to hear from you, so do get in touch!

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.

Music Development Plans

Escaping the tyranny of the template, by Dr Liz Stafford

In May, teachers in England were suprised by an announcement by the Department for Education (DfE) that they should publish a summary of their Music Development Plan on their website for the upcoming academic year.

The surprise for some was the requirement to publish their plan, and for others the surprise was that such a plan should even exist!

Let’s bust some myths straight away. Schools are not required to create a Music Development Plan or publish it on their website. The National Plan for Music Education (NPME) is a nonstatutory document which makes the

suggestion that schools should produce a development plan, but there is no legal requirement to put this into place. Ergo, it is not a requirement to publish one, because you can’t publish something that doesn’t exist!

All that being said, it’s not necessarily a bad idea to create a Music Development Plan for your school. It can be a good way to really think about what you want music in your school to look like, and why. You are probably doing this in part already with a subject action plan for music, so the development plan is really just an extension and development of that existing process.

If you are going to write a music development plan, the first thing you shouldn’t do is look for a template! Although it can be comforting to have a structure to follow rather than a blank page in front of you, the minute you start using a template you are placing limitations on your vision for music.

In particular, the template provided by the DfE to publish on your website is problematic. The DfE do state that this is a template to summarise your plan, but already I have seen multiple schools filling this in as if it is the plan. The problem with this is that particular template does not encourage a robust planning process at all; in fairness to the DfE, it’s not designed to as, again, it is a summary template! What it provides is a series of boxes to talk about your music offer across the curriculum, cocurricular (instrumental lessons and ensembles) and enrichment (workshops, performances and concerts), and then a statement about future plans. Using this template as the plan is not going to help you critically engage with your music offer.

The process that I would advocate for development planning begins not with the ‘what’ but with the ‘why.’ Why do you do music in your school in the first place? What do you want your pupils to get out of it? What about the wider school community as a whole? This has to be your starting point for a robust planning process; if you start with the ‘what’ - the activities and content - you will end up with a plan that is bitty and at worst incoherent.

Once you’ve decided why you’re doing music, you will know what to plan in terms of content and activities for your music programmes, whether that be the curriculum, co-curricular, or enrichment activities. But first you need to check on what is already taking place.

You will want to audit current provision to see what’s working and what’s not, and how far away you are currently from achieving your vision. You will consult with pupils and teachers, and perhaps parents, to ascertain whether your music offer is meeting all parties’ needs.

Once you know where you are, and where you want to get to, it’s a case of filling in the gaps inbetween the two. I like SMART targets for this process, because they really make you think about what you can actually achieve in what timeframe. As you’re drawing these up, a suitable structure for your plan will probably start to become clear to you.

The DfE through the NPME and their template are steering schools towards a structure using curriculum, co-curricular and enrichment as headings, but you might feel that these are artificial barriers. For example if in fact one of your aims is to improve musical confidence in pupils (or teachers!) the work towards that aim will be happening across all three areas, so it would make more sense for curriculum, cocurricular and enrichment to sit under a heading of musical confidence, not the other way around.

The DfE have been clear that schools should create a plan in a structure and format that works for them, so despite the fact that they have issued a (summary, remember!) template, you should feel free to forge your own path.

When it comes to publishing a summary of the plan on your school website, I think if you’ve gone to all the trouble of creating a plan then it makes sense to share this with your whole school community, and the website is a logical mechanism for that.

However, if your Development Plan is going to be effective, it will need to be a working document, which means you’ll be constantly checking in with it to evaluate progress, and probably tweaking it as you go along. For this reason, I would probably provide it as a download rather than embedded text on your website, so that when you make changes you can quickly upload the latest version, to avoid painful conversations about coding and workflow with whoever is in charge of your website!

Dr Liz Stafford is editor of Primary Music Magazine, director of Music Education Solutions, and author of The Primary Music Leader’s Handbook (Collins Music).

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Writing your own School Song

Some words of advice from composer Kay Charlton

Have you ever thought it would be great to have your own school songa combination of music and lyrics extolling the virtues of your school, unique to your own establishment? Have you ever thought of composing your own song? Well here are some hints and tips to get you started.

Let’s think about the key ingredients in a song - it’s basically music and words. You could start with either; famously, Elton’s John’s collaborator Bernie Taupin wrote the words independently and Elton John put them to music. Other songwriters may come up with the music and add the lyrics later. Either way, this is something your whole school can get involved in; it’s the perfect youth voice outlet - all year groups can get involved to a greater or lesser extent. The opportunity to contribute will make your pupils and staff feel ownership of your very own school song.

