Do I mean what you mean by this word? Does the Department for Education mean what parents mean? Do pupils mean the same thing? And what about exam boards? It is being written into to curricula and schemes of work, so it would be helpful if we all had some shared view.

I’ve been in music education for a long time. When I was in school the idea that I should exercise any individual creative input into what I learnt would have seemed very odd. No – I learnt my scales, was told by instrumental teachers how to play pieces (mostly composed by long dead Germans), and harmonised Bach chorales in as accurate a pastiche as possible. Success was measured in reproducing, accurately, the musical thoughts of others. I was trained, not educated. O level and A level, ABRSM grades, membership of youth ensembles, attendance at a junior conservatoire – all these were successes, and I enjoyed them all. But did I get to use any degree of creativity in any of them? Barely, if at all. This was a thorough and effective training in a range of skills.

Not that there is anything wrong with training, per se. It’s been done like this for many years, and has produced a small number of highly skilled, often professional, musicians. But this model isn’t for every learner, and the number of children who never engage, or fall by the wayside, is enormous. And this style of tuition was very narrow – teaching in the teacher’s image. In my own experience, it was strictly classical. My secondary school – an ordinary comprehensive serving a small Welsh town – had no amplifiers or microphones, and only acquired a drum kit as I was about to leave. Tuition was the traditional ‘brass, woodwind and strings’. A decent school orchestra, and a good school choir (made up, in part, of the same people). Maybe fifty active musicians in a school of over a thousand.

As a young teacher, I was determined to change things. John Paynter and his followers were major influences on my teacher training, and I was absolutely convinced by the liberating influence of composition on the curriculum. (This was long before the days of a National Curriculum.) I had studied composition at university, and was completely persuaded that this was a key to unlocking the musician within every learner. Arriving in a Yorkshire secondary school still working in the traditional way was a shock to the system: to survive I quickly needed to revert to a ‘training’ based system.

A colleague told me that he’d enjoyed a recent training day (provided, I stress, by a music hub other than mine!). What did you do? I asked. Oh, just the usual clapping in circles.

This ‘clapping in circles’ burst upon the consciousness of music educators sometime in the 1980s, along with training days (‘Baker Days’) to do it. It became a little industry, and was liberating indeed for those still stuck in the ‘training’ mindset. A common outcome I saw was the idea of a ‘creative warmup’ in instrumental lessons. A step forward, certainly, but the lesson content following the warmup was back to the ‘training’.

A plug now for the ’Common Approach’. This document, dating from 2002, was produced by the Federation of Music Services as a shared framework for instrumental learning, and in response to the National Curriculum for Music. It now gathers dust on a lot of shelves in many music service and hub offices. But it changed a lot. Especially, in this context, the idea that ‘interpretation’ is a truly creative process – as creative as improvisation and composition. This, for me, was a revelation. I’m sure that as a musician I had been making creative, interpretative choices whenever I played or sang, but this public declaration changed my vision, and my teaching.

This forms a potential bridge between musical genres which are distinct, and which sometimes like to insist on their distinctiveness. If we acknowledge that interpretative decisions are choices – duration, tempo, articulation, dynamics, phrasing etc – then this has so much in common with improvisation. And if the key point we see is musical choice, then all genres are open to explore. Some will be more constrained, and some freer. We know what notes Beethoven wanted. We have a lot more freedom in many folk traditions. And once we get to jazz, then improvisation is expected. This continuum of notation to improvisation would have been familiar to classical artists in the past (Bach, Handel and Mozart were all noted improvisers), but has been denied to generations of children through narrow training.

The opposite of ‘creative’ is ‘destructive’. Not, perhaps, what we would want for music education.

If you’re interested, why not come along to our two free open rehearsals?

Dates: Friday 25th May and Friday 29th June 2018
Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm
Location: Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawson’s Corner, Leeds, LS28 5TA

This term our main piece is “Peter and the Wolf” but we will also be playing “Ride of the Valkyries”, “Firebird”, “Dambusters” and more! We’re looking for all strings, especially violas, cellos and double basses, flutes, oboes, bassoon, percussion, trumpets and trombones, but if you play an orchestral instrument not listed here, please feel free to come along anyway. No audition is necessary.

