by Christopher Sutton | May 4, 2012 | Ear Training, Music, Technology
A few days ago I attended a fantastic discussion panel session at The Hub, Westminster, entitled “The Future of Musicianship”. It was the first event put on by the newly-launched “Loving and Living Music” project, brainchild of Ben Hillyard and Heli Rajasalo.
The goal of the initiative is outlined in detail here but to give you an idea:
What we are looking for in the Loving & Living Music project is a definition or a description of musicianship that includes all aspects of musicianship across all genres and instruments. Having this definition will enable discussion of musicianship to take place on a wider scale than is possible today.
We see a gap in the way that music in commonly taught. With the Loving & Living Music project we are looking to provoke awareness and discussion among the music education sector about how Musicianship is and could be taught.
The future of musicianship is a subject close to my heart due to my work with Easy Ear Training, where we try to use modern technology to make learning music more fun, easy and effective.
The event was fascinating, and the discussion broad and interesting. I won’t try to recount the discussion (not least because the entire panel session is now available online) but the event was eye-opening for me in a number of ways.
Musicianship is not what I thought.
In my work at Easy Ear Training I live immersed in a world of aural skills and over time (more…)
by Christopher Sutton | Jan 16, 2012 | A Cappella
This is one of a number of posts on the London A Cappella Festival 2012. You can also read more about Saturday’s events and several other posts about the festival!
It would be a great pity to have so many top a cappella groups, and industry movers-and-shakers in one place and not sit them down to discuss the state of the world. Fortunately this year just such a panel was organised.
Part one: Competition & Collaboration
Led by Jes Sadler, the panel session had two halves. The first part was a discussion of the value of competition and collaboration in the world of a cappella music, and featured Clare Chen (Vocal Asia), Florian Städtler (VocalBlog), Bill Hare (legendary a cappella producer) and Belinda Magee (Sing A Cappella). Though the discussion was brief, there were some great points made. I particularly liked Bill Hare’s assertion that the vibe at a really good a cappella competition is much the same as a friendly a cappella festival. The talk around the unreality of reality TV and drama shows like Glee was also interesting.
One funny but non-trivial issue raised by an audience question was whether the a cappella community is, in fact, too nice… It was suggested that some grittier collaborations, or simply less chirpy an attitude might help make a cappella music more accessible to those who write it off as superficial or cheesy.
It certainly is a remarkable close-knit and welcoming community in my experience. You only need to look at (more…)
by Christopher Sutton | Jan 9, 2012 | A Cappella, Music
Discussion group
“How to teach music… in perfect harmony”at the London A Cappella Festival 201214:50-15:30 in The Wenlock RoomSaturday 14th January, Kings Place, London
The last few years have seen a sharp increase in people’s interest in singing. From X-Factor and Pop Idol, to SingStar and Rock Band, to High School Musical and Glee, it’s clear there is massive public interest in singing and vocal groups.
Unfortunately it seems so far like the message of each of those franchises is centered squarely on celebrityism and pop star success – rather than developing real musical ability.
Can this widespread enthusiasm be harnessed to really drive music education forwards and encourage a new generation of truly talented musicians to emerge?
This week the London A Cappella Festival is held at Kings Place, curated by The Swingle Singers and Ikon Arts Management.
I’m proposing an informal discussion group as an #LACFextra, on the topic of a cappella for music education, tentatively entitled “How to teach music… in perfect harmony”. Not so much “How can we teach a cappella music?” as “How can we use a cappella to teach music?”
Some initial suggestions for discussion topics:
- Why use a cappella for music education?
- What areas of teaching music could a cappella be relevant to?
- What specific benefits are there to using a cappella music for teaching?
- Why isn’t it already more used?
- How has it been used? Any successful experiences?
- How can technology bolster a cappella in music ed?
- What can we do to accelerate music education using a cappella music?
- What potential collaborations between music ed. professionals/companies and a cappella groups are there?
The discussion will be open to everyone, and we’re hoping we might even entice a few of the festival performers to join us.
Details of time and location will be announced later this week, but the discussion will be at Kings Place during the day on Saturday and run for 30-40 minutes.
UPDATE: The discussion will take place in The Wenlock Room of Kings Place, from 14:50-15:30 on Saturday 14th.
If you’re interested in this topic, please:
- Leave a comment below to say you’ll come along (and suggest any further discussion points)
- Help spread the word using the social media buttons below, or by linking to this post and using hashtag #LACFextra.
If you’re not currently planning on attending LACF2012… Why not? Read a bit about last year’s festival and change your mind!
Sincere thanks to Jessica from Ikon Arts for supporting this LACFextra event.
My name's Christopher Sutton and this is my personal blog. You can learn more about me