Mix Music and Ministry put the cool back in to music education

The Government’s just-published National Plan for Music Education sets out a number of guidelines for taking music education forward to 2015 and one of its key themes is 'hub-based' learning.

This may be a new concept to some, but it has already been in use, with great success, for over 18 months thanks to the pioneering work of Dan Jones of The Mix Music Education. Former UK Music Teacher of the Year Dan set up Mix Music in 2010, recently he teamed up with Ministry of Sound to makes sure that London’s schools are getting the most out of music.

The Ministry of Sound brand is probably better known to most as the home of dance music rather than as an educator, but it has teamed up with Dan for a joint installation, just down the road from its London base, at St James' primary school in Bermondsey.

"Our intention has always been to help educators fully engage their students,’’ says Dan. ‘’Every year thousands of students disengage with music learning as it’s not perceived as current, and this leads towards disaffection with school. JamPod resets that balance and teaming up with Ministry makes it that little bit more cool…"

A large part of what has made Dan’s work possible is the aptly named JamHub silent rehearsal studio. Invented by American musician Steve Skillings, it was originally developed so that bands could rehearse without upsetting the neighbours. But Dan saw far-reaching possibilities for using it to improve the quality of music education.

The result was JamPod. Working with a number of music equipment and software manufacturers, Dan devised this ingenious concept to allow schools and other educational establishments to radically improve the quantity and quality of music education. Critically, it allows music education to take place almost anywhere, doing away with the need to spend thousands of pounds on dedicated music teaching rooms.

"I think it’s fair to say that we have been well ahead of the game," says Dan. "The National Plan for Music Education sets out four core values: Ensuring that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole class ensemble teaching; provide opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage; ensure clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people; develop a singing strategy to ensure every child sings regularly.

"All of these are an integral part of the JamPod concept and are already being achieved by schools we work with throughout the UK.

"The plan specifically says that ‘Portable Hub Rehearsal Devices enable pupils to create, rehearse, record and perform collaborative compositions simultaneously in whole class sessions without disturbing others'.

"We designed the whole class teaching solution. Michael Gove and Ed Vaizey are now directing everyone else to do what we’ve been doing successfully for the past year and half, which is fantastic.”

As well as the significant cost-savings JamPod offers over traditional music facilities, it also means that schools can easily run extra-curricular activities, so the installation pays for itself very quickly and students get better value for money than with other types of out-of-school music teaching.

"At every site we install, we help them to set it up as a business, giving schools not only an exceptional space for curriculum delivery, but also a resource that communities want to engage with outside of lesson time," says Dan. "Sites can launch fee charging academies after school, which mostly run three or four times a week and lets the school recoup the cost of the investment very quickly."

"But at the same time, it has to be affordable for the students. Most extra-curricular students will be paying at the very least £10 for a half hour lesson in a conventional music teaching facility. Our current sites set their own fee’s but on average students are paying £5 for 45 minutes on a course in the process of being accredited by one of the biggest exam boards in the world, Rockschool."

"JamPod opens up their receptiveness to the entire school experience. It helps to change the mindset of young people from a school building being somewhere they have to be, to being somewhere they want to be. Most sites have also launched community sessions which have engaged students of all ages onto their programmes"

Outside London, sites with JamPods already installed include Arnot St Mary & St John's primary schools, Resonate Studios all in Liverpool, Sevenfields Primary School, Gorse Hill Primary School and Swindon College all in Swindon, Duffryn High School in Newport, Wales, Altrincham College of Arts, William Romney Academy in Tetbury, Gloustershire, Turton High School in Bolton and the Rock & Pop Foundation in Aldershot. Installations have also taken place in community centres, including the Urban Music Academy in Torfaen in South Wales.

Dan concludes, "The National Plan for Music Education has reinforced my belief that JamPod delivers the best and most cost-effective solution for music education."

http://mixmusiceducation.co.uk/

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