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All the news from Musical Futures International
 Musical Futures International is excited to have RSL Awards on board as the headline sponsor for the upcoming Big Gig KL! Patrick Healy from RSL Awards will join us at the KL conference to share details about the VQ’s (Vocational Qualifications) available to international school music departments. As we know, international schools are unique sites for exploring new and innovative approaches to music education. International school music teachers often have the flexibility and resources to try relevant ideas, instruments, programs and avenues for the students in their particular context. RSL Awards VQ’s provide extremely practical, relevant and contextually-situated options for students to pursue their studies in music. RSL Awards VQ’s provide the rigour and recognition of other qualifications in schools and include a complete portfolio of Creative Industries Qualifications, covering Music, Performing Arts and Creative Digital Media from Levels 1-5. Bringing RSL Awards on as the headline sponsor at the Big Gig KL aims to provide our community with up-to-date information about the latest ideas around school music curricula.  The Musical Futures International team has developed a unique relationship with one of the world’s most recognised music tech brands: Roland.
Over the last few months, we’ve been working on new approaches and resources for using the latest music production hardware from Roland called the AIRA Compact Series. These handy devices are the size of a Nintendo DS and pack the same amount of punch as top of the range drum machines and synthesizers. We believe these devices are a key part of the next wave of modern music-making in the classroom, with clear links to the foundational concepts of informal music learning celebrated by Musical Futures. Getting these tools into the hands of teachers and students is a priority at our upcoming workshops! The AIRA Compacts are a collection of 4 instruments:
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2/14/2021 3 Comments NEW Online Resources Subscription now Available From Musical Futures International
Take a video tour of 'Play Now' by clicking here Resource Map - A scaffolded approach from whole class to independent, informal learning  A year ago we were all set to embark on a series of sell out workshop tours across the world and we were looking forward to meeting teachers in Asia, Australia, The Middle East, Europe and New Zealand, all due to be taking part in our popular practical, musical and immersive Teacher Professional Development Workshops. However with travel and PD on hold across the world, we decided to use the time to focus on creating some fantastic new units of work and to transform how we share our existing suite of audio/visual resources with our community. We explored how we might move from USBs and downloads to something more contemporary and accessible to students and teachers whether they are working in school or taking part in distance learning. So we are really excited to announce that we have recently launched an entire catalogue of resources, some new, some heavily reversioned, extended and updated, all created with musical, participatory, engaging and stimulating music learning and teaching in mind. And for the first time, each resource is accessible via one URL. **No downloads. No USBs. No Powerpoints** 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. As our resource map above outlines, the aim of our resource-supported program is to support students to grow into independent, informal learners through our tried and tested classroom pedagogies which span formal, informal and non formal approaches to music learning and which underpins the development of all our resources. Due to the short term challenges of running our face to face workshops, for the first time, we will also be making our resources available more widely. In the next few weeks we will be releasing a series of taster resources, totally free of charge and accessible from anywhere. Soon after that, the full catalogue will be made available for purchase via our website www.musicalfuturesinternational.org. Meanwhile you can still access our free taster resources with no sign up necessary by clicking here and please do subscribe to our newsletter if you would like to be kept up to date with all our news and information, including resources, PD and information about Musical Futures. Our friends at Charanga are offering free access to their comprehensive online teaching resources and platform, ideal for primary teachers looking for ideas for online and remote learning for music during current school closures.
About Charanga Based in the UK, Charanga is one of the world’s leading music education technology companies. Over 10,000 schools and 41,000 teachers in 62 countries use our award-winning resources to help them teach music. As schools close to contain the spread of coronavirus almost half a million students globally are using Charanga's online learning space. About YUMU Within Charanga's Musical School, Yumu is a safe online space especially for students to use. It comes complete with ready-made packages such as Music World with its avatars, musical games, quizzes and beginner instrumental courses for all the students in your school. Additionally, you can give your students access to any materials you are using in school. This might be preparation for a new topic, further learning of a recorder or ukulele piece, or even the chance to learn the songs for a production. It’s very quick and easy to set up whole classes with usernames and passwords (in a similar way to MyMaths and Mathletics) Over the last few months, Charanga have been busy providing seven new 'Yumu' Packages – one for each primary year group - these Music At Home packages are lighter versions of selected Scheme Units. Those in their final primary year can access a version of the Topic PLASTIC. All are ideal for students working on their own, or with parents and carers supporting them, at home. They also build on the learning from music lessons at school. YUMU also allows you to track how and when students are accessing and engaging with their music learning which is invaluable as we all come to grips with online and remote learning for music. Read more... How to get your free access - for teachers in Australian primary schools 1) Visit https://www.charanga.com.au 2) Click on the free trial button to have free access for 30 days (please note there is no obligation to extend for payment - it just runs out at the end so there is no need to remember to cancel) 3) Scroll to the bottom of the landing page to explore 3 case studies 4) Once you have a login this page explains how easy it is to use remotely https://www.charanga.com.au/cmp/help/yumu/deliver-your-lesson-content-remotely-with-yumu How to get your free access - for teachers in International Schools 1) Visit https://charanga.com/site/international/ 2) Click on the free trial button to have free access for 30 days (please note there is no obligation to extend for payment - it just runs out at the end so there is no need to remember to cancel) 3) Scroll to the bottom of the landing page to explore 3 case studies 4) Once you have a login this page explains how easy it is to use remotely https://charanga.com/music-world A message from all of us at Musical Futures International-In these uncertain times all of us at MFI would like to send our support to everyone struggling to keep up with the constant round of new guidance, announcements and news which seems impossible to avoid wherever you are in the world. In response, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone TheBigGig2020 conference and all of our other workshop activities scheduled between now and the end of June. Events over the past few days including the declaration of States of Emergency, travel restrictions, social distancing, the uncertainty of whether schools will be open or not, ongoing and new school closures in Europe and Asia and medical advice suggesting that COVID - 19 will remain an issue until at least June or July means that we cannot confidently proceed with planning these events at this time. Our intention is to re-schedule as soon as it is safe and sensible to do so and we will spend the next few months preparing for this. If you have already booked onto any of our workshops, we will be in touch shortly and will confirm the new dates when available. Hopefully you will be able to join us at a workshop in Semester 2 and beyond. We trust that you all stay healthy and well over the coming few weeks. Meanwhile, please read on for some suggestions for positive things that you can do to stay connected with us and with each other! Ian, Ken, Anna, Stephen, Steve, Annette and all the MFI Team 1. Join our online teacher communityYou are welcome to join our friendly and helpful Music Teacher Facebook Community Musical Futures Chat. With weekly chats shared resources and moral support it is a welcoming and useful community to be part of. Click here to join To help us to build our online community, please complete our Musical Futures Chat Survey here 2. Get updates and register interest for our workshopsAsia: Musical Futures International and Charanga present: Muzik Bersama (Music Together), Kuala Lumpur 2 Day Conference for music educators and non-specialist primary teachers dates tbc (click here for details) Register Interest Here Middle East: Musical Futures Dubai workshops dates tbc (click here for details) Register Interest Here New Zealand: Musical Futures Auckland dates tbc (click here for details) Please sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on the change of dates click here Australia: Hear, Listen, Play, Create: Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane dates tbc (click here for details) Please sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on the change of dates click here The Big Gig 2020 2 day conference: Melbourne click for details Please sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on the change of dates click here Australia Workshop Program: all states (click for details) Please sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on the change of dates click here Please contact us directly for any queries about our workshops via info@musicalfuturesinternational.org 3. Offer to host a workshopIf you would like to offer to host an open workshop at your school or venue, then please read the information below and and complete the online form. If you have any questions, then please contact us at info@musicalfuturesinternational.org If you would like to host a workshop in Australia click here If you would like to host a workshop outside Australia click here 4. Use our resourcesIf you find yourself having to set home learning, there is plenty that can be repurposed and adapted from within our resources. If you have been to a workshop, you have full access to all of our audio/video resources which you can share with students to use at home. Lost your login? Drop us an email to info@musicalfuturesinternational.org and we will sort you out! Haven't made it to a workshop yet? That's OK, we have some free stuff for you to try
5. Take time for yourselfWe will be spending the next couple of months developing our online training program for teachers. Meanwhile there is plenty of information to support your professional development already available on our website Read a book, go for a walk, watch a movie, take some time out and then...
