is Senior Lecturer in Music Education at Canterbury Christ Church University where she is responsible for the 11-18 and 7-14 Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Music courses.
Sounding Off:
‘We don’t have any instrumentalists coming into Year 7’
This is a cry that has gone up from many secondary music teachers over a long period of time. Clearly this statement is not true. Within any Year 7 class there will be at least some pupils who do play an instrument. Some pupils undoubtedly have an instrument at home, possibly belonging to a sibling or other relation and others will have played instruments as part of their primary curriculum entitlement or in formal and informal situations beyond the school. What is new in the last couple of years is that the majority of pupils arriving at secondary school will have had a sustained experience of playing an instrument (or of singing) through whole class instrumental and vocal initiatives.
All secondary school teachers need to be aware of the whole class instrumental and vocal teaching opportunities that are being offered to the majority of pupils at KS2. In the White paper ‘Schools achieving success’ (2001) the government pledged to ensure that ‘over time, all primary pupils who want to will be able to learn a musical instrument’ and this became known as the Wider Opportunities Pledge. Programmes were instigated which were intended to give as many pupils as possible access to specialist instrumental tuition during KS2 for a trial period of a year and in the government’s Guidance on the Music Standards Fund Grant 2008-2011 it is stated that: ‘By 2011 we believe that all primary school pupils who want to can have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument'.
The majority of Year 7 pupils have therefore had a chance to take part in ‘Wider Opportunities’ style programmes. They will have learnt to play an instrument (or to sing) in large groups, whole classes and even whole year groups. Pupils may have learnt to play instruments from a variety of cultures, orchestral instruments or more unusual instruments (such as ukuleles) or may even have made and played junk percussion instruments.
Even more important is that developing technical skills is only one aspect of the musical understanding that pupils will have developed in their whole class learning. Pupils involved in these projects will have developed important strong aural and ensemble skills. Pupils may have learnt to read notation(s) (e.g. stave notation, rhythm grids, tab etc.) and have been involved in a range of other activities (e.g. class singing, improvising, kinaesthetic activity etc.).
It is hugely important that secondary teachers build on their pupils’ prior experience. This can be done within the curriculum and beyond the classroom. Within the classroom it is essential to encourage pupils to bring their own instruments into school to use in their curriculum music-making. There is nothing more depressing than observing pupils struggling to play and compose on electronic keyboards when you find out that they can competently play other instruments! It is also important to remember that pupils will have had opportunities to use their instruments creatively in their whole class learning and that they should be developing rather than starting to do this in Year 7.
Secondary music teachers also need to consider how they can build on pupils’ prior experience beyond the classroom. It is obviously important to find out if pupils might like to continue to learn to play an instrument that they have already had a chance to try. Conversely, some pupils may have the desire to learn a different instrument. Pupil motivation is such an important feature of effective instrumental teaching and learning that it is important not to force a pupil to learn an instrument that they obviously dislike!
There will undoubtedly be some instrumental teachers visiting each secondary school and pupils who have prior experience may be able to learn with them. However, some of these teachers may only offer individual lessons and pupils who had a fully funded ‘Wider Opportunities’ style learning experience may not be willing or able to afford individual lessons. Secondary music teachers might need to consider how group teaching can be continued at KS3. This may be something that can be done in collaboration with visiting instrumental teachers since some of them may have followed the Key Stage 2 Music CPD Programme (www.ks2music.org.uk ).
An alternative is for the secondary music teachers themselves to establish large group instrumental lessons, maybe along the lines of American band programmes. There are many tried and tested resources available which usually have separate pupil books for a variety of instruments which very early on include ensemble pieces which allow all of the different instruments to play together (e.g. Standard of Excellence www.kjos.com).
Another alternative is to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to take part in a range of formal and informal instrumental activities beyond the classroom. This may mean equipping schools with new instruments (e.g. rock band instruments or instruments from around the world such as samba band instruments) and developing an ‘open house’ policy in music departments.
The important message is that pupils can play instruments when they arrive at secondary school and it is part of the secondary teacher’s role to build on what pupils can already do. In the government’s Guidance on the Music Standards Fund Grant 2008-2011 the aspiration is that 50% of pupils will choose to continue to learn a musical instrument after their whole class learning experience.
In relation to initial teacher education it is imperative that student teachers gain an awareness of instrumental teaching and, in particular, whole class instrumental and vocal teaching at Key Stage 2. Student teachers must work beyond the classroom, ideally gaining experience of running and even instigating formal and informal ensembles. Student teachers should be encouraged to liaise with their local music service and to carry out some observations with instrumental teachers. Essentially, student teachers need to develop skills of collaboration!