Lyrics

Start by brainstorming words and subjects with your class; this could be the perfect post-SATS project for Year 6 for instance. Your song could celebrate your school’s values or the joys of learning, describing your

pupils’ favourite subjects and activities.

Choose some favourite pop songs for inspiration and do some hard listening with your class. What’s going on - do the words rhyme, what is the structure of the song, does it tell a story? You will need words for at least two verses and of course for a chorus - the catchy bit which repeats.

Music

A song needs music; that means a melody, chords, a bass line and a drum beat - I prefer to call it a groove. It’s probably easiest to start with the chords; many pop songs use the same sequence of four chords, so it makes sense to use something which is tried and tested. Watch this video by the Axis of Awesome, linking a large number of well-known songs that all use the same four-chord sequence: D A Bm G7: https://youtu.be/oOlDewpCfZQ? si=7aQG-JXhgi_vT-h1 (This video is not appropriate to share with children due to language and song subject matter, so watch it as part of your own lesson preparation only!)

Practise playing the chord sequence, 4 beats on each chord - any chordal instrument will do, keyboards, metallophones, ukuleles etc. Next create a bass-line using the bottom note (the root) of each chord; a simple repeated crotchet feel will be fine to get started. Add a basic rhythm groove using drums and/or percussion. Once you can play the chords and groove together try chanting the lyrics to the beat and hopefully a melody will emerge. Find a melody for the verse first and then find a catchy chorus. The chorus melody and words can be very simple; perhaps the chords could go twice as fast for this section to create contrast with the verse.

If you have instrumental teachers in your school, this is a great opportunity to get them involved. Ask around in the staff room - does a teacher or parent play an instrument, do you have hidden talent that you can pull in to help?

Style

What style do you want for your song - pop, rock or something more contemporary? The style, or feel, usually comes from the drum beat, or groove. Pick a song for inspiration and try to play a similar groove - this could be on drum kit or classroom percussion - remember, it’s your song, make it unique.

Structure

Once you have the ingredients, decide on the order for your song. You’ll need an introduction that leads into the verses and chorus; decide how many verses you want and how many times to go round the chorus. Don’t forget the ending, it’s very important to decide how to finish the song - play an outro (like an intro but leading to the end) then an ending, so that your song sounds finished.

Performance

Play your song at every opportunityit will get better each time it is played! Get your instrumental learners joining in - playing the chorus or adding some instrumental riffs as a backing. This could be a great summer project - so take the plunge and have a go at writing and performing your own song. Let us know how you get on!

Kay Charlton is a composer, teacher, and author of How to Teach Whole Class Instrumental Lessons (Collins Music).

Contact Kay to find out how she can create a complete, bespoke song from scratch, or help craft your lyrics and musical ideas into your own unique school anthem!

Musical Play in the Early Years

Asta Hodgson explores how children learn, what they need to thrive, and how teachers can help.

A few years into my music teaching career, I was introduced to the concept of continuous provision in the Early Years setting and was asked to incorporate musical activities into this. With no formal training in this area I reflected on my previous experience of learning in the Early Years and the general expected outcomes according to the Early Learning Goals, and concluded that the aims of the music free-flow provision should include enjoyment, socialisation, instrument control (motor skills), experimentation with sounds, and nurturing creativity. Initially concerned about noise levels, treatment of instruments, and whether or not the activities would be musically beneficial, I gave it my best shot. Strangely enough, seeds of passion for this area of education were sown. Researching the topic, and drawing from my personal experiences, I share with you here, how I believe best to design and implement a successful musical freeflow learning environment for 3-5 year olds, as well as how to play, and why it is a vital aspect of musical learning.

Learning and Outcomes

During the last century, psychologists started investigating learning theories which addressed educational processes (e.g. Piaget, 1952; Vygotsky, 1978; Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976). Piaget looked at learning from a cognitive constructivist viewpoint and his stages of development have become well known in this field.