6. Stay in touchYou can reach us any time via any of the following channels - please do stay in touch!
Our Facebook groups: Musical Futures Chat: a networking and ideas sharing group for Musical Futures teachers wherever you are led by MF Australia and home of our weekly chats which take place every Wednesday. Musical Futures International: For teachers working outside the UK and in international schools across the world Music Teachers Middle East: for music teachers working in The Middle East Musical Futures America: for music educators in the USA interested in Musical Futures Our Facebook Page: Musical Futures International Musical Futures International on Twitter: Musical Futures International @MuFuInternat Musical Futures Australia @mufuaustralia On Instagram: @musicalfuturesinternational LinkdIn: Musical Futures International  Mairéad Duffy is a musician, composer, singer/songwriter and music educator. She currently works as Music Development Officer for Music Generation Cavan / Monaghan for Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high quality performance music education in their locality. You can hear some of Mairéad's music here. I can honestly say that my first encounter with Musical Futures was life-changing. Why? It was the first time I had actually felt like a musician on a CPD day. That’s really sad, seeing as all I ever wanted to ‘do’ was music. I never sat down and planned to be a teacher. I imagine my journey is shared by many. I got a job before my PGCE ended and thought to myself, ‘how lucky am I?’ And that was the beginning of it, when I started to define and describe myself as a teacher rather than a musician, and as I reflect on that now, it makes me sad.
Don’t get me wrong. I think I was a good teacher back then, well, as good as you can be when you are fresh off a PGCE and still wet behind the ears. You learn on the job, as we all do/did. Lots of happy years passed, with lots of great music-making, both inside and outside of the classroom. I followed my passions: learning more about the voice and developing my choral and directing skills. And then, in November 2012, I attended my first Musical Futures training in a wee place somewhere outside Belfast. I remember the time of year, as I was heading to London that evening to celebrate my sister’s 30th birthday. I remember Seamas and Sarah, from Donegal and Derry, who led the day. I remember sitting behind a drum kit for the first time in my life, giving it a go, with a very real chance of making a complete mess of it, but feeling exhilarated and challenged and nervous and a wee bit self-conscious-when it came to sharing my/our musical offerings. That marked the beginning of me being able to understand what it feels like for a young person when I ask them to do something that they might have little or no experience of. I discovered the joy of making music in a group-because as a pianist growing up I never had the chance to. And then the magic began. I became part of a group of teachers who wanted to try or were already trying these ‘new’ approaches in the classroom. I got the opportunity to develop my love of singing and inclusive vocal approaches on the ‘Find my Voice’ pilot. I introduced a programme of work which connected our school musically with local feeder primary schools. I developed relationships with the teachers responsible for music in the primary school and got to share the approaches with them. My school hosted a day of training, which attracted teachers from as far away as Dublin-my school was in Co. Tyrone. Some of my senior students got to lead sessions on a band carousel. I felt like a rock star playing the bass riff from ‘Seven Nation Army’. I got to beat box-well, attempt to, in a really cool nightclub venue in London. I got to see Shlomo do stuff with his larynx that I still cannot fathom. The list goes on and on and I know that the list cannot do justice to the joy all of these opportunities brought me. My life is a little different now. I am currently on a career break from the classroom but am still very much involved in music-making with young people. I got to re-connect with the Musical Futures team in Galway in July 2019 and what a joy that was. (I know there is a lot of ‘joy’ in this piece, but it really is the only word that fits for me). Making music once again, embracing multi genres and instruments and voices, being creative, having the craic with a diverse group of musicians and coming musically alive again. Musical Futures has given me so much. If I had to select what stands out, it is the fact that the approaches have enabled me to empower the young people that I work with, regardless of the setting. It has also allowed me to confidently bring the musician that I am into the space. And, for better or worse, I am unable to listen to a piece of popular/contemporary music without de-constructing it and building it back up vocally! Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others.  Charles Roy Baguio is Dean of the College of Science and Arts of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation in Cebu, Philippines. Within the umbrella of the college is the AB Music Program Department which partnered with Magnus Creative Music Inc. in hosting the 1st International Applied Music Education Conference in the Philippines last January 20-24, 2020 which highlighted Musical Futures Workshops. The following is a transcript of Dean Baguio's welcome speech which he gave at the opening of the conference session in Cebu and which resonated completely with the ethos and approach of Musical Futures International. Many thanks to Dean Baguio for allowing us to publish it here. It is indeed a privilege to welcome you who are artists and educators from different parts of the country and even from abroad to the first International Applied Music Education Conference in the Philippines or IAMEC. This year's conference theme “Making Real Music in the Classroom: International Perspectives and Methods in Music Pedagogy for 21st Century Learners” is a statement of the desire to teach your students how to produce real, quality music in the classroom and how to make it relevant, interesting and updated for the learners of the 21st century. And this conference becomes an avenue for the valuable exchange of perspectives across the globe with the help of our very able and generous resource speakers. Every art is evolving, and music and education are not exceptions to that; hence, the need for events like this conference to continuously equip further our music educators and practitioners of new trends, skills, methods as well as avenues for the sharing of best practices in the field that could further make our endeavours more productive. Definitely, music education has been, and must continue to be outcomes-based. Students shall not progress to the next level unless they can do what they are expected to do and learn what they are expected to learn and show these competencies in actual demonstration. But as educators we must also be able to sustain the interest of our students so that even when the going gets tough, they will persevere in their pursuit for excellence in the field. The University of Southern Philippines Foundation is happy to host the venue of the first IAMEC and be a part of an important first” in the field of music. I am hopeful, as well as everybody else in this room, that we will all have a fruitful exchange and go back to our mother institutions with some fresh insights on how to be a better practitioner and educator of music. Furthermore, I hope that we will not only develop skilful musicians, but skilful musicians with a good attitude. May this first IAMEC be followed by many more IAMECs in the future, be participated by many more, and contribute a lot more to the development in the field. USPF welcomes you to the first IAMEC and may God bless many more artists and educators with the grace to be collaborators of the development of their gifts and those of others according to the greater purpose for which these are given. Have a learning-filled and enjoyable two-day conference, and thanks to the conference organisers for all the effort  IAMEC2020 was a week-long conference led by Magnus Creative Music, held in 3 locations in The Philippines in January 2020. To learn more about Musical Futures International keynotes, workshops and consultancy for your conference or event, click here Our next 2 day Music Together conference, delivered in partnership with Charanga will be Muzik Bersama (Music Together), Kuala Lumpur April 24th and 25th 2020 at IGB International School. Please register for our newsletter for details of forthcoming events and you can express your interest in attending or hosting workshops in Asia here. Despite the rumblings of the Taal volcano just a few days before our workshops, we were thrilled that so many delegates made it along to our 2 day open workshops held at The British School, Manila delivered in partnership with Charanga. We were warmly welcomed by our hosts Jane and Boyet and it was lovely to also be able to work with a class of Year 6 students to model a Musical Futures lesson. All delegates were given a free 3 month trial of Charanga for international schools and free access to all Musical Futures International resources for use in their classrooms.
As well as a great 2 days spent exploring both Musical Futures and Charanga, a highlight was our first night banquet where delegates experienced unlimited local and international food - a great opportunity to get to know each other better and to make new friends. Huge thanks to everyone who joined us! 1/27/2020 0 Comments Rome workshops: Jan 2020Our European workshops take place in October/November and January each year. Please register for our newsletter for details of forthcoming locations and you can express your interest in attending or hosting workshops in Europe here The stunning location of La Storta, Rome, Italy was the backdrop to 2 days of Introductory workshops hosted by Darren and James at St George's British International School. With delegates travelling in from across Italy as well as from further afield, we spent 2 days playing, creating and exploring music and learning together. It was great to be able to set up a new network of Italian schools all set to collaborate on new projects as a result and to have the opportunity to join an orchestra rehearsal at the end of day 1!
