Teach Secondary -Issue 15.1

quality grand piano we’d previously used to a local state-maintained secondary school to help enhance their music provision and expand the resources available to their students. If you haven’t already, I’d also recommend looking into piano donation programmes such as Piano Equals (see tinyurl.com/ t151-M1), which donates recycled and repaired pianos to schools across the UK to help address music departments’ lack of access to musical instruments. Awide range of options Inmy experience, the piano remains a consistently popular choice of instrument with students. Drums and guitar have steadily increased in popularity over the past 20 years, whilst wind instruments like the flute and clarinet have gradually declined. Within our schools, we’ve seen other instruments, such as the trombone, fluctuate in demand, but it remains hugely important for music departments to do what they can to accommodate a wide range of interests. Of course, given the rapid advances we’ve seen inmusic technology, we’re no longer restricted to offering our students the option of studying only voice or real-world instruments in music lessons. They can now pursue interests in digital composition through access to Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) such as GarageBand, and notation software such as Sibelius. Technology can now be used to enhance music provision across all schools, and provide new modern pathways for students to engage with music as either a subject or an extracurricular activity. Focusing onmore than music As well as using technology to appeal to a broader student audience, schools can enrich their curriculum by embedding international awareness and multicultural exploration into their music provision. Every school’s demographics will be different, but if yours has a multicultural student population, music can provide great opportunities for leaning into that. Offering a diverse cultural repertoire will appeal to more students and open up a wider variety of avenues for creative expression. At one of our recent performances, for example, several of our Taiwanese students showcased a song from their home country, building cultural bridges with their audience through a shared love of music. Collaborative music- making and performances are when things can get interesting. You can motivate and engage nearly all students by prioritising group rehearsals and performances as early as possible. As educators, we understand the importance and impact of inclusion – and whilst every young person will want to progress at their own pace, being intentional about the different parts of a performance provides opportunities for everyone to participate in some way. That applies whether they’ve accumulated 10 months of experience as a singer or musician, or several years. Ultimately, the extent of a school’s music provision shouldn’t be justified on the basis of the subject’s external benefits (clear though those are). As a subject and co-curricular activity, it has intrinsic value in that it forms part of the human experience. By emphasising accessibility and diversity within our music lessons, we canmake sure that we equip students with a lifelong love of music, and all the confidence, joy and skills that come with that. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Matthew Rudd is director of music at Stephen Perse Cambridge – a family of independent schools across Cambridge, Madingley and Saffron Walden – serving as musical director at Ely Consort since 2002, while also overseeing the music department at Stephen Perse Cambridge. During his career, he has delivered training courses to music teachers in Singapore, Malaysia, Botswana and even Mongolia. For more information, visit stephenperse.com 59 teachwire.net/secondary T H E A R T S