Social constructivist theories gained popularity in the latter quarter of the century with the emergence of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding theories posited by Wood et al., which focus more on environmental influences and explicit, sequential learning. Gardner’s work on musical intelligence as a separate entity (1998), and Hargreaves and Galton’s phase model of artistic development (1992) are some examples of how consideration started to be given to domain based learning. Many recognised phases of development and delivered some guidance to age related outcomes, with early musical development often being likened to what babble or scribbling are to language and art. The exploration of different approaches to education resulted in institutions with particular pedagogical philosophies such as Montessori and Reggio Emilia schools, and also subject specific methods of music education including Dalcroze, Kodály, Orff, and Gordon’s Music Learning Theory.

One such phase of development is identified by the GIML, who claim that “informal music experience prior to age five is particularly important”. In my experience children in the Early Years learn traditional songs and rhymes well by rote, which they may then independently practise during free-flow activities or away from the school environment, but are unlikely to learn them without adult guidance. Therefore, it appears that there is a time and a place for both informal and formal learning.

Play is a type of informal learning, and after extensive analysis by psychologists, it is now generally accepted that musical play includes cooperative, functional, constructive, dramatic, and kinesthetic play, as well as playing games with rules (Littleton, 1998). Social positions for players can be described as onlooker, solo player, parallel (alongside) player, or player who is part of a group Experts in musical play itself recommend that musical play should be pleasurable and spontaneous, with a meaningful emphasis on the process itself rather than the outcome.

In my experience of musical play, I have witnessed young children exhibiting such behaviours through sharing musical instruments and experimenting with sounds, using instruments and sound as part of role play, moving and dancing spontaneously to sound, using instruments other than the “intended” way, and playing chanting or clapping games (pre-taught to them). We, as practitioners, need to identify notable behaviours, and consider how to assess, nurture, or celebrate them accordingly.

Types of Musical Play

Exploration

Swanwick and Tillman (1986) state that “music making in the early years is characterised by experimentation and play with sounds … just as children explore all other materials in their worlds”.

Vocalisation

Children aged 3-5 years have a tendency to be more agile with their voices than sound producing objects, possibly due to the familiarity of their own voice. Children have been documented as using their vocal abilities to add narrative to their lives (Barrett, 2016) and are often seen to include their voices during functional and dramatic musical play, sometimes layering vocal sounds over other musical actions. I have seen this with children counting out sounds performed on a drum, and with children singing a familiar song accompanying their own noodling on a pitched instrument. They enjoy themselves (integral to play) and utilise familiar skills (on top of which they can develop new skills).

Natural vocal progression and agility is exploited in the Kodály method, examples of which can be found in the National Youth Choir of Scotland Singing Games and Rhymes series (a highly recommended resource!). Many times children have asked me to play a favourite singing or chanting game over and over again (even after they have long “outgrown” it). The joy that they experience despite repetition of activities indicates that this is meaningful, playful learning, although not independent play.

Movement

As a Dalcroze practitioner, I have always advocated the use of movement (eurhythmics) in the music classroom for all children. Gluschankof (2005) quotes Glover (2000) which I think sums up the importance of music and movement in young children - “The deep-rooted connection between moving and ‘sounding’ is of prime importance as a source of young children’s musical expression. These parallel modes of time-based activity seem to be intrinsically connected”. Campbell (2010) notes that “movement is a principal means of children’s musical engagement”, whilst Koops (2012) draws attention to the importance of movement in helping children maintain focus which I am certain is something we have all experienced and learnt! It would therefore seem sensible for children to have an environment in which to move freely in their music provision areas (i.e. not to be inhibited by furniture or area size)

I have seen children enjoying themselves with sound and music, and it appears to be very natural behaviour to them. Although we may understand and recognise this, how can we provide enriching musical experiences for our learners whilst they are free to play in a natural and enjoyable way? How can the teachers be effectively involved in play, when Rubin et al. (1983) claim play is optimal when there is a “minimally intrusive adult”?

Nurturing Musical Play

During my first free-flow sessions, I fell a little way into the ‘trap’ of a music specialist attempting to play musically with children. I became conscious of the need to see myself in a slightly different role in these circumstances compared to a formal lesson in which activities are planned. The role of a successful practitioner in musical play settings is thought of as a facilitator - somebody to enhance the learning experience and provide guidance rather than delivering instructions (Gluschankof, 2005).