Huge thanks to everyone who joined us at the workshops and to staff and students at St George's for having us! 12/17/2019 0 Comments Happy New Year 2020In 2019 we delivered nearly 100 workshops and presentations, working with around 1700 teachers from over 50 countries worldwide. If you were at one of them - thank you for supporting us this year! 
 A big thank you from all of us at Musical Futures International and Musical Futures Australia for joining us this year at an event in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, or if you stopped by the website to read a blog post or download a resource or two! Thanks also to our host schools, our guest bloggers, our partners at Charanga and Soundtrap, our supporters at The NAMM Foundation, our Musical Futures International Champions and everyone we met along the way!
*SAVE THE DATE* The Big Gig is back! Our popular 2 day conference returns to Melbourne on June 26th and 27th 2020 We have some exciting new plans for 2020 with workshops planned for The Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Europe The Middle East and will be launching a significant number of new units and resources between February and April including:
We will also be adding to our free resources section of our website for those who haven't been able to get along to a workshop. Ken, Ian, Anna, Annette, Kerry, Steve S, Steve J, John, Ted and all of the Musical Futures International Team wish everyone a restful and happy holidays and hope that you have time to celebrate with family and friends and to enjoy the festive break. To make sure you are the first to hear about what's coming in 2020, please subscribe to our newsletter by clicking HERE  Christopher Hoddinott is a Music Teacher at GEMS World Academy in Singapore. Since attending our first Intensive Musical Futures Workshop in Malaysia in 2016 and returning for a 'recharge' in Singapore in 2019, he has explored various Musical Futures International Learning Models including Just Play, Non Formal Teaching and Informal Learning. Here he shares some of the positive outcomes that have been emerging as a result. At our school, we have found that making music education relevant to students themselves means that they demonstrate a deeper understanding of music and we see a motivation for learning that is intrinsic. We start by offering musical activities that students enjoy, ranging from Karaoke, Rock Bands and Electronic Music Production and then lead them into ensembles and musical performances. Our practice rooms have gone from empty at lunchtime and after school to full as students feel it is a welcoming and productive environment. Allowing students the opportunities to develop in the classroom means they want to get more involved in music outside of the classroom. Students now want to create and perform as they have developed a love of music and therefore wish to inquire and improve themselves. Students are more engaged as they have been given the freedom to be creative and are trusted to think outside of the box in order to be innovative. So how did we get here? Just PlayMusical Futures International: Just Play is designed to build holistic musical skills and an understanding of how to play as a whole class band. It comes with a suite of resources that support teachers with delivering whole class music activities with students of any age. Getting students performing and being interactive is and important step in their music education. Once students are enjoying playing a musical instrument, the technical and theoretical aspects often follow. Once they can play something, students are more inquisitive to find out more about how to improve and what else is involved in music as a subject at school. Learning a musical instrument ensures that all students can access an inclusive and engaging music education. Just Play allows all students to play and perform, whether it is the ukulele, guitar, bass, piano or the voice. Playing music inside and outside of the classroom gives students a platform to be creative in music. There are opportunities to develop transferable skills such as creative thinking, collaboration and listening as well as learning instrumental skills and how and why and music works. The music classroom, therefore, becomes an inclusive environment, highly skilled musicians, as well as beginners are able to thrive as there is an opportunity to play independently and collaboratively, to set personal goals, and find themselves through playing a musical instrument. Performing and CreatingNon Formal Teaching is a whole class approach to large group music making, improvising and composing. Grounded in non-formal teaching pedagogy inspired by the practices of community musicians, musical ideas originate from within the group with the teacher as musical leader helping participants to shape and develop the music as it evolves With each unit of work, students are either demonstrating their skills and knowledge development through performing or creating and are often doing both during every lesson. When creating music through classroom workshopping, students are given the autonomy to build composing and improvising from music that they are interested in and enjoy, and the process allows for exploring styles that engage the student from the start. The theory of creating music, such as understanding chord progressions, harmony, melody, rhythm and structure are explored and applied through the creation of a piece of music. Therefore, students see the relevance and the immediate practical implications of music theory. They are therefore better able to understand and relate to music theory more effectively. They are also able to see the relevance of how different aspects of musical theory can be applied to create different moods and outcomes in the music. Students create more interesting pieces of music as a result as they have been able to explore and problem solve in a way that also allows them to expresses themselves. Some students expand on what is done in the classroom and start to make their own musical legacy by writing music that they publish by themselves, developed from the skills explored and supported in the classroom. A great example from recent classroom practice at my school involved supporting students to write a song about a social justice issue that they cared about. They researched songs that covered particular issues, discussed and asked questions about why and how the music was created and if it was effective in portraying their message. Students were then given the challenge of writing and recording songs, building their own identity and connections in the world as global citizens - key outcomes for our school and the curriculum that we follow. In order to successfully make the song, students had to learn about the key, scale, chord progression, melody, bass, rhythm, harmony and structure. They also learnt recording skills and how to produce their song. Some students were so proud of their creations they performed their songs in class to others. Informal LearningInformal Learning is a model of self-directed learning that aims to enhance student motivation, enjoyment and skill-acquisition in music lessons by tapping into the real-life learning practices of popular musicians Informal learning is one of the approaches we use to create musical performances. We have found that it makes the learning more authentic and develops skills that are important in learning music. Students spend time developing listening, collaboration, creative and practical skills when performing music. Informal Learning challenges students to choose a piece of music in their friendship groups and they are encouraged to learn the song by listening to the music, rather than relying on notation, chord charts or tabs. Students immediately rose to the challenge. Working with their friendship groups meant that they could motivate and encourage each other. They could also be more honest and critical about the ideas and choices that they made. They also helped each other in figuring out parts of the music and natural leaders emerged from the groups. Students developed their listening skills as they had to dissect the music into its harmonic parts, such as melody, rhythm and the structure, and then piece it all together for their own creation. Informal learning has proved to be a dynamic and practical way to develop listening skills that created a deeper understanding of what is happening in the music. Rather than listening to and identifying sections of music, students are analysing and inquiring about the music in a deeper way. They are also more responsive to enjoying, performing, creating and interacting with the music. Ultimately, we have found that informal learning builds confidence and they are excited to perform to their peers. Students are keen to develop themselves and progress, and the demand comes to provide more opportunities for students to perform at all levels as a result. ConclusionMusic education should be active and engaging for students, but also inclusive, so that all students are developing themselves and always learning. It is important that the learning is authentic and that teaching nurtures valuable creative thinking and collaboration skills as well as core instrumental skills. Learning should be active and practical, and at the core of music education is the right balance of building instrumental skills and creating and performing music.
