About Play Now
Play Now is a new online resource, designed to bridge the gap between teacher led whole class music making and the independent, informal learning which is at the heart of the Musical Futures approach.
With the huge success of our resource - based initiatives and the play alongs that have enabled thousands of students of all ages to play as part of a whole class band, many teachers don’t take that leap into handing over some of the musical and learning decisions to their students, choosing instead to repeat the play along process with a different song or using different instruments.
So Musical Futures Play Now has been developed as a stepping stone from Just Play to informal learning with the idea that after they have experienced this new approach, they will be better able to replicate it with a song of their own choice and truly go ‘In at The Deep End’ with a few things to support them along the way!
**No downloads. No USBs. No Powerpoints**
Each Play Now resource will be accessible via one password protected URL. The URL can then be shared with students using laptops, mobile devices or tablets, whether they are working in bands in a practice room or distance learning at home. Of course they will also be able to access the resources any time, anywhere, providing new opportunities for them to continue learning outside of their class music lessons, utilising informal approaches to learning music outside the classroom.
With the huge success of our resource - based initiatives and the play alongs that have enabled thousands of students of all ages to play as part of a whole class band, many teachers don’t take that leap into handing over some of the musical and learning decisions to their students, choosing instead to repeat the play along process with a different song or using different instruments.
So Musical Futures Play Now has been developed as a stepping stone from Just Play to informal learning with the idea that after they have experienced this new approach, they will be better able to replicate it with a song of their own choice and truly go ‘In at The Deep End’ with a few things to support them along the way!
**No downloads. No USBs. No Powerpoints**
Each Play Now resource will be accessible via one password protected URL. The URL can then be shared with students using laptops, mobile devices or tablets, whether they are working in bands in a practice room or distance learning at home. Of course they will also be able to access the resources any time, anywhere, providing new opportunities for them to continue learning outside of their class music lessons, utilising informal approaches to learning music outside the classroom.
Understanding the aims of this resource
We have designed Play Now to be accessible via a URL wherever there is internet access and it can be used on any device. It has been developed with the following aims in mind:
We suggest that as soon as possible, students are sent off into small groups to use the resource to learn to play the song. They will access the material in range of different ways and giving them some time to explore it independently will give teachers an idea of how to structure subsequent lessons. Where possible please follow the guidance in the informal learning principles of allowing students to work in friendship groups and to choose their instrument. It’s really hard to stand back and let students work in this way. But observing how they respond and supporting them to achieve objectives they identify for themselves and for their group is a crucial part of this approach.
- To be a stepping stone from class play alongs towards informal learning for both teachers and students
- To increase student reliance on aural learning and away from following a play along
- To enable teachers to teach - we have created a versatile resource that can be used in flexible ways with opportunities to embed breadth and depth of musical learning appropriate to the age group
- To be suitable for a variety of teaching contexts especially in small groups or bands or independently at home. For students engaged in distance learning, this enables them to easily access a comprehensive resource to support them with making music at home. Students can also access it anywhere so they can continue to practise their parts outside of lesson time
- Where there are tricky moments in the song, we have include video to model what students may be hearing when they listen to the track and start to copy and play what they hear.
We suggest that as soon as possible, students are sent off into small groups to use the resource to learn to play the song. They will access the material in range of different ways and giving them some time to explore it independently will give teachers an idea of how to structure subsequent lessons. Where possible please follow the guidance in the informal learning principles of allowing students to work in friendship groups and to choose their instrument. It’s really hard to stand back and let students work in this way. But observing how they respond and supporting them to achieve objectives they identify for themselves and for their group is a crucial part of this approach.
Play now and the Musical Futures Pathway
Musical Futures approaches are grouped into three areas and these can take place within one lesson, across a unit of work and even across an entire music program. We give students tools, model how to use them and then encourage them to work independently to develop these in personalised ways. The aim is that at the end of their engagement with music at school, students leave as independent, informal musicians able to hear and play music of their choice, Alongside this lies the responsibility of schools and teachers to deliver a breadth and depth of musical content as prescribed by their curriculum. Musical Futures is not a curriculum in itself, rather it is an approach to teaching and learning music.