News

Yamaha Summer 2012 free digital YES magazine

2012-05-23T14:27:50Z

The digital Summer 2012 issue of Yamaha UK's music education magazine, YES, is now available to view free online.

This link will take you to the launch pad for the current YES magazine, YES 14, and the archive library. Click on the issue you'd like to read and open it. When the publication appears on screen, click on the curled page corners to navigate forwards or back. Move your cursor across the screen to highlight extenal links and videos, all of which are designed to inform the reading experience and provide direct and immediate links to further information on a subject.

This issue has a contemporary music focus, including articles on Oldham Music Service's Contemporary Music Group; an interview with Paul Kirkham of the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance; a report from Rt Hon Mike Weatherley MP on his Rock The House programme, whose finals took place in Northampton and at the House of Commons in May; SMA chair Jay Deeble's report on Yamaha Class Band's presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education in Westminster; and some great video for some of the articles, including one on Northampton College pop-punk band Judy Mooch, videoed during a recording session with Yamaha's THR amp.

With contributions from some of the leading lights and practitioners in music education, YES will be of interest to headteachers, trainee music teachers and music students, private teachers, school music staff and instrumental services, hub partners and musicians will all find something useful in its pages. Please share the link!

Watermill Jazz - Young Composers Award 2012

2012-05-15T08:50:07Z

Watermill Jazz presents 47 phenomenal jazz gigs a year in Dorking, Surrey. Continuing their support for young jazz musicians and composers, they are delighted to be partnering with the National Youth Jazz Collective to present: Watermill Jazz Young Composers Award 2012.

The award consists of 2 cash prizes for wholly original jazz compositions written for Jazz Octet (trumpet, trombone, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, piano, bass and drums).

1^st Prize £500
2^nd Prize £250

Applicants must be 18 years of age or under on the 30^th September 2012.

The judging panel will consist of the National Youth Jazz Collective’s Founder and Artistic Director, Issie Barratt, pianist and composer Nikki Iles and Watermill Jazz Chairman Roger Hind.

Finalists’ entries will be performed on 13^th September 2012 at Watermill Jazz by members of the National Youth Jazz Collective, led by Issie Barratt and Nikki Iles. The winners will be interviewed about their compositions and the evening will conclude with a second performance of the winning entries and presentation of the prizes.

The closing date for entries is 13^th July 2012. Details are available from the Watermill Jazz website www.watermilljazz.co.uk or by emailing youngcomposers@watermilljazz.co.uk.

Watermill Jazz are pleased to acknowledge the support of the Performing Rights Society Foundation and Jazz Services.

‘My Note Games!’ app turns children’s music practice into a game!

2012-05-14T09:59:21Z

A clever new app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod that listens to children as they play their musical instruments is available on the App Store!

‘My Note Games!’ is the first children’s app to use note recognition technology, listening to the notes they play and delivering instant feedback on how well they are doing. The note recognition technology is tuned for a wide range of instruments including the piano, guitar, trumpet and recorder.

You can see it in action here at
http://mynotegames.com

It has been produced by James Everard and Ian Willey who both have children who enjoy playing musical instruments but who also love their Nintendos. This gave them the idea of turning the music stand into a games console.

“We want this to be embraced by music teachers, children and parents as a part of daily practice," says James. "Children sometimes think of sight reading as boring but, as every music teacher knows, it enables them to play confidently with other musicians in bands and orchestras. ‘My Note Games!’ makes practicing sight reading fun."

‘My Note Games!’ comprises four games: 'Hear It, Note It!" is a notation and aural skills game, ‘Tap That Note’ is a touch game that teaches the names of the notes, ‘Play That Note’ teaches you to play the first octave of your instrument in tune and ‘Play-A-Day’ is a daily practice game that asks you to play simple phrases in time as well as in tune.

In addition to the three games ‘My Note Games!’ includes a tuner spanning six octaves.

‘My Note Games!’ is free to download and try, but requires payment for access to the higher levels and more complicated lessons.

‘My Note Games!’ supports piano, guitar, recorder, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon and trumpet. It also offers limited support for violin, viola, cello, voice and even whistling!