 We have just returned from a wonderful 2 days working with teachers from across Europe, hosted in the fantastic music department at Ecolint International School of Geneva. As well as exploring the core Musical Futures Learning models of Informal Learning and Non-Formal Teaching, we also had great fun trying out the multitude of Musical Futures International resources available free of charge to all who attended and we spent some time considering now we might apply those to different teaching scenarios in classrooms. A stand out moment was our day 2 rap warm-up where we had raps in Welsh, English, Finnish, Estonian, French, Lebanese and Hungarian! We were also joined by Alan Cameron who led an informative session using Soundtrap and all delegates were given a free 3 month trial of Soundtrap Edu to use in their schools. Huge thanks to everyone who came along and to John Aram and the staff and students at Ecolint for being such welcoming hosts! Our next Musical Futures Europe workshop takes place at St George's British International School in Rome in January 2020. Find out more... We are always happy to hear from schools interested in hosting a workshop. You can find out more about what's involved and how to get in touch by clicking -> *here*  Luke Peak is Head of Music at Chaffey Secondary College, Mildura and a Musical Futures International Champion. He has been exploring using the SOLO Taxonomy in the Musical Futures classroom and in this article shares some of the ideas and outcomes that have developed across this year. Musical Futures at Chaffey Secondary CollegeChaffey Secondary College has been a Musical Futures Champion School since 2014. The school is located in Mildura, a regional city in north-west Victoria approximately 6 hours’ drive from Melbourne. The classroom music program has grown considerably since I started at the college back in 2011. As a graduate teacher I began working with the Musical Futures approach almost immediately using the Informal Learning model. Students responded positively to learning music in a self-directed and independent way as I encouraged them to work in friendship groups, learning songs of their choice and playing instruments of their choice. As Musical Futures evolved over these years, I was able to incorporate Just Play & Non-Formal Teaching into my Year 7 & 8 classes. In this setting students build functional music skills on a range of instruments through whole class music making using a variety of resources and play-a-longs. Introducing song charts enables a large group of students to begin moving away from the play-a-longs as they develop their musical proficiency and exercise more student voice in song selection and arrangements. As students move into Year 9 and 10 electives, they begin to display more independence as they form friendship groups, choose the music to play and direct their own learning. This is where my role as a teacher shifts from being the musical leader to more of a musical model and resource. Why SOLO Taxonomy?An ongoing challenge has been the formalised tracking of musical progress in a Musical Futures classroom and having reliable formative assessment tools that allow for self-reflection and promote metacognition. As students’ progress through the Musical Futures program they are essentially moving from surface knowledge to deep learning which can be observed as students display greater independence and proficiency over time. As a school we have developed a new instructional model. At its foundation is the implementation of the Visible Learning framework and the use of SOLO taxonomy across all our key learning areas. For those who are not familiar with SOLO taxonomy, it stands for the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO). As a school we have been using SOLO to create differentiated success criteria for our lessons in order to support our learners in moving from surface knowledge to deep learning. Throughout this year I have begun to develop a deeper understanding of how to use the SOLO taxonomy to plan, monitor and evaluate the effect of my teaching on student learning. About SOLO TaxonomyWhen using the SOLO taxonomy in your classroom an important distinction to make is the difference between declarative and functioning knowledge. Declarative knowledge involves knowing about (content based), whereas functioning knowledge is knowing how to (skills/performance based). For the majority of my music classes, the focus is on functioning knowledge. This means that most of my Learning Intentions will start with: To be able to….. Developing SOLO based differentiated success criteria for classes that are dedicated to building musical skills can be used as a way of tracking individual progress over time. SOLO Taxonomy use five hierarchical levels of learning outcome.
 In Term 3 this year I came across the newly published book: Solo Taxonomy in Music Education (Pam Hook & Nikki Booth, with Alison Price & Lauren Fobister) This book has been a great resource for me in developing formative self-assessment rubrics to enable students to identify the progression of their learning outcomes whilst providing me with a reliable tool to track musical progress over time. SOLO rubrics for Musical FuturesThe following SOLO rubrics have been adapted directly from the book mentioned above. What I have found of particular value is how these formative assessment tools compliment and align directly to existing Musical Futures lessons. They provide a clear description of the varying levels of learning outcome and help to promote self-regulation as they show students the progression toward becoming more independent in relation to the learning intention. OutcomesSharing the SOLO taxonomy with students is helping them make more sense of their learning. In regard to the examples provided I would project the self-assessment rubric at the beginning of a lesson and discuss with the class the different levels of SOLO outcomes that a student may experience by the end of the lesson or unit. As a point of reflection at the end of the lesson I would use the self-assessment rubric so they can develop a better awareness of their individual progress.
As I’ve only introduced these SOLO formative assessment tools this term, my aim is to familiarise my students with the taxonomy so that I’m helping them to understand how it works and how it can be applied to their learning in my lessons. Using SOLO to elicit feedback and develop self-regulated learners is certainly something that I feel aligns with the Musical Futures approach. As a school we have done a lot of work and professional learning around effective feedback this year. Feedback should answer the following 3 questions for both the students and teachers:
SOLO then becomes the measure of quality of the outcome of a lesson. As students become more familiar with this process of reflection their self-regulation develops. This means that they begin to become less reliant on the feedback from the teacher as they assess their own learning progress. Using the SOLO taxonomy as a Musical Futures teacher has brought me greater clarity around making the individual learning outcomes more visible for myself and my students. I have spent a lot of time considering the engagement and authenticity of my lessons which is why Musical Futures continues to resonate strongly with me and my students. The SOLO taxonomy model clearly shows how a learner’s performance changes in this environment from someone who is dependent and reliant to one who is independent and self-reliant. 10/19/2019 0 Comments Charanga and Musical Futures International join forces to upskill teachers worldwideCharanga and Musical Futures International have announced an exciting new partnership to support and extend the skills of classroom and instrumental teachers across the globe. Muzika Bersama (Music Together), a 2-day conference at the IGBIS Kiua.la Lumpur on April 24th and 25th 2020, will be the 2nd professional development event co-organised by the companies. The programme comprises practical workshops designed for primary, secondary and tertiary music educators, and sessions for non-specialist primary teachers. “Bringing people together is a vital part of developing sustainable and engaging professional development opportunities for music teachers,” Anna Gower, Head of Training and Development at Musical Futures International, explained. “So it’s really exciting to be working with our friends at Charanga on this new opportunity for music educators to learn, play, network and explore ideas and resources that can really make a difference to their students.” Mark Burke, Founder and Director of Charanga, described the partnership as ‘a natural fit’: “We both share a passion for removing barriers to young people’s engagement with music-making and understand what it takes to work side-by-side with teachers to make change happen on a large scale,” he said. Teachers can attend both conference days, with all resources, lunch and refreshments included, for just £275 if booking before 1st April 2020 For further information or to set up an interview, please contact: Tony Pinkham, Head of Marketing and Communications at Charanga Email: tonypinkham@charanga.com Musical Futures International is continuing to monitor the coronavirus issue. As this event is not scheduled until late April we have the opportunity to review the situation in early March. We encourage teachers to continue to register for this workshop, but we will not invoice until we are more certain of the situation. We will keep those who have registered informed, via the email address you used to sign up with, should there be any updates.  Charanga’s award-winning technology is used by over 9,000 schools and 35,000 teachers in 62 countries on a daily basis, with over 2 million children enjoying Charanga-supported music lessons every week. Free trial Anyone yet to try out the platform is invited to sign up for a no-obligation free 30-day trial. CPD & Training With over 350 years of combined classroom music teaching experience, Charanga’s Education Team has successfully trained over 25,000 teachers in modern, inclusive music-teaching practice.  Musical Futures is an approach to the teaching and learning of music that promotes innovation, inclusion, diversity and lots and lots of music-making which is driven by the musical culture of the participants, rather than being limited to a specific musical style or genre.
