Helping new teachers teach primary music

I shall be working with some just qualified teachers this week who are taking part in a music teaching pilot for general class teachers. Of all the subjects taught at primary school music seems to be the one that there is most anxiety about. There is is hidden assumption that you have to be be musically gifted before you can begin to teach music and that it is best avoided and left to the "specialists". Regular readers of this blog won't be surprised to learn that I think that is total rubbish and that this hands off approach is denying millions of kids the chance to learn.

 Given that this reluctance exists what can we do to support those brave teaching souls who are prepared (despite not being grade 99 piano) to get stuck in? The first place to start is to suss out the teaching staff. If you can't find anyone who teaches music at your school here is some advice

 1. Use Sing up. 

Even if you work at an unenlightened school that think they they have better things to spend their money do not dismay - you can still stream songs. There are nearly 100 videos on youtube and a whole section on the website with tips and advice. If your school does have membership - even better. You can access the teaching notes and lesson ideas that accompany every song.It isn't aimed at specialist teachers - it is designed to support EVERYONE who works with kids what ever their musical history. And if you do come across a piece of jargon that you don't understand be sure to TELL THEM! It is a really fabulous resource.

  Link to Sing Up 


2. Find your nearest Music Hub. 

Hubs are the latest big idea from the government for organising music education. Mainly they are led by local authority music services. These people are desperate to find teachers who want to champion the arts in school.If you know what you want - suggestions for listening projects, feedback on your kids soundscapes, ideas on how to improve the quality of singing these people will WANT to help you.

  Link to list of music hubs


 3. Make friends with your ICT coordinator.

Tell them you want to explore technology and music making. Ask for access to the school iPad and then look shocked when they say they don't have one. They will be so pleased you have sought them out there is a good chance they will give you preferential treatment with computer time and help you to explore music technology. Even the most cheapskate school generally has 2Simple music toolkit which can be used on an IWB. If they do have an ipad there are some fantastic apps to use to teach music see my earlier post. Top 3 iPad apps


4. Teaching Music UK
 This website may be more detailed than you want but it is jammed full of ideas.I t is really worth registering so you can ask questions on their forum - a very nice person moderates it and will ensure your question is answered. I'm not suggesting he will plan all your music lessons for you but it is a fair bet you will get some brilliant advice and ideas.

  Link to Teaching Music 

5.Twitter There is a brilliant worldwide teacher community on twitter. Follow some music teachers and get a look at the resources they are sharing. I am on as @JackieSchneider and can point you to lots of music teachers


 Here is a presentation I gave at a recent staff meeting to get you going

Teaching primary music as a non specialist

View more PowerPoint from Jackie Schneider

FINALLY: Don't give up! How ever badly you think it is going what ever you provide will be better than nothing. A calm piece of music to defuse the latest playground scrap - a shared song to bond over - a whole class screeching We are the champions at the tops of their voices, powerful drumming rhythms stamped out and played on the desks - all of these experiences make us more human and are to be celebrated.

My presentation on Music and ICT

Music and ICT SWLSEP ict

View more presentations from Jackie Schneider

This is a presentation I gave on Monday this week.

Fun mje alafiah

This is a lovely welcome song. It is from Nigeria and sung in the Yoruba language. It means welcome and blessings. It was taught to me at a Sing Up training day. It is easy and quick to learn and sounds great sung in canon. Listen to the clip below and you will pick it up quickly!
It is one of those wonderful songs that looks deceptively simple but you
do so much with.


Have a listen to us being taught this song

listen to ‘Fun mje’ on Audioboo

Why not get the djembes out?

Ofsted report on music

I am not a fan of Ofsted but I do think that this is a great report on music teaching in schools. I think the slides below are well worth a look though be warned it is a LONG presentation!

Music in schools wider still, and wider

View more documents from Ofsted

Making music with technology

Primary music in Ireland

 I recently came across this website which details the primary music curriculum. Thought it might be worth a look. Just click on the picture above.

Using ICT in primary music

Last week I used 2Simple music toolkit with each year group in the school. The children were very excited and highly motivated. Year 1 did extremely well and were able to find their way around 2Explore, recording their work and selecting instruments of their choice. Year 2 didn't get much further but yr 3 were able to save files. Year 5 and 6 were able to compose and save simple nursery rhymes. using the pitched chime bar options they were able to record fragments of nursery rhymes which yr 1 are going to listen to next week. 

Year 4 looked at 2compose. They have just spent a term learning recorders so have most knowledge of notation. They were able to compose simple tunes and were just starting to understand how to use repeat signs.

It is early days and I am learning alongside the children. My first instinct is to keep going through the programmes. It will never be a replacement for hands on vocal based music lessons but it is another way to introduce musical concepts (such as pulse, pitch, rhythm etc) to the children.  Music technology was clearly identified by Ofsted as an area of weakness of many school music departments. I think that  using 2Simple music toolkit is an easy and non threatening place to start for many primary schools.

Will report back on next weeks progress.