Researchers have identified different teacher/learner partnerships and circumstances, resulting in different outcomes during musical play:

Observer-collaborator - teacher prepares appropriate resources, guides the children, and observes for the purpose of assessment

Teacher-partner and teacherobserver - teacher-partner engaging in parallel play being preferred of the two by children

Extended time with familiar adultsChildren played for longer with familiar adults than unfamiliar adults or alone

Parallel play - provides opportunity to develop musical mastery through imitation, repetition, and othe communications

Unfinished play - Behaviours associated with this include bringing an instrument into a different setting or becoming obsessive about it. Children may take part in a group session from the periphery, or ignore it completely.

I have often instinctively engaged with children in such ways as outlined above - encouraging alternative ways of playing an instrument, or guiding the children into experiencing new textures, speeds, and dynamics. However, it was only relatively recently that I recognised how I still somehow inhibited childrens’ freedom in their play and music making, due to my own musical arrogance.

Piaget (1951) used the term “adultocentrism”, and explained how inappropriate a stance like this is when engaging in children’s play. It is now widely agreed upon that adults need to adjust their own understanding and expectations of what constitutes “music” when considering the music of children - it can be understood to be a completely separate culture. We should therefore consider carefully how our own age and culture related prejudices may be impacting the learning and enjoyment of our small musicians.

The following list indicates how the presence of adults and our cultural constructs can impact children’s play:

Adult interaction can be an enhancing factor, provided it is coupled with child agency.

Play is affected detrimentally if an adult is overly critical, too physically close, or continually correcting the child.

Adults valuing the music created by the child, playing along with children’s rules when invited, using encouraging words, providing time and equipment, are all beneficial.

Unfinished play should be avoided.

Video equipment, the presence of other adults (e.g. parents), the pace, mood of the child, and level of challenge can affect (positively or negatively) the quality of play and learning.

The importance of doing absolutely nothing is not to be overlooked, especially as practitioners may feel compelled to intervene, guide, or instruct consistently. Young (1995) describes how the African term balancing refers to completing a musical encounter. The participants listen carefully to each other and respond sensitively and considerately. Taking from this philosophy, the adult should try to balance the music, and recognise that sometimes, ‘less is more’.

Facilitating children’s needs

Living in the 21st century means we are dealing with a very different world to that of the pioneers of musical education and play research. Children are exposed to music not only through traditional methods such as lullabies in the home, but also increasingly through various media outlets and technologies including tablet apps designed specifically for children. Looking at the learning characteristics of different aged children we can see that children of preschool age have an optimum listening attention span of around 2 minutes (Merrion, 1989; Sims, 1986), and we learn from Gembris (2006) that children can identify, and match emotions and visual stimuli to music from as early as 3 years old. As practitioners, we need to include in our planning and facilitation, an understanding of how children are exposed to music, how they may interpret it, and how long they should, or may be attentive for.

Young children have been shown to enjoy apps which are easy to navigate, present familiar music, and are visually stimulating (Burton & Pearsall, 2016). The addition of listening stations in the free-flow environment means that children can access music which they may simply find enjoyable, but which may enrich other learning areas (e.g. languages, topic songs, music from other cultures). Difficulties include choosing platforms which are affordable, allow some level of autonomy yet adhere to safeguarding regulations, and that are easy to use for children who have limited literacy skills. A simple alternative, which encourages motor skills and historical context (yikes!), is to introduce a CD player or similar, and a CD library from which children can choose their music independently or with the guidance of an adult.

Another useful additon to the modern musical learning environment is that of the video recorder. The use of video equipment has been found to enhance performance, and can alos be used

for observations and assessment, as well as providing parents with documentation of the child’s time at school. Koops (2012) found that the video camera could act as an inhibitor to play, but very often this was at the start of the session, and in a free-flow environment the children would be able to choose whether they wanted to include it in their play or not. These days, the way we share media, and the way children can access it is so varied, and provides so many different opportunities that it needs to be a serious consideration when designing provision and delivering lessons.

More traditional resources should include sound producing objects and musical instruments, and although Loong and Lineburgh (2000) found that 3-5 year olds prefer drums to pitched instruments, there ought to be a variety on offer for children to explore.

Morin (2001) recommends providing print resources such as picture books, songbooks, flashcards and listening guides, and also drama and

movement materials such as costumes, puppets, scarves and ribbons. There should be enough space for movement. The importance of movement is backed up by a statement from a child during an interview conducted by Campbell (2010) who said, “Nobody should have to sit still when there is music”.

