7 Steps to outstanding Musical Futures Lessons

1. 7 Steps to outstanding Musical Futures Lessons • To challenge them we must first challenge ourselves

2. Make sure you read up on MF • Teacher Pack • Free Training • Champion Schools • Website www.musicalfutures.org • Twitter @musicalfutures

3. Understand the pedagogy • Variety of non-formal and informal teaching and learning approaches grounded in secure pedagogy • Practical work on instruments/voice, authentic musical experiences • Aural learning, that integrates listening with practical music making, improvising and composing • Students are motivated and engaged by music they value and that is relevant to them, before moving onto other musical and learning styles • Technique, notation and other forms of written instruction part of process but developed through playing • Teachers and practitioners act as facilitators, through showing rather than telling, and through guiding and modelling • Develops skills and confidence in teachers enabling them to deliver high quality MF approaches

4. Select your Resources • Aural learning: they need to hear the original tracks! • CD Players • Jam Hubs (or other silent work stations) • Small to large jack cables and amps • Portable speakers

5. Improvise (you not them) • Start with your best class, try, fail, reflect, improve. • Choose one approach to try first • Talk with them about it • Set them off • Watch, listen, stand back, then help as appropriate • Get to know individuals musically • Flex, change, adapt, experiment • Make mistakes but stick with it

6. Collect Evidence • Video and audio from start to finish • NUMU • Create a blog • Student voice • 4 areas of progress: data, lesson obs, work scrutiny, ask students

7. Compelling Evidence! • I am finding music really interesting, in each lesson I learn I am finding out new things which I can practice and learn on my acoustic guitar and I always look forward to the next lesson I learn to find out even more things and I feel that I am more enthusiastic each day to learn • this past 14 weeks have taught me a thing or two about being in a band sometimes there are great times but there are also times you want to bang your head against the wall. I’ve been on the drums for all this time and it has been great and i have enjoyed all of it and miss gower is still the best, so very happy where I am in music right now :) • The first few weeks of Music have been great fun! I have learned most of 'The Passenger' lyrics, found the right pitch to match my voice to the song and have enjoyed myself! My first few weeks of music have been excellent • Today my group managed to do more by swapping around a few instruments. Thankfully we weren't disturbed like last time! I figured I am better at playing a lower note than a higher! • The lesson was great fun! • In music we've been doing a song by Iggy pop called the Passenger. I quite like the song but at first I thought it was pretty annoying. I I do kind of think that playing the bass kind of hurts my fingers, but obviously it would because i've never played one before. In the first few weeks of music, all we did was play some games involving rhythm and beat. Overall, I do like Music so far. It's a lot better than it was at my primary school, all we did there was play glockenspiel and draw pictures of what we imagined when we listened to certain music. • I am really enjoying my music lessons they are one of my favourite lessons. I think that if we keep the beat steady and use a nice rhythm we should have a really nice tune. We just need to put everything together and Im sure we can win!

8. Assessment • Play the game • Assess as you normally would • Use holistic statements don’t break down into performing, composing, listening etc • Assess mid project so targets can be acted on • Talk over the approach with SLT so they know what to expect

9. Laugh • Learn with your students • Be a musician in your classroom • Get to know them better

10. Make Music Lessons... “If there’s no music in it it probably isn’t a music lesson” Mark Philips HMI Ofsted Jan 2013