CPD & Training: Musical Futures International supports teachers around the world with training, networks and resources to deliver practical, engaging, developmental music programs in the classroom. They run a comprehensive program of teacher CPD in Australia and a series of 2 day workshops across Asia, The Middle East and Europe. Currently more than 1.5 million students in 71 countries worldwide benefit from their teachers use of the Musical Futures approach. Free taster resources available HERE Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others. In this article Ollie Tunmer shares some of the methodology that he uses when delivering his popular workshops that are inspired by music from around the world!  Ollie is Director of Beat Goes On which delivers school workshops, PD sessions and conference content worldwide. Their team of highly experienced facilitators include former cast members of STOMP and performers in the Rio de Janeiro carnival. Teaching rhythms from around the worldAt Beat Goes On we have the privilege of delivering STOMP-style Body Percussion and Afro-Brazilian Percussion workshops in schools, PD events and conferences internationally. We’re lucky that what we do is naturally fun, loud, exciting and highly accessible, meaning that a sense of accomplishment can be achieved quickly! Maintaining this, however, requires some clear methodology. I find that as a musician, if I have a verbal phrase that sounds like the rhythm I’m trying to learn, the rhythm becomes more memorable. As a workshop facilitator, if you involve the key-words of a project, then participants will end up repeating the key-words using the rhythm that they’re learning. For example, when teaching an ‘agogo’ bell rhythm from the Afro-Brazilian ‘maracatu’ style, we use the following –  We refer to these as ‘rhythmonics’ (rhythms and mnemonics), and find them indispensable, both as a teaching / learning aid and as a compositional tool. In our longer term samba projects, pupils learn several rhythms, instrument names, compose their own samba ‘breaks’ and deepen their learning of Brazilian culture using this approach – quite an achievement! 3 - that's the magic numberWhen teaching rhythms we use a three step process:
This process allows learners to internalise the rhythm first, without being put off by instruments being played. We often use just the first two of these steps in our body percussion sessions, and then explore how movement / choreography can be developed, to make the rhythms look as good as they sound! Roles within the 'world' music ensembleEnsemble music making can provide a platform for the development of other, non-music specific skills. The ‘mestre’ and ‘director’ (leaders) of a samba ‘bateria' have to develop communication and leadership skills. Training young people in this area can empower them to take ownership of their learning. Similarly, a ‘surdo’ (bass drum) player may be required to play a pulse-based rhythm which, although simple, is of huge importance to the overall sound of the band, providing a sense of responsibility for the student involved. As well as teaching rhythms from other cultures, a fun and high impact route can be to incorporate participants’ own musical experiences and interests, taking a leaf from the Musical Futures book. At MF Australia’s ‘The Big Gig’ 2018 in Melbourne, some participants expressed a mutual liking for drum’n’bass, which we duly orchestrated into the samba band context! Words and RhythmsOne element that often provokes interest is the linking of music with other curriculum areas. We’ve proudly been working with literacy guru Pie Corbett of Talk4Writing, taking his ingenious storytelling and poetry methods down a body percussion route – high energy, creative fun for all involved, with astounding results! 'Working with Beat Goes On is an extraordinary experience and I would recommend them to any school. We have used body percussion to let the rhythms and meanings of poems and stories fly. Exploring story/poetry through the arts, deepens imaginative engagement and makes language memorable.’ - Pie Corbett Feedback from all of these approaches is unanimously positive – they cover the full range of learning styles allowing all participants to access material and develop their own ideas in new, creative ways. Find out moreFor more information and free downloadable resources for teaching rhythms inspired by music from around the world, visit www.beatgoeson.co.uk , contact info@beatgoeson.co.uk and follow @BeatGoesOnUK Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others. In this guest blog, Marcel shares some of the ethos and thinking behind his new venture Cool4School, an online Song & Dance and Movement Music library for primary schools.  Marcel Pusey is a composer, bass player and educator. He is the manager of award winning production company, Bassistry Music, providing workshops for both primary and high schools in the UK and Internationally. Marcel is also co-director of O-Music Ltd, creators of educational music app O-Generator. The Origins of Cool4SchoolFor over 18 years my company, Bassistry Music has produced World Music, Rhythm, Song and Dance workshops for schools and we’re really excited to finally launch our website, Cool4School.org.uk (C4S). It’s been a long time coming! My musical journey into music workshops began from writing music for my band, Bassistry, and for a number of years, touring with an African group. Then one day my old bass teacher suggested, alongside composing, why not develop and produce programmes for education and take my incredible musicians ‘back to the classroom’. I started by designing a workshop exploring World Rhythms & Music. I composed songs in different genres and took the workshops into primary schools working directly with children of all ages. They became popular. Since then, establishing and growing the workshops in primary schools has underpinned my music career and my musicians now also play at the highest level, and still lead the workshops alongside their performing careers. Bassistry has evolved in many areas of music so after many years, the right opportunity arose to create a resource that represents our workshop experience. About Cool4SchoolC4S shares a similar philosophy to Musical Futures. I truly believe music should be a part of everyday school life. Having worked at hundreds of schools across the world, I see the benefits of those that have and the loss for those that do not have these opportunities. I believe that our role includes to providing teachers with simple, practical and easy-to-implement resources. On this basis, there were some essential criteria that we decided on when developing C4S. Interactive – Get Kids Moving I wanted to make sure the workshops covered core music principles; tempo, pulse, dynamics, melody, cross and syncopated rhythms as well as, exploring different styles including Caribbean, Latin, African, Pop/Rock. It’s amazing what you can do with a drum kit, bass guitar, your voice and your body and I quickly learnt that using movement and dance was the way to create dynamic, engaging workshops. Embedding interaction from the outset has always been a guiding principle and one that anyone can adopt! Simple movement can help kids remember words as well as feel and interpret the music. Oh, and it looks great! If you watch African or Maori singers, there is usually some form of movement and it’s a beautiful thing to watch. Quality and Sound of the Music The opportunity to develop C4S emerged whilst working with a UK company called, Delicious Digital (Delimusic) who produce music for television, radio and film. They also have a recording label, and were looking to put out my next album. One of the things that came up in our discussions was on the quality of music in education. In fact, reflecting on the experience of my own kids, I was aware the music (even at primary school) that they listened to in their own time, was vastly different to what they listened to, or associated with school. We watched clips from Sesame Street and the Muppet Show as part of our research and the quality of some of the music is incredible. So we made a commitment to strive to produce music for schools with the same production values as we use for TV and recording albums. We would keep real instruments, top players and an authentic interpretation of styles at the forefront of anything we developed. Keep it Simple I loved the simplicity of the platform Delimusic music library worked on. So, we adapted the platform used by production companies from around the world to access their library for teachers to be able to access and use in the classroom as well. Less is more Rather than having a huge bank of songs, we decided each song would come with audio and also with a video of movement ideas or broken down dance choreography. Each song we have included has been popular in our workshops so we know that they work. How to use Cool4School in a workshop or lessonWhat is the song about? I like the kids to appreciate what the song is about, or what it is trying to say, so I start with a brief overview. Then, I like to play them the core musical ideas from the song. Kids are amazing at picking up on basic catchy melodies and they listen even more intently when they have some basic understanding of what a song is about. We try to make sure the melody in each verse is the same which makes it easier for them to remember and memorise the words. Break it down The next step is to break it down. Usually, I start with a chorus but sometimes I will just go from the top depending on the song. By breaking it down, you can concentrate on the melodic shape, and rhythm. My approach is to get them to listen first to the track with vocals. Then I get them to sing it back with the vocals, and then without. Then go from there, building on how the group responds and what works best for them. Once the main melody is learnt it’s easier just to run the verses. C4S has the facility to break songs down embedded within the platform. You can select to play sections of the song and select from different mixes such as an instrumental verse, with or without vocals and a dance section depending on what you need. Learn some moves Next I like to look at moves that could support the music. If there is little time, I do the moves at the same time as learning the melody and although each song comes with suggested moves it can be great to encourage the students to suggest moves. Using C4S, you can watch the videos after learning the song to get them up and moving! It makes singing so much fun, especially for kids who can’t sit still! Early Years The early years is all about getting into your ‘inner child’. Fuel the imagination, get kids acting and singing. We decided to make sure the videos can be just followed as a classroom activity, or used for performances. We wanted early years teachers to be able to enjoy music as a classroom activity. Music can be sounds, and not just singing and providing broad themes for the songs such as Pirates, The Magic of Books, Friendship and many more, allows for links to be made across the curriculum. Where is it going? We intend each year to add more tunes from the Bassistry song bank spanning different subjects, and different musical styles. Our goal is to provide new material for music coordinators and practitioners and to provide a comprehensive resource you can take back to your school and introduce to non-specialist teachers. And finally...Why Cool?
