Dr J's Emporium of Musical Education

So, San Francisco may now be coming an ever distant memory, but the ideas that were sown there are starting to show signs of growing. Over the last half term I have been trying out ideas and adapting old lessons, some more successfully than others, and I must admit that it has changed a lot of the ways I look at teaching music.  For a start, games are becoming more important, especially when teaching rhythm work.  Once they are over their initial reservations the students seem to enjoy these, especially if there is an element of competition. I have also noticed that I am more prone to start with singing - and are more confident in doing so - with instruments and movement then being used as accompaniments to this.  Indeed, having started the Year 3/4 choir off with four African songs, instead of the students just singing, we have stick games going on, xylophone accompaniments and now, at the suggestion of one of the kids, the dreaded ukuleles might be making an app...

Slowly but surely I am persevering with looking into applying Orff Schulwerk ideas in the classroom.  And I have just reached the chapter of Doug Goodkin's Play, Sing & Dance  about using the instrument that sends shivers down many music teacher's spine - the recorder ! Personally, and having been initially thrown out of recorder classes for not practicing (I was 7!), I returned to playing it during my teacher training and now love playing the tenor recorder as it has a warm, rich sound.  A number of teachers I know laugh and make comments about not understanding how someone with my qualifications can stomach the sound of the recorder.  Worse, others have told me that it is irrelevant in the age of the ukulele.  I believe that these thoughts are at best a little misguided, and at worse closed minded and borderline uneducated.  I agree that the recorder can be a little grating with classes of 30, but after spending hours tuning ukes and guitars only ...