Learning an instrument isn’t all about written notes. Samantha Laurie hears a different tune
Picture the scene. You’re six years old and you’ve just seen Ed Sheeran on YouTube performing Lego House. You want to learn to do what he does, but when you sign up for guitar lessons, you find the teacher isn’t interested in playing Ed Sheeran songs, but in teaching you this strange music alphabet.
Slowly, ever so slowly, you learn to play what the dots are telling you. Most of it sounds more like Twinkle Twinkle than Ed Sheeran. The idea of playing a cool song on stage is starting to seem like a distant dream. Quite soon everyone is nagging you to practise and you begin to wish you’d never asked for lessons in the first place.
Has music education lost its way? One third of children who take up an instrument at primary school give up whilst they are still there. A further 52% of girls and 65% of boys quit when they get to secondary school. Traditional teaching is clearly not fostering a lifelong passion for playing – and Mark Robinson is one man who believes he knows why.
“If you were learning music in the 1800s you had to read music,” he says. “When Beethoven wanted to get his music out there, he had to write it down in order for people to play it. The process was read, play and then hear. But audio recordings have changed the way we access and create music. Many of our most important musicians learned to play by ear. Today it makes more sense to hear, play and then interpret it on paper if that’s relevant to you.”
Music, believes Robinson, should be learned the same way as other life skills.
“We don’t insist that toddlers know the alphabet before they start talking. We don’t say to budding footballers: ‘Go away and practise on your own for
40 minutes.’ Yet when it comes to music, we somehow think that learning by ear is a gift for just a few special people.”
Robinson is the founder of a Godalming-based music school bringing a pioneering approach to more than 150 primary schools in Surrey and the South-East. Rocksteady Music runs rock band sessions in school hours for up to eight students at a time. Kids sign up for one of the roles – two drummers, three guitarists, two keyboard players and two singers – and for the next 12 weeks work together on a song that they know and love. They come together just once a week for half an hour and, at the end of term, perform live for parents and friends.
Mark Robinson
Over 5,000 children aged from 4-11 now take part in Rocksteady music sessions, at a cost to parents of £30 a month. Not only is it fun, but the shared experience has a positive effect on confidence, teamwork and listening skills. Retention is high – 96% of pupils continue the following term – and long waiting lists attest to the scheme’s popularity.
More impressive still is the impact of this teaching method on all-round academic performance. Research at four participating schools shows that those taking part boost their academic progress by 10-15% – even in subjects that they miss to attend the half hour rock session.
“It’s all about motivation,” says Robinson. “We get them in a good state for learning by ticking the boxes that motivate them. Music is an awesome cultural ‘thing’ first, an academic study second – and kids want to be part of that culturally awesome thing. They want to play their favourite songs, be in a band and perform in concert. If they experience that buzz from the minute they pick up an instrument, you’ve found your way in.”
Tips for encouraging your child to play (don’t use the word practise) at home…
ς Play a concert for me
Get them to stand on their bed (the stage!), crowd into their room, dim the lights and cheer like you mean it.
ς Teach me how to play that
When they teach someone else, they become clearer about what they know. Turn it into a regular event, especially on the day of their lessons.
ς Let’s have a jam
Get out the pots and pans, old keyboards, download an instrumental app on your phone and try things out together. Keep a steady rhythm, encourage listening to each other and ask your child for suggestions as you go.
ς Do you reckon you could …?
If your child comes home having learned a C, A, G and F, ask if they can play them in a different order. Could they play each of them 4 times, 8 times, 40 times? Could they write their own song? If they come home with a drumbeat, could they play it faster? Could they play it for two minutes without stopping if you timed them?
ς How does that work?
Whether it’s outlining how a verse and chorus go together, or showing you how they co-ordinate their limbs or line up their fingers for the next note, explaining ‘how’ helps them unlock what they know.
Mark Robinson’s book Learning to Play The Rocksteady Way is available from amazon.co.uk ; for more information see rocksteadybook.uk
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