You’ve got to be careful using the word ‘cool’ when it comes to music with kids sometimes. But if it sounds good, feels good, looks good, and makes you smile, then that really is cool!  Michael Newton is Music Coordinator at St George's Anglican Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia. One of our Musical Futures International Champions, Michael was also part of our 2017 Study Tour to the USA and you can read his write up of the trip here Beyond the Play AlongJust Play is a fantastic resource. It does everything it says on the packet, and then some. As music teachers, we can use play alongs to go far beyond just playing through the charts. Once we’ve played the piece there’s a whole load of detail we can dive into with our students, and because they’ve experienced the song and know the song practically through playing it, it should hopefully make more sense with stronger connections. Because music is fundamentally something people do, learning theory on paper like I was taught without a strong connection to playing is about as useful as a handbrake on a canoe. The key is closely connecting the theoretical concepts we can pull out of the Just Play pieces to the actual just playing. So, let’s take a quick look under the hood at some of things we can delve into once we’ve played through the play along. Key/Tonal CentreThis is usually our starting point in class. Before we play through the song the class is asked to listen out for the chord that sounds like the tonal centre of the piece. After we’ve played through the whole song, we trial the chord progression as a whole class, ending on the different chords in the progression. This explicitly connects the sense of ‘home’ to what we’re playing and hearing. Once we’ve identified the key, we can look at the note patterns of major/minor scales and the notes in the scale we’re working with. This links nicely to harmonic concepts and chord progressions. HarmonyThe chord diagrams on the chart obviously show us which notes to play, but where did those notes come from? How and why do we know Bm chord needs an F#? What happens if we stuff up our key signature and play the Bm chord without an F#? How does that change the song? Once you try playing the song with Bø instead of Bm it becomes very obvious very quickly for students how important the key signature is. We can also look at the structure of chords and intervals - why some chords are major, and some are minor, or even why Bø sounds munted. We can also listen for chords that perform more important functions - primary I/IV/V - and which ones are secondary - ii/iii/vi/vii (why do we so rarely hear a vii chord in a song?). This can kick off a discussion about which chord combinations create a movement towards or away from ‘home’ – cadences. Melodic Shape and PatternsStudents sometimes struggle to pick the shape of a melody. Asking them to trace the shape in the air or on paper helps. Once we have the basic outline of our Just Play melody, we can talk about whether it moves by step or leap. We can also look at the phrasing (what cadences are used at the end of the phrase?), and whether we have any question and answer phrases. Another good thing to try to pick out is the shape of any riffs in the piece. If a play-along has a strong riff and I have students on traditional instruments in class, (eg: clarinet, flute, violin), I ask them to try to figure out the riff and play along with that. Likewise, vocal melodies. Time SignaturesMost popular music is in 4/4, but there are well-known pieces in other time-signatures. 12/8 makes a lot more sense when you play ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ (INXS). Incorporating Traditional InstrumentsJust Play is charted for guitar, ukulele, keys, bass, and voice, but there’s no reason why other instruments can’t play-along too. Our students bring their violins, flutes, clarinets, trombones, trumpets, cellos, and saxes into class and join all the play-alongs. Their starting point is to just play the root of each chord, then as they get comfortable branch out and try some different notes or try different rhythmic patterns on the tonic. Initially they can get hung up on the right thing to play, but we’re very clear that there’s no right or wrong. If it sounds good, play it again. If it doesn’t, try something else on the next loop of the chord progression. This can progress to copying riffs, vocal melodies, backing vocals, or improvising totally new riffs to the song. We have a transposition chart for Bb and Eb instruments that students use to help with transposing from concert pitch to their instrument – you can access it here (they keyboard diagram is to help visualise enharmonic notes). Lead SheetsMy older more advanced students still love the play-alongs and regularly request them. For one of our Vocational Education and Training units in Year 11 and 12 they have to create a lead-sheet, and the play alongs are a great place to start! Going beyond the Play AlongWith the new MF Styles resources we’re taking the opportunity to look at some basic rhythmic notation. Once we’ve played through the piece on percussion, we have a quick discussion about how you’d get a drummer to play that part. Giving them the rhythm grid and expecting them to figure it out won’t really cut, so we reverse Steve’s ‘Styles’ process, starting with which percussion parts match which part of the drum-kit. From there we notate each line, superimposed on the Styles rhythm grid, play through it, then remove the rhythm chart and play-along following the notation on its own, swapping parts.
I’m a bit of a nerd so I quite like music theory but the majority of my students don’t share the love, so we don’t over-do it or try to get through all of the above in a lesson. Rather we dip in and out of it, moving on to more complicated concepts as they get their heads around the basics. However, we always start by playing the song, and work through the theory as practically as we can, and always related back to playing the song. Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others. Nyah District PS is a primary school with approximately sixty students, from foundation to year six divided, into three classes. There are three full time teachers, two part time and a Principal as well as two teacher support officers. I work there as a volunteer having worked at the school for eight years as part of a Shared Music Teacher Cluster until I retired at the end of 2016. In 2017, the school did not offer a music program. At the beginning of 2018, I volunteered to take classes in Music: each class to have an hour session each week. The Principal accepted my offer. I did however, as part of the agreement, ask that the school have teachers trained to, at some time in the future, to take over the program. My aim was to get the staff members to develop their instrumental skills to a point where they can begin to take over or at least follow up what I am doing with their classes. About our training programIn 2018 we had an introductory session of one and a half hours which encompassed an introduction to ukulele as well as chair drumming and using boomwackers. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we couldn’t organise any follow up sessions during the rest of the year. In 2019 we planned three sessions. Two of the full time staff involved were new so we decided to run a similar first session to the previous one with ukuleles forming the basis of the session. The school purchased ukuleles for each participant. Our content was based on the Musical Futures Australia workshops program which I attended as a teacher. I decided to organise the sessions as follows: Session 1
Session 2
b) Tricks and Tweaks c) Basic Chords / strumming
b) Using what equipment that is available
Session 3
Participant FeedbackI was pleased with the feedback which I feel demonstrates the strength of in-school peer to peer training for non-specialist primary teachers and the transferability of the Musical Futures International approaches and resources "Thank you for running the Musical Futures PD with staff. My feedback on the sessions you have conducted is extremely positive. The staff appeared to enjoy the sessions and it was a great way for us to improve our Professional Learning in a supportive way, through music. Staff enjoyed the opportunity to learn some of what their children are doing with you in class. It was aimed at our point of need and each sessions built well on the skills and knowledge we had gained. The range of instruments we got to use was extensive and you catered for all of us with our different abilities. We had a lot of fun, there were plenty of smiles and the collegiality and collaboration you fostered was a benefit to all staff. Thanks again for the sessions and the skills we gained." "Thanks, Dennis, for a great PD! I looked forward to, and really enjoyed each session. So nice to do something different and take our minds off other aspects of schooling. Also could you please email me those two junior songs you showed us yesterday. I want to play them for my kids at home while my C, G and F chords are still fresh in my mind! " "Great to have a PD in something other than Literacy/Numeracy which I could use in the classroom" "Enjoyed all of the sessions and really keen to practise with my ukulele" "Thank you for taking us through Musical Futures. For someone like myself who does not have a background in music, I found it to be very engaging and fun for everyone involved. It has been a great time learning and laughing throughout the program" "Dennis music PD sessions suited my needs and allowed me to be:
I am looking forward to seeing how the teachers use some of the musical ideas with their classes in the next few months!   Since November 2016, Musical Futures International have been working with teachers in International Schools across the world and we always make sure we include social time for people to get to know each other and share their stories of what brought them to their current schools.
In this article for Primary Music Magazine, our Head of Training and Development Anna Gower asks 4 international school teachers about what inspired them to work overseas. Click to read more... Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others.
It’s the end of May, and I’m not sure whether to regard this time period as the beginning, end or continuation of a journey. I’m planning to submit my PhD thesis next week – which sought to explore perceptions of the informal learning branch of Musical Futures (ILMF) in the UK.
