Mike, “Music” is still a part of the National Curriculum at Primary level. Because this is often taken by a non-specialist Year Teacher, the emphasis is mostly on the percussionish stuff and singing. A piano-playing primary teacher is becoming a rare thing. Other than that, the provision varies from county to county and from school to school within a county.

Lancashire Music Services provides my son’s weekly trumpet lesson. It’s good, but LMS takes all the money and the school has the headache of kids hanging around the corridors waiting up to an hour for their lesson to begin. The school itself offers a choir/singing club but the kid must be able to sing adequately. The teacher, working in free time, can’t be expected to make sow’s purses out of deaf pig’s ears. There is also recorder’s club (dratted instrument) and (acoustic) guitar club. Being a Catholic school, there is a weekly assembly at which all kids are expected (but often choose not to) sing.

I haven’t started my new job in secondary school yet but, AFAIK, they do music up to 13 and can then choose whether to pursue the subject to GCSE level. It’s a “good” school with plenty of money, but the gear and facilities are waaay ahead of the junk lying around my old high school. I recently saw a Year 10 (14-15) performance of “The Boyfriend”. Apart from good individual singing, the pit band was of a good standard, too.

Taking Bob’s point about hymns, I’ve joined the church choir and (I’m not a Catholic) barely any of them are familiar to me. It’s doing wonders for my sight reading and getting me out of constant 4/4.

Another thing that Bob might agree with. Thank goodness for these cheap and useable Chinese instruments. When I saw the price of renting a trumpet for 3 months (just in case he gives up quickly) I baulked. I managed to buy a Stagg trumpet for £60. Maybe not the best of tones and one valve has a thirst for oil like an old Austin Allegro but it’s good enough to see if he’ll stick with it. He can buy a Bach himself when he’s 25 and on MU wages 🙂

We had recorders in Primary school then in high school, 15 Casio keyboards, supposedly playing together…not sure which was worse!

Cheers Bob. It is a real shame. I know when I was being taught music in school we learnt the recorder, which is close to say the most obnoxious instrument ever made.

She was year 9, = approx 14 years old. I shrugged and took it on the chin. I’ve been there before; talking Led Zepp to a blank-looking 19yo back in the late 80s. Nowadays I stick to “Idol” winners if I hope to make sense.

Also, just out of interest seeing as both yourself 1b, and Bob are both involved in teaching, how is the state of public school music education in the UK? Obviously doesn’t include Bowie in the curriculum 🙂

She was only 5 years old, give her a break 1b.

But seriously, the copyright issue is important, spesh in the current climate. Like Tim said but, the fact the Bob’s chosen songs are easily remembered does help a lot anyway.

Bob, if you don’t mind, there’s a thread here asking for ops on a Behringer pedal that I think you could make a useful contrib to. Back on the copyright prob; here’s a saddening tale for us oldies. I went into a high school I’ll be working in next year. It was an art lesson where the kids were making masks and one girl’s mask had developed a crack across the face. I suggested she could paint around the crack and make it look like David Bowie.

Before I could say “Ziggy Stardust” she said “Who the heck is this Bowie guy you’re on about?”

I aged 20 years in ten minutes 😳

The copyright thing makes sense and like I say, when I played through some of them knowing the melody already really helped with concentrating on the fingering. Nice site, I like the principle behind it, thanks again.

Nice and easy to follow, they’re not songs I would normally play but I just played through a couple; the familiarity, and the fact you’re playing to the vocal melody, helps sight-read them as your not trying to figure the timing etc so they do seem to work to learn your way around the fretboard with.

I also printed of the fret board diagram as I know this of by heart right up to the point when we’re writing and I’m improvising…then I go blank! so thanks for that, I’ll stick it on my wall!

And I also printed of House of the Rising Sun for guitar, so thank you again!

Tim