Across the country, music educators are hard at work in a huge variety of settings – hubs schools, private tuition, and music education projects that they've created themselves. While there are plenty of agencies that call themselves ‘music schools’, they may not offer much more to the pupil or teacher than a standard tuition arrangement.
Twenty years ago Julia Haigh started Sounds Fun, which offers early years music activities to children and families in the Middlesbrough area. A primary teacher with a music degree, she wanted to work in early years music beyond the standard choirs and recorder groups. Her approach is to include parents and grandparents, and to adapt to different children's needs.
‘I love being my own boss,’ Haigh tells me. ‘I can take a little bit from this, a little from that, and weave my own approach.’ The age range is from young babies to seven-year-olds and she works with around 100 children a week, using elements of Kodály and Dalcroze – plus lots and lots of games.
‘I don't feel threatened by the early years music franchises that are around,’ she continues. ‘They use backing tracks, while I have always used real instruments and live music. Sounds Fun has grown from word of mouth and being around young families – people say they've met their best friends at my baby and toddler sessions.’
What about children who continue to love, and indeed excel in, music into their teenage years? Jonathan James opened the Bristol Pre-Conservatoire in 2012, where I also teach flute classes and coach rehearsals. ‘I felt there was an opportunity to create a rallying point for the talented young classical and jazz musicians in the city,’ says James. ‘The Pre-Conservatoire focuses on three areas: creativity, cross-stylistic work, and chamber music. I wanted it to be a space where students could ask “why?” and “so what?” Why the cycle of the fifths? What's the link between Bach and Charlie Parker? Why improvise?’
Starting with just 15 students, the Pre-Conservatoire has grown to 50 and now includes junior and intermediate programmes. The sessions are held somewhere unexpected – the St Monica Trust, a residence for elderly people.
‘They have been very generous in opening their space to us and allowing their communal rooms to be overrun by enthusiastic young musicians every Wednesday evening,’ says James.
‘The relationship is truly mutual, though, and that's why it works so well. The older residents love having music flowing through the corridors every week and really look forward to our concerts. We also run a composing project called ‘Soundtrack’ that involves our students writing and performing pieces based on the residents’ lives. It's a small but significant way of saying thank you.’
Stringer things
Texan-born Danielle Greenwood has a totally different musical background. ‘Since being a teenager, I have always sung in bands and one day my best friend asked me if I would join hers. The only hitch was that I had to learn how to play the ukulele!’
Greenwood and friends started a 20-strong self-taught all-woman punk ukulele band called, of all things, The Pukes. She moved to Bristol and worked as a higher-level teaching assistant while teaching and playing the ukulele in her spare time. ‘18 months ago, I took a leap of faith and quit my full-time job to set up the Uke Lift Project,’ continues Greenwood, who now teaches around 100 pupils a week.
‘I vary my week so that I spread the ukulele love with all ages: curriculum-based lessons; home education and mainstream school students during the day; ukulele after school clubs; private one-to-one tuition to many families; and adult beginner to advanced classes in pubs during the evenings. I run workshops for Women's Institute groups; festivals including World of Music, Art and Dance; and for adolescents in care. Additionally I teach young people during the summer as part of a National Citizen Service programme.’
She's long stopped worrying about leaving behind the security of a full-time job: ‘Now I say to others who are starting up their own business, give it a year!’
In south London Lauren Baker is starting out on the same road – her mission is to bring Brazilian music to young people. The project, Valeu Brazilian Arts, is new but her love of samba is not.
Feeling festive: An advanced Uke Lift Project
Baker, a double bassist, was studying classical music in the early 2000s. Then she discovered world music: ‘I became obsessed with Brazilian percussion, specifically samba from Rio de Janeiro and Afro-samba from Bahia. I couldn't get enough – sambistas say “she's got the bug”.’
After college, she taught whole class samba sessions. ‘It was hard work,’ she says. ‘I would spend the first two terms teaching the basic samba rhythms, as well as nurturing timekeeping skills. By the third term, the children could play together and the foundations were in place to really start learning about samba but then the one-year programme would end. Those who really loved it had nowhere to continue their learning, and I would start all over again with the next year group.’
With funding from the Lewisham Whitefoot Assembly fund, Valeu has been able to plan workshops for one year and put together programmes for schools and other settings.
‘A main priority is continuity,’ says Baker. ‘Continuity in the artistic quality of the workshops and in providing a place where young people can continue learning about the art form.’
Valeu is already growing: ‘The first workshop was in November 2018. Only one lad came. The next week, two more students turned up and after a term we had ten. By the end of Rio Carnival weekend we hope to have five to ten more – we have instrumental capacity for up to 30 at a time.’
Getting started
With growth and success comes responsibility – to learners, staff, partners and, of course, HMRC.
I ask Diane Widdison, National Organiser for education and training at the Musician's Union, what the music educators in charge need to know: ‘If teachers are self-employed then there should be an appropriate contract that doesn't contradict the definitions of self-employment and the teacher should have their own insurances in place. The teacher should have their own DBS check.’
She also stresses the importance of being clear on who is responsible for what – the fabric of the building is not a self-employed teacher's responsibility, but their ability to do the work is.
All the music educators I spoke to shared a sense of being part of a bigger ecosystem. They also had a desire to use their range of skills to make connections and offer more profound musical experiences to learners. Even if it doesn't feel that way when surrounded by spreadsheets and funding applications, the rewards of building something from the ground up can be enormous.