By providing children with clear and reasonable boundaries, it should be possible to create a safe environment conducive to learning through play. Both Pond (1980) and Morin (2001) have drawn attention to the care that children have shown towards instruments during play. I have not found in my own experience that this is an automatic and natural behaviour, but have found the use of setting very simple boundaries useful. In one setting it was useful for the children to have access to a visual card which they could show their peers if they were being too loud. Most recently, I have implemented and displayed three concise rules: “We treat instruments gently,” “We share the instruments”, and integrally “We listen to our music” i.e. banging a soundmaker incessantly with no consideration to the music you are creating is not (generally) appropriate.

Play is a valuable and necessary tool in the process of musical learning

Desired outcomes and goals can be reached using a combination of informal and formal approaches.

Practitioners should understand, assess, and document notable musical behaviours exhibited by children.

The role of the adults as facilitator is vital, providing children with autonomy, ownership, and freedom to explore. This will be dependent on each institution’s own models, available resources, ethos etc, but if we as adults observe children, explore with them, and provide them with next step opportunities, we’ll be giving them a good musical start.

Drawing from my own experiences, and the extensive body of research available, I come to the following conclusions:

Asta Hodgson has recently completed an MA in Psychology of Music in Performance, Education and Wellbeing. completed an MA in Psychology of Music in Performance, Education and Wellbeing.

Music & Movement

Ideas to get your pupils grooving

Match movement to music

Music is full of ups and downs, fasts and slows, louds and quiets, longs and shorts, all of which make great stimuli for musical movement activities. Responding to changing tempi through movement has an obvious benefit for the development of pulse internalisation, and matching short and long movements to the music can help us to get to grips with rhythm, but we can go beyond this to bring in the other movement that we find within music.

Try making bigger or smaller movements to match dynamics, and movements on different levels to match pitch changes. You can even try showing texture changes through involving others in your movements. If you’re feeling ambitious you could put together a whole class physical depiction of the structure of a piece of music.

Learn some dance moves

Whether it’s ballroom a la Strictly, or the Macarena a la 90’s school disco there is fun and a sense of satisfaction to be had in moving your body alongside others. To get all pupils fully on board with this you’ll want to pick something that they consider to be not horribly embarrassing!

Dance the story of the music

Movement allows us to tap into our innate creativity in ways that we might find hard to articulate verbally. For a lot of children, having to convey the story of the music through movement makes them concentrate more than just sitting in silence thinking of something to say about the music when it ends. The key thing to remember is that there is no ‘right’ answer; as long as your pupils can justify their movement in musical terms, it doesn’t matter if one of them thought the piece was about a dog jumping into a pond and another thought it was about someone putting washing out to dry! Simply ask them to move around the space and 'act out' the story of the music while you sit back and watch their creativity come to life.

Make music out of movement

Movement of course is not just an accompaniment to music, it can be the music itself. You can explore all the different percussive sounds your bodies can make, and put these together to make your own piece of music. This music could be descriptive or tell a story, or it could simply be a pure combination of sounds that you think work well together.

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Making Music Meaningful

Victoria Jane Leith explores why children want music to be meaningful, and how we can support this aim.

I started writing songs forty years ago when I was 9. I remember one of the first efforts was called ‘Frank’ and it was about a man who owned a bank. I am not sure where the inspiration came from but I co-wrote it with my good friend Tracy (who is now a professor) and our friends would make a ring around us with their skipping ropes in the playground, encouraging us to perform. After this big hit, we wrote a string of songs, including ‘Peter, Aren’t you coming Home now?’ and ‘In the Olden Days’, which was about a sister with a blister on her toe.

I remember five key things from this time:

Writing songs was fun

Writing a song with a friend was connecting

We loved performing and sharing these songs with others

Singing them (repeatedly) to ourselves and others brought us joy

I wanted to write songs that were more meaningful

We had so much fun creating these songs but I find it interesting that each song I subsequently wrote, I would find ways to make it more personal to me or that it would mean something to another person.

At the same time, I was also listening a lot to Kate Bush whose songs

affected me deeply. Deep listening was one of my favourite pastimes - I could listen to her for hours singing about the wiley windy moors. I was also extremely moved by the hymns we sang at school, partly because of how the words and melodies made me feel, and partly because I loved singing together. I felt like I was connected to everyone and everything.

