How to teach music… in perfect harmony

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.