Dear Parents/Adult Co-Learners,
First of all I’d like to say a massive thank you for choosing Songbird Music Space for you/your child and your commitment in bringing them or yourself every week. I love spending time with you/ them!
You may have noticed that the way I teach has changed a lot over the past year or so and I wanted to explain that to you.
Our Big Change
Remember we changed our name back in November 2022? Initially this was because it just didn’t fit anymore, but it seems to have become a massive catalyst for change in so many ways!
I come from a classical background and studied music at King's College London and the Royal College of Music. My education was very formal and stuck to the physical page. Over the years I’ve been teaching more and more improvisation alongside teaching pieces from method books and it has become increasingly clear that for the vast majority of people I work with, the improv session is the bit they enjoy most. I had a bit of an ‘ah ha’ moment when a kid came to session and said, ‘I haven’t practised at all, but I was playing all week!’ What did she mean? She meant she wasn’t playing from her method book, but she was improvising and creating music for herself. It was doing her so much good and giving her so much joy!
This really tripped something in my brain and I spent a lot of time working out ways that I could teach music through improvisation. I wrote an online course and put together lots of lesson plans. Then I discovered Music Learning Theory (https://giml.org/mlt/about/ if you're interested!). It's based on the idea that we learn music in much the same way that we learn our first language. First we listen and absorb lots. Then we start to imitate, then babble, then the odd word and finally we put together sentences that have meaning. This process is the same for music. If we straight away put a sheet of music in front of a child, or adult for that matter, who has no understanding of the language of music, it’s like asking them to read before they can even speak! It makes no sense. But this is the way the vast majority of us learn music. Personally, I really believe that this puts lots of barriers in the way of music learning. Getting stuck to a page too quickly stunts playing with any kind of flow, musicality or understanding. And it adds so many layers which are totally unnecessary at the start of a person’s music-learning journey. There is SO much to learn before we start looking at notes on a page. Music isn't a sheet of paper. It's sound with meaning and emotion attached!
So our sessions look very different these days. We’re not using method books. We have little Play Books where we draw the piece we’re working on… drawing opens up the creativity in our brains. We do lots of movement to learn about flow in music. We chant rhythms. We sing so we absorb melodies before we see them written down. We create music ourselves from these rhythms and melodies so we have a real understanding of how they work. Yes, these sessions are really fun and interactive. But they are also really getting to the heart of how music actually works. I so wish I had learnt music this way! It is so rich and is producing such beautiful, flowy music and musicians!
While my focus is very much on using music to promote wellbeing and help us express ourselves, I want to assure you that this way of working is no less musically rigorous! It’s actually covering so much more ground than is covered by so many method books. You may feel, if your child had already been reading music, that they’ve taken a step back by working this way. But we’ve actually taken a step back to broaden out rather than dumb down. We’re strengthening the foundations before we return to reading.
Did you know, kid’s brains don’t start thinking in the abstract until around the age 11? Written music is an extremely abstract concept. So, depending on the child, I would generally start very gently introducing written music at around the age 9 (looking at and drawing note shapes) and not reading fully until age 11. And even then, reading music isn’t necessary at all to being able to play and just isn’t right for some children. That’s a discussion we can have when the time comes.
What about practise?
The first thing to say is I absolutely don't insist on practise. I really believe, and have witnessed many times, that insisting on practise will only discourage your child from enjoying playing. If they want to play, they will! So the videos I send every week are there for if and when your child chooses to have a play.
The videos just part of what we have been working on in the session. Before we play the piece we move to its flow, chant the rhythm, sing the tonal patterns, explore how it looks on the piano, and then start to learn how to play it. After we’ve played it, we always make our own version. So when they’re at home, your child can play the piece in the video and have a go creating their own version. The rhythm patterns and tonal patterns I send can be sung and chanted and then played with on the piano. As much creating as possible!
What about exams?
I'm personally not a massive fan of music exams. They can so easily remove progress in other areas of music learning as all the focus has to be on learning 3 pieces of music and scales for months on end. As well as this, the idea of someone else judging your musicality and personal style is a bit odd to me!
However if you want to go for a career in classical music then exams are still necessary and we can talk about then if and when the time comes.
This is a big change for us and also for you/your child. It’s been so beautiful to see the way everyone is blossoming and growing with this approach. But it’s very different to traditional methods and I appreciate you may have questions so please do ask away. I love talking about this stuff!
Thanks so much for reading!