Buying a new musical instrument can be a daunting and expensive experience if you have never played one before. Your child comes home from school one day with the dreaded words “I want to learn the saxophone !” Do you : go to a music shop and buy whichever is recommended by the sales person […]
lifelong learning
When you embark on learning a musical instrument its certainly a good idea to set yourself small achievable goals to get you on your way : putting the instrument together correctly holding it correctly playing 3 or 4 notes with a consistent tone being able to read, understand and remember 3 or 4 notes from […]
No short cuts
If you are new to learning a musical instrument then welcome to a new, exciting and very frustrating world ! The world that we live in now has certainly changed a lot since the days that I was a beginner learning my first instrument (a long time ago!). We are now conditioned to more or […]
AIPS
Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme The Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme enables pupils at LEA schools to purchase instruments without paying VAT. How does AIPS work? Once the parent/pupil has chosen an instrument, the school should place a formal order as normal. The parent then pays the ex-VAT price to the school (usually when the school places […]
work that brain !
Research indicates the brain of a musician, even a young one, works differently than that of a nonmusician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more […]
Teaching music
Deciding to become a music educator was at first a daunting decision, with the big “how the hell do I teach children” question. As it turns out it was the best decision I made. It truly is the most rewarding feeling to see someone who at first doesn’t know which end of a clarinet goes […]