FEATURE FOCUS: CULTURAL EDUCATION
about the embodiment of music within children. I was amazed at the range in ability across the different schools. Each class presented new learning curves, insights, and challenges. Overall, I had a really enjoyable experience working with such a range of students. The SEND schools had a big personal and emotional impact on me, working in those environments have highlighted the challenges that the children, parents and carers face on a daily basis, and I was pleased to be part of their life, even just for a small moment. Furthermore, I know there were some students who mentioned they are wanting to go away and further explore music, some even said they wanted to start learning the guitar. This is the most important take away for me and proves that the work Cheltenham Festivals is doing within Gloucestershire is making a positive impact on these local communities.
themselves stomping on the spot and passing rhythms round the circle, electing one individual as the leader who would introduce a new rhythm as the rest of the group would clap it back. One mistake I made early on was to introduce the idea of finishing the piece concisely and in a controlled way, the mistake however was putting too much of an emphasis on a ‘finishing move’… One particular group had some fabulous endings to their compositions but having put so much energy into a flourishing show stopping finishing move they had forgotten the entire point of the exercise … it was, however, rather entertaining. The main emphasis of this activity was embodying the difference between a beat and a rhythm. Having practised meditation since my late teenage years the concept of ‘embodiment’ has become more and more important to me. I see it as an opportunity to feel and understand from within rather than be told what to do – it is the difference between a student who goes away and plays the notes on the page and the student who plays the music. Rhythm and beat can be explained through books and definitions but unless you stomp around, dance, and move to a beat what is the point in all these definitions? Cheltenham Festivals has always been a highly inclusive and educational organisation, putting the inclusivity of children at the heart of each festival. In July 2022 I was proud to be a part of the first concert for children with special needs. Alongside this concert, two out of my seven Workshop Schools were special needs schools. The first of these was the first special school I had ever visited. I was not ready for the emotional impact I had walking through that school. I was not emotionally prepared for the reality of a special needs school; a combination of sadness and distress mixed with an overwhelming sense of warmth and love the school environment created. Once I found myself sat in front of the class with my guitar, I began to ground myself and realised that my original plan was not appropriate and so, as I always do, I began to play my guitar. I was happy to find this was met with smiles, applause, and the general sound of enjoyment. I then invited each student to come up one by one and strum the guitar. I was amazed at how consumed they were in this activity. The same happened when I invited two students to come up to play and direct my chord changes. Without realising it this went on for 60 minutes, not only did they love playing the guitar themselves, but they were wonderfully
December 2022
encouraging of their classmates having a go. The workshop was both a tough and wonderful experience, it was emotionally exhausting but seeing the students’ enjoyment of music was worth every second. For any music educators reading this who have not ventured into special needs schools I would highly recommend it. It is a deeply humbling and beautiful experience. When it came to class engagement, one aspect that would always help was whether or not the classroom teacher and TAs would join in with the workshop. Those classes whose teachers would sit in the circle, clap the rhythms, and help the groups with their compositions would see a slightly higher rate of engagement than those classes whose teachers took the opportunity to catch up on their marking. From my perspective when the class saw their teacher’s enthusiasm for music it would help encourage their own enthusiasm. Music can often be a worrying subject to teach for those who do not consider themselves musical, however what I found across those two weeks was the best way to improve your musical delivery is to throw yourself head first into a workshop and allow the music and the children to guide you. Their questions, natural curiosity and enthusiasm helped me to fine tune my answers, think deeper about how they are perceiving music and open up new perspectives on subjects I have studied for many years. Through programmes like this workshop series, Cheltenham Festivals has a wonderful approach of reaching out to schools to improve both the students and teachers musical understanding. My work with mindfulness is often focused on the idea of being present and focused in the task I am doing. Music is a wonderful way to express and practise this. Take clapping a simple repeating rhythm in time to a steady beat, the moment your mind wanders away from the beat you will find yourself lost and out of time with the group. We complain about a lack of attention span in our younger generations but if we want our children to develop longer attention spans, develop minds which can be calm and creative whilst also looking after their mental wellbeing, why are we not investing more time into their musical education? Music can develop so many ‘real-world’ skills that apply to all aspects of our ever-changing life: listening, team work, improved focus and concentration, dedication, confidence, and problem solving, just to name a few…
Those two weeks taught me an awful lot
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My current focus lies with the growth of quietnote. I launched quietnote during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of all of my performance work being cancelled, a story many musicians will be able to relate to. Having had a personal mindfulness practise from the age of 18 I had always seen a strong relationship between mindfulness and music. Seeing people struggling with their mental health and realising that music and mindfulness were my saving grace I asked the question which would come to form the basis of quietnote: What if I could help people understand mindfulness through music? Alongside working with corporate bodies, charities and musicians, quietnote spends a lot of time working within primary education. Mindfulness comes naturally to children just as music does. If we can use a music informed mindfulness practice to give them the skills and tools to look after their mental wellbeing at a young age, we can hope that they will be more equipped to deal with the challenges and problems they will face in a calm, controlled and creative manner.
You can find out more about my work via Instagram @quietnote and at
uwww.quiet-note.com
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