Overview:
Musical Futures professional development course are practical, hands on and designed for teachers to experience the approaches from the perspective of their learners – exploring the key aspects of the Musical Futures pedagogy through interactive, practical and inspirational sessions alongside a chance to look at the practicalities, skills and resources required to introduce Musical Futures in your own classroom.

Our Dublin course is designed to equip teachers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver an engaging, practical music curriculum that develops students knowledge and supports the learning outcomes of the junior music cycle. The course provides a hands-on opportunity to explore the place of technology in the music curriculum and is supported by Ableton, who are offering free software to schools in Ireland.

Aims of the Course:
Explore ways to deliver practical music lessons that engage students and develop their procedural knowledge of music
Develop confidence in using music technology in the classroom to provide creative and authentic learning experiences
Develop a range of innovative approaches to deliver the learning outcomes of the Junior Music Cycle

Sessions:
Informal Learning - a cornerstone of Musical Futures pedagogy which aims to enhance student engagement, enjoyment and skill-acquisition in music lessons by tapping into the real-life learning practices of popular musicians. Develop the skills and pedagogical approaches needed to promote an active, collaborative and purposeful learning environment in your classroom through this practical child-centred approach to learning.

Everyone Can Play - introduces students to ukulele, guitar and keyboard – ideal for students who have never played before from the ages of 8-11. These ‘beginner’ instrumental resources support the development of instrumental and ensemble skills with content created specifically to develop engagement and participation on ukulele, guitar or keyboard using practical activities covering strumming patterns, chord shapes and easy chord progressions through a series of original and popular melodies and songs.

Just Play - designed to develop musical skills and procedural knowledge whilst developing students understanding of how to work as a team by performing as a whole class ensemble. This approach provides a way for all students to achieve outcomes 2.4 & 2.5 of the ‘innovate and ideate’ strand of the Junior Music Cycle, along with developing many of the ‘procedural knowledge’ outcomes. Just Play engages students in whole class music making by providing a simple step by step resource that supports the development of instrumental skills on drums, guitar, bass, keyboard and ukulele whilst simultaneously developing their musical knowledge and understanding.

Developing Just Play - designed for teachers already familiar with the Just Play programme. This session will look at how the resource and playalongs can be developed and extended to support all learners in your classroom to develop creative ways to explore, discuss and contextualise musical repertoire. We will also explore how this approach can be used to explore music from other genres, including classical and film music.

Technology in the Music Classroom - deliver authentic music technology lessons rooted in the music that students like, enjoy and identify with and to help engage them in deep learning about music. Our ‘In The Style Of…. ‘ and Rap resources are designed to develop teacher confidence in delivering lessons that stimulate creativity through the effective use of digital technology using Ableton Live as way to engage learners. This approach provides an engaging way to set a clear success criteria, approach the class based assessment of the Junior Music Cycle along with outcomes 2.2 and 2.3 of the ‘innovate and ideate’ strand and 3.3, 3.4 and 3.9 of the ‘Culture and Context’ strand. The Technology sessions are supported by Ableton who are able to provide free software for teachers to install the programme within their school settings.

Rethinking the School Ensemble with Ableton Live - our approach to school ensembles seamlessly integrates technology with more traditional instruments and provides students with relevant, engaging and accessible repertoire to maximise the engagement, enjoyment and participation in school ensembles. The session is designed to develop teachers confidence in using Ableton Live and Link to create ensembles involving any instrument.

What Is Included?
Over £500 of resources including:

Just Play
Everyone Can Play Ukulele
Everyone Can Play Guitar
Everyone Can Play Keyboard
2 ‘In The Style Of…’ Resources of your choice
(available for Ableton Live, Cubase or Garageband)
On Cue Ableton Live set/sample pack
Rap resource (explores authentic lyric writing in the rap genre/using technology to create beats, instrumentals and backing tracks/production techniques using any DAW
3 Play-along resources of your choice
Chair Drumming extension resources
Ableton Live Intro provided for use in schools by Ableton
Refreshments and lunch

Who Is It For?
The training is suitable for delegates who are new to Musical Futures as well as those who wish to extend their practice:

Primary and high school teachers who deliver music
Specialist instrumental / vocal teachers
Trainee teachers
Those who work with trainee teachers
University lecturers interested in music education pedagogy
Music or arts education organisations