"MY NOTE GAMES!" NOMINATED FOR A ‘LEARNING WITHOUT FRONTIERS’ INNOVATION AWARD 2012

Available on iTunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/my-note-games/id470503027

Enquiries: please contact ian@mynotegames.com

ACE announce successful music education hub applications

2012-05-08T17:20:54Z

Arts Council England today announced the nationwide network of 122 music education hubs that will play a key role in ensuring that every child has the opportunity to experience a high quality music education.

The new music education hubs will see a significant shift in the way music education has been delivered to date, both in and out of school. Organisations, including schools, professional music organisations, higher and further education institutions and other Arts Council funded organisations working in a local area will be coming together to create joined up music education provision for children and young people.

The aim of this work is to ensure that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to sing and learn a musical instrument, to progress to the next level, and play with other children as part of an ensemble or choir.

The 122 new hubs will provide significantly improved opportunities for all young people to benefit from high quality musical experiences regardless of where they live.

Music education hubs in practice

Music education hubs were selected following an open application process with published criteria.

Many applicants clearly illustrated how they have realised the vision of the National Plan for Music Education. This includes new approaches to partnership working, and innovative thinking about business models, including plans to work with others to develop, draw together and maximise resources for music education for the benefit of children. You can read some examples of music education hubs in practice on the funding pages of our website.

Some applications were stronger than others and a number of hubs will be asked to develop their plans further in the coming months. The Arts Council will encourage and promote on-going partnership development, and for hubs to raise the bar of aspiration, quality, and progression across all hubs. This will be done in order to make sure the quality of the experience for young people will be high.

Over the next three years Arts Council England expects to see hubs continue to evolve, develop and improve. Hubs will be encouraged to become a network, working together to increase the quality of delivery, the ability to respond to local need and to develop an improved use of digital technology to develop content and delivery. They will also be encouraged to be entrepreneurial and innovative in developing their business models to increase the resources available for the direct delivery of high quality music education.

Developing music education provision

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: 'The Arts Council's goal is to make sure that children and young people have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts, as set out in Achieving great art for everyone.

'After a robust application process we look forward to working with music education hubs to enhance and develop music education provision across the country.'

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: 'All children, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances, should have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and to play and sing with others.

'I welcome the Art Council's announcement of the nationwide network of music hubs. They form an integral part of our national plan for music education. Over the coming years, these hubs will help countless children to discover and develop their musical talent.'

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: 'These hubs will mean young people around the country can access high quality music teaching, itself an important and fulfilling part of learning.'

You can read full quotes from Alan Davey, Nick Gibb and Ed Vaizey in the music hubs press release.

Music education hubs will be in place from August 2012, in order to deliver activity from September 2012. Arts Council England will be holding meetings with all of the music education hub leaders in the next few weeks to build the network of hubs as the hubs develop their plans.

Funding Opportunities

2012-04-16T11:29:05Z

BBC Performing Arts Fund

The BBC Performing Arts Fund is a charity committed to developing new performing arts talent from across the UK. The Fund supports performing arts individuals and community groups through grants, mentoring and advice, and has awarded over £3.8 in grants since 2003.

The Fund has announced its brand new music schemes for 2012 – Community Music and Music Fellowships – through which up to £450,000 worth of grants will be awarded to the sector.

Launching in May, the Community Music scheme will support grassroots music groups from across the UK. Grants awarded will allow groups to carry out training, attract new audiences, encourage new members and raise their profile in their community. Groups can apply for up to £5,000 for a distinct development project. Furthermore, grants of up to £10,000 will be awarded to groups wishing to commission new music.

The Music Fellowships scheme will open for applications in August and is designed to support individuals through the early stages of their music careers; helping to establish themselves in the industry through bespoke placements within existing music organisations. Grants of £10,000 will be awarded to music companies, organisations, venues and agencies in order to host a BBC Performing Arts Fund Music fellow.

The charity is funded through revenue from the voting lines on BBC One entertainment programmes and this year is delighted to announce that the new BBC One entertainment show The Voice will be raising money for the Fund through phone voting lines.

You can find more information about the schemes, as well as other related news, from the blog.

Golsencott Foundation

The Golsoncott Foundation aims to promote, maintain, improve and advance the education of the UK public in the arts generally and, in particular, the fine arts and music.

The Trustees’ overriding concern is to support those projects that demonstrate and deliver excellence in the arts, be it in performance, exhibition, artistic craft, or scholarly endeavour.

