The magic of music, and how it can transform your school

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Welcome to tonight’s Twitter Spaces withJonathan, Lucy and Ross Garrod from @PracticePalMus as we discuss the magic of music, and how it can transform your school.https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1DXxyvrQDpPKM

I certainly noticed that music had a really powerful effect on children, in so many ways - either singing in assemblies or learning an instrument or singing songs in class. It had a profound effect on so many children that I know.

Research has shown that music teaching helps to improve cognitive abilities, overall achievement and even helps to improve children’s and young people’s self esteem and their ability to work collaboratively.

It seems to me that music is a pretty magical subject! BUT, it hasn’t always seemed that way…….there are many challenges that we face with teaching music:

It has been widely reported that music teaching has faced many challenges in recent years, with funding cuts, changes in the curriculum, and a lack of suitably qualified staff to name but a few.

That is where our guest comes in. Tonight, we are delighted to be talking to Ross Garrod from @PracticePalMus about the magic of music and how it can transform your school!

Do you want to tell us a little bit about your journey to this point, and how Practice Pal came about?

Hi, I’m Ross.I am a music teacher at my core. This means I am determined to help budding musicians fall—and stay—in love with learning music. In 2020, I was seeing first hand an unjust amount of obstacles getting in their way.

The problem was threefold: 1. Students were saying that music was no longer enjoyable 2. Schools were prioritising other subjects 3. Parents were unaware of the value of music

So I teamed up with Cambridge-educated computer scientist  James King, to see if we could apply technology to these problems in a convenient and user-friendly way.  Practice Pal, transforms how schools, teachers, parents, and students move through music education together.

What is the magic of music?Music is magical in itself. It transcends the mundane and the day to day. Arguably more deeply than other subjects. Within context of school - the magic we’re eluding to what’s going on when we learn music - the magic of myelination

How does music have the power to transform your school?Learning a musical instrument increases the speed/capacity at which your brain is able to functionIf want to increase attainment for student across the board - focus on music

Thank you Ross, @PracticePalMus for joining us tonight. It's such an important topic.How can our listeners find out more information about Practice Pal and what you do?

Next week, we will be talking to Jon Smedley from Teach Active @TeachActive

Quote: “On teaching. the job seems to require the sort of skills one would need to pilot a bus full of live chickens backwards, with no brakes, down a rocky road through the Andes while simultaneously providing colourful & informative commentary on the scenery.”Franklin Habit

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