As I continued with my songwriting efforts, and as I navigated through my teenage years, I noticed that my songs were starting to become increasingly meaningful. I wrote songs about friendship, love, a complex song about fairies (my friends still won’t let this one go) and wistful songs about how the silver moon made me feel. I needed to have more meaning and the more I applied this need, the more the songs helped me at different times in my life and eventually others, as I would share and record them or teach them to our friendship group and we’d sing them at school events and to raise money for charity.

Fast forward to my teaching years and I find that sharing this songwriting journey with my primary students inspires them on their own journey. I actually perform ‘Frank’ although I add the ukulele chords in.

We also talk a lot about the purpose

of music and how to make it meaningful - and of course, this raises great discussion and questions, which we explore freely. We discuss questions such as:

Who are we writing this song for?

How do we want them to feel? (relaxed, inspired, joyful, reflective)

How can we use the power of song to share about topics we care about and want others to care about too?

The idea at first is to get them creating. Some get hung up on spelling or grammar so we remove those obstacles. Some want to write their ideas on paper and I share with them how creativity can be messy and disordered.They ask for erasers and instead, I encourage them to just cross things out and make it a working document.

During this process of songwriting, which takes several weeks and sometimes months, I then share with them songs that I have written over the last decade, and we start to learn them and keep on discussing how we can make music meaningful.

I share how much I loved ‘Frank’ but how I then wanted to write songs that I felt expressed more about emotions or about a topic that I cared deeply about. Sharing my own songs and also others that I love - for example, ‘I am the Earth’ by Glyn Lehmann, and singing them together, models how a song can make us feel.

The children definitely understand the difference between singing a song which is fun, say for example, a nonsense song, or an action song such as ‘Baby Shark’ or ‘Agadoo’, which they enjoy for a time - and one that is more meaningful. It always seems to come back to our need for connection, to others and to our emotions - and this is not to discount all the fun songs out there - I am looking forward to releasing ‘Bom Bom Bom Chihuahua’ and I hope that many children love it and that it goes viral and gets on everybody’s last nerve! There is space for everythingbut there is also a balance that is needed and children want and crave that balance.

When we sing songs that have more depth, I see it in how children sing the song, how they interact and also how their behaviors change.

In one school, ‘Courage’ was our virtue theme for the month. I said I would write a song and I knew I wanted it to be about more than picking up a spider or taking your first dive - even though these are important and meaningful actions to some. I wanted the children to be able to sing words that they could take into their heart and that would help them with every day situations, so a song was created and the main theme was that it takes courage to do the right thing, to stand up for others and to ‘be the person I know I can be’.

The first part of ‘Be Brave’ goes like this:

‘When I look up and see The path is hard to find I take a deep breath And I

count to 3

And I try to reach up high’

I usually get our choir to sing this first part as solos and we talk about the song first, discussing what it means to be brave, what it looks like in action and always trying to go deeper into the thoughts that come up and to really explore them. The children always appreciate this. It is tangible! They feed back how this song makes them feel - which is not just about the lyrics but also the melody, how we sing it, our intention behind it when we sing. We talk about songs being a gift for others, how we can sing as a service and how it will affect not only ourselves but the listener will also take it into their heart and be affected by it too.

The build up to the chorus goes:

‘I’m brave I can climb up the highest mountain

Brave, I can swim in the deepest sea But the one thing I need courage for Is to be the person I know I can be’

I have noticed that when children (ages ranging from 5 -11 years) sing this song, in a range of schools and countries, that they nearly all have the same reaction. They report having a deep connection with the lyrics, and that the song makes them feel emotional and connected.

It is no surprise to me that children feel this way about music. I have always felt the same way about songs and pieces of music since I can remember and I wonder if you do too? However, in order to get to this point, I feel that we need that time to connect with the song which is why we spend weeks working on songs and why we spend a lot of time listening and reflecting.

When I listen to music, I often I have a bigger experience that I couldn’t explain or adequately verbalize when I was five years old. I feel like the songs are speaking to my soul, that I am connected to the universe when listening, I feel empowered, protected and a huge rush of happy hormones. I never felt anything like this before.

It is becoming increasingly evident that music can influence us physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I was observed once during a music session and the report came back stating, ‘There was a tangible spiritual element to the children’s learning.’ Reading this made me do a double-take. Something, that I often felt during music sessions, was felt by someone observing me. Sometimes, with music, I can often feel that the song or experience belongs to me and me alone.