Priority is given to applications that focus upon the perfection or promotion of the art in question. Additionally for those applications involving young people the trustees look to a long-lasting connection between them and the art form, one which aims at a significant level of participation and achievement, rather than projects that offer little scope for further involvement.

For more information please visit www.golsoncott.org.uk

Concertina Music Grants for Older People

The registered charity makes grants to charitable bodies which provide musical entertainment and related activities for the elderly. The charity is particular keen to support smaller organisations which might otherwise find it difficult to gain funding. Since its inception in 2004, it has made grants to a wide range of charitable organisations nationwide in England and Wales. These include funds to many care homes for the elderly to provide musical entertainment for their residents.

Some of the charities that have received grants from the charity include Age Concern, Exmouth, which received a grant for entertainments for the elderly in Exmouth and surrounding areas and Sue Ryder Care, Lancashire, to fund access to music therapy workshops at Birchley Hall near Wigan and St Helen’s.

For more information visit the Concertina website

New early years framework published

2012-04-02T16:19:51Z

An announcement on the new EYFS framework to support children's learning and development.

The early learning goals are reduced from 69 to 17.

To view article, visit the Department for Education website

Statement from MMA

2012-03-26T13:44:03Z

The independent sector is ready and willing to work with the state sector. As music hubs develop, there will be scope for partnerships between these hubs and the independent sector, in the shape of joint projects and other forms of collaboration. A good number of Independent Schools are already active in offering provision for pupils in the State sector to participate in music making in their schools.

Professional Development Workshops for facilitators of musical activities for older people

2012-03-26T10:28:02Z

(FREE OF CHARGE - including lunch and materials)

There is now strong evidence that community musicians play an important role in supporting our ageing population. Recent research, funded by the UK Research Councils’ New Dynamics of Ageing programme, confirmed this: active engagement in music supports wellbeing amongst older people. The Music for Life Project reported that older people who participated in community music activities felt that they had greater control over their lives, had more pleasure and felt more cared for than those who did not have access to musical activities.

The evidence from the Music for Life Project was so compelling that the research team has received follow-on funding for the development of freely available Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops and resources to support community musicians who work with older people.

One-day workshops for musicians who are interested in facilitating musical activities with older people will take place around England, between May and July (for dates see flyer). Participants in these workshops will:

a.. Share experiences and ideas for best practice;
b.. Reflect on video examples of a wide range of musical groups for older people;
c.. Develop an awareness of different types of facilitator style;
d.. Increase understanding of motivation issues;
e.. Gain new ideas about how to approach specific issues such as setting up new groups, choosing fun yet challenging material, introducing new material, warming up, preparing for performance;
f.. Become familiar with the most recent evidence about the potential benefits for older people;
g.. Develop skills in planning sessions that maximise those benefits;
h.. Consider issues that are specific to working with older people;
i.. Find out about progression routes for further training.

The workshops (10.00 – 4.00) will be free of charge, and will include lunch and all materials.

The workshops will be led by:

Andrea Creech, an experienced professional musician, educator and internationally recognised researcher in psychology of music. Following a career as an orchestral musician Andrea was director of a Community Music School in the Republic of Ireland, developing programmes for learners of all ages. For several years she has been a leader in delivering training for Conservatoire teachers. She has research expertise in interpersonal dynamics, motivation, and how older people engage in learning.

Susan Hallam pursued careers as both a professional musician and a music educator before becoming an academic in 1991. Her research interests include issues relating to learning in music, practising, performing, musical ability, musical understanding and the effects of music on behaviour and studying. She is the author of several books including Instrumental Teaching: A Practical Guide to Better Teaching and Learning (1998), The Power of Music (2001), Music Psychology in Education (2005), editor of The Oxford Handbook of Psychology of Music (2009), and has written over one hundred other scholarly contributions.

Maria Varvarigou has been performing as a solo singer, oboist and chorister for many years. She has participated in several recordings of Greek traditional songs and she has developed great interest in performance practices of traditional music. She is currently working as a researcher in various funded research projects in the area of music education. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Early booking is essential, as space is limited to 15 participants per workshop.

To book, please contact Maria Varvarigou: m.varvarigou@ioe.ac.uk.

MEC press release on National Plan for Music Education Monitoring Board

2012-03-22T16:41:46Z

To read the full press release, click here

MEC response to Ofsted report on music teaching

2012-03-22T16:40:22Z

To read the full press release, click here