Technology & Innovation - Issue 11

– especially with regards to voice, given howmuch boys’ voices can change. Avoiding isolation Girls’ vocal confidence can meanwhile diminish as they get older, which we try to address in Y9 by exploring rap and hip-hop, and helping our musicians appreciate the links between vocal confidence and succeeding at certain tasks in adult life, like taking part in job interviews and delivering presentations. The ‘band skills’ component gives our musicians access to instruments they might not otherwise have the chance to play. Whatever they end up doing, however, we try to avoid lessons consisting of young musicians wearing headphones, sat in front of computers in their own isolated worlds. The aim is always to get them performing their pieces live. A detention session In practice, most Y7s will sing if asked, but not all. There was a lad in one of my Y7 singing classes earlier this year who simply refused to sing. My response was to tell him that if he was in amaths class he’d be expected to perform calculations. In an English class, he’d be expected to read and write. So in this singing class, he was expected to sing. I then told him that if he didn’t sing, I’d have no option but to follow the school’s policy and place him in detention. He still refused. I’ve never seen detentions as just a means of punishment; they’re about finding ways of moving forward, because otherwise, teachers and learners will end up stuck in a loop. I found out from a call home that his parents were supportive of the detention, so when the time came, I went with the student to one of the music practice rooms for a while. I began by asking him how he was, by way of conversation. I then asked if he liked football, and established that we were both Arsenal fans. That’s when I started singing one of the team’s chants to a piano accompaniment, and pretty soon, he was singing it back to me. Having sensed that he was wary in lessons of how high he’d be required to sing, I used this impromptu ‘detention session’ as an opportunity to explore key changes, and after a few attempts, was able to show himwhere his vocal range lay. I explained that it wasn’t so much that he hated singing; the issue was more around how he felt about using his voice to sing in front of others. Underlying causes Often, getting past that initial reluctance is about about finding some way in. There’s no single way of doing that, though, since it depends on being able to build up an understanding of the individual concerned before it can work. The kickbacks you encounter when students are asked to sing won’t be because they can’t, but because at some point, someone has told them they can’t, or they lack self-confidence. The underlying causes need to be picked apart. I’mhappy to say that quite a fewMayflower students have gone on to do great things inmusic. The nicest thing is when the musicians are leaving the class and someone simply says ‘thank you’. Recently, one boy who was usually fairly quiet came up and said, ‘ Can I just shake your hand? I absolutely loved that. ’ Just a genuinely lovely moment. TECHTIPS Don’t scrimp When equipping a music department, ‘buy good, buy once’. Cutting corners can entail spending extra on fixing equipment later on, or prove to be a poor, off-putting experience for the musicians who’ll be using it. Prioritise portability Imagine a talented saxophonist is sat before a desktop computer with a MIDI keyboard in front. Howwill theymake music with a saxophone they can play, but a MIDI keyboard theymight not know how to use?Where possible, use laptops in class – that way, our saxophonist can take a laptop into a rehearsal roomwith a mic and interface and get going immediately. Get hands-on The ‘tech suite’ approach can look impressive, but you should avoid any implied sense of ‘ Don’t touch this, don’t move this ’, as that ignores a hugely important aspect of howmusic technology is learnt in practice – by doing . Entrust students with responsibility over the equipment they’re using, and they’ll repay it in kind. "The aim is always to get themperforming their pieces live” 63 T E C H I N A C T I O N teachwire.net