The point is, music is here for the whole world to enjoy, None of us

‘own’ it - we may adopt different ways of sharing or teaching it and we may swear by a particular method or philosophy behind it; but when we start to truly understand the wider benefits of playing an instrument, singing in a choir, class, ensemble or assembly, we can see that music is here as a tool to consistently and effectively help children (and adults) to feel a strong sense of connectedness, which for many, often has that aforementioned tangible spiritual dimension - or something that many feel they cannot describe. One student explained to me that when we sang a particular song, he felt like that he was connected to everything in the universe! How powerful is that?!

There are so many articles, papers and books published now about the power of music but to recap here, the question as to why children want music with meaning?

From my observations, I would say it always comes back to accessibilitythat they take ownership, not just being passive listeners but it becomes a bigger experience for them, which in turn, will eventually help them to form their own deeper ideas when it comes to songwriting and composing.

To finish, I heard some children talking in the playground, months after we’d been learning the ‘Be Brave’ song in school. They were trying to solve a friendship challenge and one of the children quoted a part of the song as a way to overcome the difficulty. Seeing how music can traverse beyond the learning part and how it fits into hearts, minds and action, to me, is the proof that children need these meaningful songs in their lives.

Victoria Jane Leith currently teaches primary music in an international school in Japan. She is the founder of Little Song Music-Makers.

The Be Brave song is currently Song of the Month on littlesong.me - with a tutorial video, lyrics and chords!

Should you learn an instrument?

Beginner harpist and editor at large Dr Liz Stafford explores why this might be beneficial for teachers

One of the phrases that I hear most when working with primary nonspecialist teachers is ‘I can’t teach music because I can’t even play an instrument.’

I always take great pains to set the record straight immediately; teaching classroom music has very little to do with playing an orchestral instrument or the piano! Arguably if you’re a percussionist you might have a slight advantage working with tuned and untuned percussion with your classes, but mad skills on the violin do not automatically translate into amazing curriculum music lessons!

Of course, what the use of this phrase really means is that teachers feel ‘unmusical’ and, like almost everyone else in the world, have equated the act of having instrumental lessons with the state of ‘being musical.’ We spend a lot of time in the UK trying to explain to our politicians, schools, and the wider public that there is more to music education than taking graded exams on the trumpet!

If you feel that learning to play an instrument will make you more confident about teaching music, then by all means do it! Sharing your overall aim with your unstrumental teacher will (hopefully!) mean that they can work in some general musicianship along the way to help you feel more comfortable in your music teaching role.

If you are already a confident musician, you may still benefit from taking up a new instrument. I have been learning the harp for around a year now, and have found it a great way to reconnect with what it feels like to be a beginner musician. I definitely take for granted how easy it is for me to just pick up an unfamiliar piece and sing it or play it on the piano, or (and I’m showing off here I know) both at the same time! This experience has definitely made subtle changes to how I approach the teaching of instruments in the classroom, for the benefit of all my pupils.

There are other benefits to taking up a musical instrument later in life too. It’s thought that practising a new skill can help prevent cognitive decline, and as someone with more of a penchant for music than maths, I’d definitely rather be playing an instrument than doing sudoku!

In her open access course ‘The Science of Wellbeing’ Dr Laurie Santos of Yale University considers all of the different things that make us happy. Amongst aspects such as spending time with friends and family, showing gratitude, and adopting healthy habits, are other less well-known but equally powerful mood boosters.

Dr Santos argues that we need to be ‘challenged’ in our everyday lives. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that we want people to start fights with us! Rather, it means that we are happier when engaged in activities that make us think, and stretch our skill set, leading to a sense of accomplishment. Whether you’re an adult or a child, learning a musical instrument will do just that. The old adage ‘practise makes perfect’ could perhaps be adapted to ‘practise makes happy,’ as we overcome any difficulties to slowly master our chosen instrument.

Another strategy for improving wellbeing is to take part in regular ‘flow’ activities. This is where you become absorbed in a task (often a creative task) to the point where the outside world almost ceases to exist. In recent years activities such as adult colouring have become popular as they encourage this flow state, but of course playing a musical instrument is also a flow activity. In fact, you might argue that playing music is the ultimate flow activity, since it involves your eyes, ears, and most other parts of your body too!

Once you gain some mastery of your chosen instrument, it can be a tool for meeting new people and starting new friendships, through joining an ensemble such as a band or orchestra. When you are able to, making music with friends is one of life’s greatest pleasures - even football fans know this when they sing on the terraces! Being part of an ensemble also provides an extra level of challenge as you have to fit in with the music going on around you, taking you right back to that idea of ‘practise makes happy!’

