FEATURE: MUSIC & THE PERFORMING ARTS
Power chords
of ways, and one of the most profound for my profession has been the realisation of how important face to face music lesson are. Every year, SIPS helps over 8,000 students
make music, and we believe the arts do change lives; we see first-hand that children love learning an instrument, singing and participating in music lessons at school. Whether it’s purely for enjoyment, or as a
chosen career path – the well-being and, pardon the pun, harmony that learning an instrument brings can’t be understated. During last year’s lockdowns, SIPS, like many
schools and music services, had to adapt when it came to delivering music tuition – and while pupils engaged well with the pre-recorded offering, you can’t beat face-to-face learning.
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n our second piece this month looking at music and the performing arts, we hear
from Tanya Derham, Music and Arts Service Manager at SIPS Education, who discusses the benefits, challenges and future of teaching music in schools.
I think I speak for thousands of pupils, teachers, and parents when I say how wonderful it is to see (and hear) the return of live music – whether that’s Coldplay in concert or a cornet recital in a primary school. The pandemic has affected our lives in a myriad
During the pandemic: • Our YouTube channel had over 2,000 views from the beginning of lockdown • 1,980 children had individual or small group lessons from our staff • 1,055 children took part in virtual performances • 5,373 children took part in whole class music learning • Over 7,000 instruments are loaned out for no charge as part of our offer to schools Delivering music tuition during the pandemic presented its own challenges and need for
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adaptation; close proximity is desirable, and wind instruments can create ‘aerosol’ emissions, so the SIPS music leadership developed a programme for schools called “Hear it, Feel it, Make it” – whole class instrumental tuition which focused on educational (national curriculum) and emotional (NHS areas of wellbeing) needs. We did the ‘digital thing’ because we had to.
The virtual version is fine if you don’t have delay online, but technically it’s difficult – it’s unlike delivering a maths lesson or chemistry lecture. There’s also the issue of IT deprivation – not every household can necessarily afford Wi-Fi or a laptop, things which many of us take for granted – so being back in the classroom is great news for us as a music service.
Benefits The benefits of learning to play an instrument are well-documented and diverse; not least, it’s ohopefully the beginning of a lifelong love of music, be that performing or simply listening. In his recent Labour Party Conference speech, it
was interesting to hear Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, making a promise that under his leadership, theatre, drama and music would not be allowed to collapse; he fondly remembered music lessons at school – not least because one of his classmates was none other than Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim. To me, that demonstrates the profound effect music can have.
November 2021
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