Category: Education

  • What’s the worst that can happen?

    I love reading The Onion. It’s ‘news’ never ceases to amuse me however callous and inappropriate it can be at times. A recent item from their site on “Stepping Out Of Comfort Zones” is particularly relevant after my week away with over one hundred pupils at an outdoors activity centre in the Vale of Edale,…

  • WYSIWYG

    It was brilliant that Jo McNally was able to accept my invitation to give a session on choral conducting at the start of this week. It was refreshing to have some reminders of the training the ABCD conducting course had given me several years ago, and to rejuvenate my practice as a director. I particularly…

  • Composing Pedagogy

    Composition features so much in music teaching. We seem to want to respond to everything musical by creating new music. I think it was Berio that said the best critique of a work was to write another so perhaps a learning through doing approach makes sense. What interests me is that all music teachers are…

  • Burning platforms

    Marc Jaffery’s article in the recently returned to print – and rebranded – Music Education UK is timely. It is a worth a read at http://jsavage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/musiceducationuk-issue-1-the-view-from-walesv2.pdf. Marc’s holistic view of the state of play regarding music education in the UK is welcome as this lack of cohesion through an over diversity of professional bodies has…

  • Curating a musical past

    Last autumn I attended an alumni/careers event at a university as a speaker; I was there to chat about my experiences of working in music education. Even now I often avoid writing “teacher” as so much negativity has developed around the “music teacher” role. This was particularly apparent when speaking to music students. Even after…

  • New website

    My website is finally up. I’m pleased with the design, thanks to Rob (Albert Design) but I know I’ll keep nagging with additions. Click here to view the site

  • Petite reprise

    Just as I settle down to my journey on the 91 I reflected on how often I’ve probably been on the 91. Many, many times. Does that somehow diminish the experience? Yes, there remains the notorious Russell Square roadworks that introduced a subtle variation to the journey which was enough to spark renewed interest. Apart…

  • Does harmony fuel the emotional energy of a song?

    As I sit on the 188 reading the recently penned lyrics for “Notice Me” I immediately heard a melody; perhaps this is due to the quality of the lyric rather than the speed at which my creative process works. Nevertheless I started to think how much the harmonic content of a song increases the power…