I feel that the end is in sight, as this printed, bounded mountain of paper reflects three years’ worth of enjoyment and hard work which has absolutely tested my resilience on many occasions – it has also facilitated the opportunity to meet many inspiring music education professionals and students along the way. On the other hand, I feel that I’m about to begin a new journey in music education in attempt to fulfil my increased appetite for knowledge beyond my PhD thesis (I’ve gradually realised that the more you learn, the more you realise that there is so much more to learn. This is not my proposed original contribution to knowledge!). My PhD journey has been a powerful one. It has prompted deep reflection of my own school music experiences – as a student myself, key memories include learning to play ‘jingle bells’ on the keyboard (in the summer) and learning by rote an analysis of a Mozart concerto. On top of this, my parents had paid for me to have private flute lessons (which I will always be grateful for) and I had worked my way through traditional instrumental examinations. I had not noticed the obvious divide between in- and out-of-school music at the time, and the possible alienation of many of my peers for a variety of reasons. After studying music at University and completing a PGCE course, I began to teach music in a ‘challenging’ secondary school. This was a challenge indeed for the traditional, classical musician I had been trained to be. I was torn between my own values as a musician at the time – of being able to read traditional notation and having a strong grounding in music theory – and the interests and expertise of my students which were different to my own – and ones I lacked confidence in as a Newly Qualified Teacher. At first, I panicked and went down the ‘behaviour management route’. Then I had a lightbulb moment – if the students were motivated, perhaps I wouldn’t need to focus so much on ‘managing behaviour’. Herein lay my MA research – coming to the realisation that a better way to start improving the music education within my own classroom would be to motivate students by drawing upon and valuing their own areas of interest and expertise. This realisation I had experienced led me to the work of Professor Lucy Green and Musical Futures on informal learning – an approach which had the potential to increase the motivational levels of students experiencing it. Yet the existing literature had raised some tensions and issues relating to the approach, and I felt that there were still many unanswered questions and in-depth knowledge lacking about ILMF. To contribute towards filling this gap in knowledge, I sought to explore how ILMF was understood by key figures associated with Musical Futures UK, and understood, implemented and experienced by secondary school music teachers and their students in England. I also wanted to explore whether the understanding, implementation and experience of the phenomenon had evolved since Green’s initial research and the implementation of the Musical Futures pilot studies – fifteen years ago. I therefore conducted my PhD study to see if I could obtain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Methods included semi-structured interviews with key figures, and the conduction of case studies in four secondary schools. Four key themes were identified as an outcome of the study:
Within my thesis, I have divided the implications of these findings into possible aspects for sustainability, and aspects which could lead to the potential demise of the approach (for those interested, I’m hoping that my thesis will be available on the Edge Hill University repository very soon!). I believe that the positive aspects for sustainability can be built upon, and the potential issues for demise should be considered and addressed. I also hope that my findings can further highlight the strengths of ILMF, which might contribute towards a more balanced advocation of both informal and formal pedagogies and approaches to teaching and learning within the UK and beyond. Although my findings might mark the (near) end of my PhD journey, my curiosity about the complex nature of music education continues and I now have many more unanswered questions than those I had started with. However, I feel that the completion of my thesis does signify one more step along my journey to becoming a more reflective, thoughtful and inquisitive music education researcher, practitioner and musician.  Ken Owen is one of the Directors of Musical Futures International. In this blog post he reflects on delivering workshops for students, teachers and parents as part of The National Music Education Conference in Beijing. This year the conference had the theme 'Happy Learning' and here ken reflects on how the core principles and aims of Musical Futures sits within the context of Music Education in China. Ken will be part of the Musical Futures International delivery team at workshops in Singapore, Taiwan, Manila and across Australia in 2019-20 Happy learning and student choiceThe keynote speeches at The National Music Education Conference in Beijing, May 2019 really resonated with me as I considered how important it is to me as a teacher that learning music can and should be fun. Yet in China we often come up against parental expectations that in order to be valuable, learning should be serious, strict, a good use of the childrens' precious time that is filled with study and homework, something to be striven for. Most of all it should be delivered formally with the transfer of expertise from teacher to pupil and measured by graded music exams and certificates to mark progress, a full set to be collected by the time the demands of homework mean there is no time for instrument practice any more. That's not really my idea, of fun as a musician who started out learning informally later playing in bands as well as engaging with formal music learning, a music degree and career as a teacher. In her conference speech, Betty Heywood, Director of International Affairs for NAMM, demonstrated the power and reach of music in our lives and what we can and must do to encourage it. Professor Zhou Haihong, Doctoral Supervisor of The Central Conservatory of Music told us about the power of positivity, encouragement and an understanding of how student psychology underpins their happiness and behaviours. Professor Leung from the Education University of Hong Kong suggested that student self-reflection and direction is key to sustainable learning. We can give a community fish to eat he said, or teach them to fish. Surely it is better to teach children to lead and learn? We also attended a workshop led by Yin Yue, Senior Teacher of Beijing No. 44 Middle School who shared the work her colleague Mr Huo, she and others are doing bringing informal learning to schools in Beijing. Alongside this, our free and collaborative online course #MFLearn19 is bringing together educators from across the world to explore the principles of informal learning. 15 years on from when Lucy Green's original research pilots took place, we are coming together with the aim of identifying the 'future' in Musical Futures. However the same time, over in the UK, 15 years after Musical Futures first became part of the UK Music Education agenda, the Youth Music Exchanging Notes Year 3 Evaluation Report has caused huge controversy by suggesting that students have some say in the music they study. A large part of what is emerging from my reflections on the work Musical Futures International has been doing in China and further afield, is the power of choice in creating a diet of success and enjoyment and how teachers and parents must modify our behaviours to ensure that this is accessible to all students in a rapidly changing world. As Professor Zhou Haihong told us, we all like to make choices about what we do. Choice brings freedom, freedom brings motivation. Motivation encourages success, success results in pride and self confidence. Music Education is the future of music and youth. Success comes easier to happier learners.  What is the place of Musical Futures International in China?So what of our work with Musical Futures International in China? The Musical Futures approach involves informal learning. This is self-directed learning where students make decisions about what, when and how they learn. Everyone likes to make their own decisions. Your days are happier when you do. Yet, music method books, curriculum and courses if followed in order can take away all student choice. These are perfect choices for a lazy teacher or certificate-collecting parent. But music offers an opportunity for expression and the development of a personal identity. Truly musical performance comes from personal input and intimate association with the music. The world is now in the pockets of all students and curriculum and assessments change too slowly to keep pace with cultural change. But this doesn't mean throw out the old, rather add in the richness of student participation and increased engagement with their chosen direction to keep music relevant and engaging for all students.  Keeping the 'future' in Musical FuturesWhat does all this say about the Musical Futures methodology and how we teach and learn music? Can we get students playing music quicker through aural learning? Can we get them more excited about learning to play if they choose their own music? Can we keep them playing for longer if they have the chance to play the music they like with their friends? Can we develop their listening skills, sense of timing and 'feel' for the music if they play together? In our workshops we encourage teachers to have a go at:
We ask them to reflect on how they learned and whether they can try anything new in their teaching as a result. We know from their feedback and from the smiles and laughter at our workshops that we are having fun while playing music. And we believe that happy learners of music are lifelong learners of music. So at Musical Futures International we aim to build a continuum of student voice, engagement, relevance and personalisation and to support a transition between teacher led learning in music to students finding their own voice then blending the two. Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others.  UK Conductor Tori Longdon has been involved in establishing and supporting new Music Education Programmes for Shenzhen. Here she and her colleague Ben share their experiences of rolling out the Kodaly-based curriculum that Tori has developed to children in China. @BGutsellMusic, @Tori_Longdon Zoltan Kodaly said that the best way for young people to learn about music is through the folk music of their own country. This was our starting point for developing a new syllabus of music education for the Alpha Choral Courses in Shenzhen. An enormous body of Chinese traditional music uses the pentatonic scale, which makes it the perfect partner for using with the Kodaly method of music education. Just over the border from Hong Kong lies the city of Shenzhen, a Special Economic Zone and tech metropolis, and the home of more than 16 million people. It is here that Alpha Choral Courses, run by Brian Lai and Yan Ge have established a new programme of choral music training for children between the ages of 3 and 12. The programme has been set up with the aim of providing consistent music education of a high quality throughout from a very young age. There is a particular emphasis on developing listening and improvising skills, to enhance the existing approach to music teaching which is traditionally notation based and academic. In addition to developing the Kodaly-based curriculum, I oversee the delivery of the weekly courses in Shenzhen, and I am also arranging a series of well respected British Choral Directors to go to the city to give masterclasses. During the summer months, when no classes run, week-long intensive courses are also organised by leading figures in British Choral Music, Ralph Allwood and Simon Toyne. Setting up this new curriculum and finding the right person to deliver it has been an exciting challenge, but we’re very lucky to have Ben Gutsell and it’s exciting watching how the programme has taken hold over the last four months. Ben moved to Shenzhen in February to begin delivering the programme. Here’s what he has to say about the new organisation: "We are in full flow of our first semester here in Shenzhen, delivering a Kodály-based choral programme to students aged 3 - 12. We believe all children have the ability to sing and have the right to access quality music education. We aim to involve as many students as possible to help them achieve their musical potential and nurture a love of singing. Children are very hard-working in Shenzhen so it is a joy to introduce them to a new, more practical, style of teaching that achieves great results but is also fun! I lead beginners music classes (ALPHA Zero) where we explore the foundations of music unconsciously through simple songs and musical games, and I also teach young choirs (ALPHA Original) using varied repertoire to solidify and develop these foundations into a conscious understanding of musicianship. In May we launched our first Boys' Choir which has generated a lot of interest among the singing community here! Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others.