For more information, including our next concert, please see this flyer, or email educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk

Considering joining? For more information see the LYJRO webpage.

Hope to see you there!

Tickets £8, children £4 – includes afternoon tea

Members of City of Leeds Youth Training Orchestra are excited to be collaborating with Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra in a special concert of orchestral, solo and chamber works, as part of the SPO’s 125th anniversary celebrations.

Visit the SPO website for further information and to book tickets online

An inspirational new cinematic film will feature stunning footage of the BBC Philharmonic performing a new selection of orchestral music, representing a wide range of styles and eras relevant to the music curriculum.  Each piece will be introduced by celebrity presenters known to the age group, using an engaging mix of live action and animation.

Reasons to be involved

• Supported by Ofsted, LMEP partners and other leading arts and music organisations
• Opportunity to be part of an inspirational nationwide BBC initiative

Involvement in the project will:

• help schools deliver the music curriculum
• provide a transition opportunity from primary to secondary
• provide cross-curricular stimulus for the performing arts
• encourage creative thinking and independent learning in pupils
• foster collaborative working  and self confidence
• inspire performance opportunities to showcase pupils’ creativity

BBC Resources will include:

• At least to 400 FREE screenings of an exciting and immersive film in cinemas around the UK – local to  us in Leeds are

Cineworld Wakefield, 2 screenings on 6th October at 10.00 and 11.15

Odeon Leeds Bradford 2 screenings on 8th October at 10.00 and 11.30

York City Screen Picturehouse, 8th October at 10.00

• FREE DVD of the Ten Pieces film for UK secondary schools
• lesson plans and background on repertoire and composers
• downloadable audio of the ten pieces
• inspirational films, including masterclasses, to encourage creativity
• arrangements of the repertoire to suit a range of abilities
• cross-curricular resources

Timeline
Phase 1: Inspiration – October 2015

• Register for the project by signing up for the newsletter on the website. You will receive news and links to new classroom resources regularly.
• Attend FREE nationwide screenings of the Ten Pieces Secondary film (NB cinema places are limited)
• Receive FREE DVD of  film (1 copy for each secondary school, you can place your order now)
• Explore educational resources on the Ten Pieces website (available from summer term 2015)
• Link up with your local Ten Pieces Champion (see website for more details)

Phase 2: Exploration and creativity – October 15 to March 16

• Pupils can explore the repertoire further, and develop creative responses inspired by one or all of the pieces in a variety of ways:
• dance
• animation or digital art
• performance poetry
• composition (jazz, world music, folk, classical, pop or coded)

Upload pupils’ creative responses to the Ten Pieces website for possible inclusion in the online showcase(deadline:  Friday 18th March 2016)

Phase 3: Performance – April to July 2016

• hold your own celebratory concert in your school or community take part in finale events hosted by your local Ten Pieces Champion

What people have been saying:

“I believe that the Ten Pieces project has been one of the most significant initiatives within the field of music education.”  Philip Litchfield, Berkshire Maestros

“The YMI (Youth Music Initiative) tutors, teachers and pupils are loving the project….It is such a full, well thought-out structure that has captured the imagination of pupils and their families… an amazing project with fantastic resources!” Gillian Mooney, Falkirk Community Trust

“It has broken barriers that haven’t been broken before.” Emma Coulthard, Cardiff Music Development Service

“I am close to exploding with excitement as the Ten Pieces initiative had such a profound effect on the community, not just the individual pupils. In fact the effect was so powerful that I am in the process of launching instrumental lessons on a scale like no other!” Gaer Primary School, Newport, Wales

Next steps:
Check out the Ten Pieces Secondary repertoire here.
Sign up to the Ten Pieces newsletter here.
Book your FREE tickets to see the Ten Pieces film at a local cinema screening here.
Order your FREE copy of the Ten Pieces film on DVD here.