Teachers often neglect their own mental health and worklife balance, so you could do yourself some good by picking up an instrument, whilst calling it ‘professional development’ so that you don’t feel like you are ‘wasting’ time!

Give it a go and see what benefits it can bring!

Belonging through singing

Schools worldwide prepare to celebrate Sing Up Day

Schools worldwide are gearing up for Sing Up Day on 26 June 2024 - a special day dedicated to celebrating the joy and power of singing. The event, now in its 14th year is organised by Sing Up, a music education resource provider whose aim is to enable as many children as possible to access the transformative benefits of singing.

This year Sing Up has commissioned a song titled I belong written by award-winning Scottish singer and songwriter Roseanne Reid.

Roseanne says “the inspiration for the song really comes from a place of knowing that in this big wide world, there's a place for everyone. There's always a space for you and what you have to offer the world because every single person is totally unique, and the world needs that… the world needs diversity and variety.”

I belong digs deep into something every child and young person yearns for – a sense of belonging and connection. Sing Up Day taps into the power of singing to create opportunities for social inclusion, community-building and mental wellbeing. Taking part in Sing Up Day 2024 will offer a chance for young voices to ring out in a powerful affirmation of acceptance.

To help ensure a rich and inclusive experience, participants will get free access to high-quality backing tracks, an assembly plan, an animated lyric video and British Sign Language (BSL) instructional and performance videos.

Participating in Sing Up Day is easy, fun and free! You don’t need to be an expert to get your groups involved in this free event. Access to simple-touse resources including backing tracks, teaching notes, an assembly plan and interactive playback make involvement both enriching and stress-free.

Head to the Sing Up Day web page to learn more and register.

Music in Early Childhood

Dr Liz Stafford reviews a book by Susan Young

As soon as I started reading this book my immediate thought was that there should be a book in this format for every phase of education!

Here in one place are summarised all the theories, pedagogies and methodologies in common use in Early Years Music across the world. From Dewey to Montessori, Orff to Kodaly, Piaget to Vygotsky, there simply isn’t a topic that this book is missing. Furthermore it introduces readers to some more recent and/or lesser-known practices, providing an up-to-date picture of what is happening in Early Years now.

Each chapter takes a different practice and clearly and succinctly covers its history, key features, and pratical application in different contexts. This allows the reader to develop a really comprehensive understanding of the theory and philosophy of each pedagogy or practice, and how it might work for them in their setting.

At the conclusion of each chapter Young gives her own thoughts and opinions on the practice that has been discussed, making connections with other chapters, and allowing the reader to critically consider whether these offer them a new way of doing things in their classroom.

This book should be required reading for anyone embarking on training in Early Years, and will also be extremely beneficial to those already working in EYFS music who want to futher develop their practice.

It is published by Routledge priced at £22.25 and available here.

If I were a racist

Dr Liz Stafford reviews a new book by

Professor Nathan Holder is wellknown in UK education circles for his tireless work advocating for inclusive and diverse music education. For this work, it is fair to say that he is met with reaction on every level from wild enthusiasm and praise right down to ignorance and abuse.

Despite, or perhaps because of this, Holder’s latest book does not shy away from calling a spade a spade, and doubtless some people will find the title and subtitle of this text somewhat confronting, as Philip Ewell discusses in his excellent foreward.

For those readers who usually skip the foreward and introduction and get straight to the nitty gritty of a book, I would encourage you not to on this occasion. Crucial to understanding this book is to understand the wider context within which it is framed.

Many of us will think ‘I’m not racist’

Professor Nathan Holder

(or even worse ‘I’m not racist, but...’) with a failure to understand that the systems within which music education - and pretty much everything else in the world - is organised are inherently problematic.

Each chapter of this book takes us on a journey through a different aspect of music teaching, prefaced each time by a stanza from Holder’s 2020 poem If I were a racist Despite the bold title, each chapter provides gentle, thoughtful and informative discussion of what the problems are and how we as music teachers can solve them. There is zero sense of shame or judgement in the writing, just an acknowledgement that we as teachers can do better than our own teachers may have done to make music education more inclusive, diverse, and equitable.

This book is essential reading for all music teachers, is reasonably priced, and crucially is brief enough to finish in one PPA session! It can be purchased here