It’s May already. I’m looking at piles of ‘junk’ and wondering which bits I can sell, which I can dump and which I can’t bear to part with. I never thought I’d be leaving my lovely cottage, bought 3 years ago when times in music education weren’t so bad and my job was great. However, East Sussex County Council decided it would be a good idea to delete a line from their budget which contained ‘teachers pay’. I stepped in as union rep to help to spearhead the campaign to save their jobs. We won! Unfortunately mine was one job which could not be saved and I was made compulsorily redundant. #NotSurprised I felt lucky to go back to my roots as a secondary music teacher and immediately land a job at the wonderful Varndean School in Brighton in a department next to the infamous @varndeangoats (please follow them on Twitter!). It was a shock having been a senior manager in the music service for 11 years but I accepted my lot and got on with it building some amazing relationships with staff, students, goats and a poorly pigeon. But where to go from here? Head of Department was coming up - did I want to do this? I’d loved my previous role advising teachers across my county, writing and delivering CPD courses, arranging conferences and having an impact at a different level. That’s where Tim Costello, Head of Music at The British School Manila, stepped in. ‘You know there’s a job going at my school in Manila?’ looked it up on the map. The Philippines - you’re joking. I can’t leave everything: my house, my friends, my brass band (most important), my family. Then I reflected…. my house will still be there - the British School has a generous housing allowance so I can rent out. My friends are all on Facebook - they’re not going away; my family are mostly dead apart from some lovely cousins in the north and I’m taking the others (husband, child, dog) with me. My brass band is the hardest thing to leave behind. It’s the closest thing to family and the most fun I have every week. When was the last time you laughed out loud? I do it every week - for the best reasons of course #innuendobingo My father-in-law phoned me two days before my interview. Ex-pilot - he knows the world. ‘Well I’d love to have Christmas in the Philippines. You’ll love the people and the food’. That sealed it. That, and the housing allowance; the 13 month salary; the brand new purpose built radically designed NEW performing arts building (I know!); the free flights back every year; they’re finding a job for my husband; the 95% off school fees for my lad; that the lad can study iBacc - a genuinely useful qualification - once he’s done his GCSEs there; the amazing apartment looking over Manila golf course; the 20 minute walk to school and the fact that I already feel part of a community. Most of all, I’m looking forward to having autonomy over my curriculum leading primary music and the ability to properly design one that allows children to progress sensibly from primary to secondary with careful thought about which instrument they WILL play from their earliest years incorporating creativity, pupil-led learning and performance at the highest standard with a colleague in the secondary music department who thinks the same. Don’t get me wrong - I’m the most staunch socialist you’ll meet and I didn’t approve of ‘private schooling’ but I’m reconciling that with the ex-pat community who don’t have much choice. I’m also looking forward to a completely new lease of life in my ‘later’ years which are, in a way, making my life longer. Keep music education on the national agenda while I’m away for me. #ManilaBound #SaveEastSussexMusic @varndeangoats @janehumberstone  Join Musical Futures International in Manila in January 2020!Bookings for our January 2020 workshops at The British School Manila are now open. Meanwhile you can check out the amazing facilities at our host school The British School Manilia and huge thanks to Tim, Jane and the team for inviting us!
Some days are great days and Musical Futures Australia had one of those days at an event held at Doveton College in Melbourne recently. The focus of the day was Hoseah Partsch who returned to the school to perform, inspire and share with Doveton’s current students after a gap of four years. Hoseah was runner up in the 2018 edition of The Voice in Australia and many people will remember his performances and work with his Voice mentor Boy George. Hoseah also happened to be at the school when Doveton College became one of Musical Futures Champion schools and his music education happened only in the classroom where informal learning underpinned the approach. At home he played and sang and learned the music he wanted to play without additional music lessons or formal teaching and Hoseah featured in one or two videos Musical Futures made at the time to promote the approach. Little did we know….. His inspiring visit to his old school showed a fabulous young man making the most of his talent and happily sharing his knowledge and experiences with others. Special thanks to teachers Gene and Malcolm as well as Doveton’s school leaders for helping to bring it altogether.  Our spotlight series explores the musical stories and experiences that first bring people to music and what it is that inspires a lifelong love of music and the drive to share that through teaching music to others. Jason Holmes is a professional DJ and Creative Technology and Music Teacher at Doveton College, Victoria. For the last year he has led on developing workshops and resources for Musical Futures Studio developed in partnership between Musical Futures International and Soundtrap, designed to support creativity and collaboration through cloud-based and accessible music technology . In this article he shares his musical story and some of the experiences he has had with using Musical Futures in his teaching. Tell us your musical storyWhen I was four years old, I used to pretend to play the violin to classical music while my mum would play records. We lived next door to a brilliant piano teacher, so I started getting lessons in violin and piano. I was always terrible at practising, I just wanted to play, not get bogged down with theory. In my teens, I was more attracted to what was cool at the time - so I taught myself to play Nirvana, Metallica and Hendrix on guitar and bass. I learned quickly but was still terrible at practising, the art of slowing things down and learning the rules eluded me. My brother exposed me to Electronic Music and Hip Hop with the likes of Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and Public Enemy. The floodgates were opened and soon after we bought some turntables, with the intent to become famous DJs! The problem was, at that time there was no YouTube, nor the abundance of information available online like there is today, so we had to practice. We made mistakes and we slowly learned from them, but it took a lot of time. This led to collecting equipment for making our own music, and from there recording equipment and software. What do you do in music outside the classroom?I’ve been DJing for more than twenty years now, holding residencies around Melbourne and travelling interstate to perform live shows. For the past 7 years, I’ve performed with Seth Sentry, one of Australia’s most highly regarded names in Hip Hop. We’ve toured extensively internationally and nationally, performing at festivals and sell out shows, most notably appearing on The Jimmy Kimmel Show live to more than 3 million viewers. Producing and remixing Hip Hop and Electronic Music is an ongoing fascination. What do you love about music?Music is a puzzle, music is beautiful maths. Music challenges you to find harmony as well as discord. The process of expression can take you down all sorts of rabbit holes. For me, learning to practice meant learning to accept repetition. With repetition comes a sort of meditation, and I find that meditation in the music I make - which can be satisfying or the most frustrating thing at times. It also fascinates me that you can express an emotion or a message, or perhaps experiment with a scientific idea or concept. It’s very powerful, I’ve discovered an appreciation of science, language and maths I’d never expected through music. How has Musical Futures influenced what you do in the classroom?One important and consistent element of my classroom is that I like to show something that inspires, the students usually in the form of a video or recording, then have every student say something about it. The rule is that you don’t have to like it, but everyone has to say something. This has created the most amazing result and after a few lessons beginning like this, the students fall naturally into a conversation with each other. It encourages them to think critically and be able to communicate ideas, which transfers to their work and collaborations. Using a lot of modern technology in my classes, informal learning is something of a must. When you are creating music with modern tools and software, you can approach it from so many angles, so the idea to do what works for you really is the only way forward. Something that struck me early on with Musical Futures was the concept of “just play,” it reminded me of where I came from as a musician. Even if you are banging a tin can with a stick, the feeling of being involved in the music is so important. That feeling of inclusion is what will lead you to the next stage as a musician. What impact has Musical Futures had for the students you work with?The first time seeing a group of students with virtually zero musical literacy put together a chord progression, then tentatively add a melody and some percussion, slowly piecing it all together until they had written a whole song blew me away. The look on their faces was almost disbelief at what they were hearing, as though someone else must have created it! They had experimented their way through and polished it with the tools available to them. I proudly play that song to teachers in every PD I run. Musical Futures is focussed on maximum engagement with students, which can’t happen unless you have maximum engagement from the people leading the students. I was a musician before I was a teacher, and I find it essential to tap into that passion and share it with the class. Passion for music is always where the best results originate. Jason will be delivering sessions at our forthcoming Big Gig Bangkok in March 2023. Click below for more details. |
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