Teacher Resources

Improvisation ideas and alternative notation for pupils who do not read and more. Read about the benefits experienced by learning disabled people when they have been given the opportunity to play a musical instrument. See what has been done by others.

Forum

Join in discussions and share ideas about teaching and learning musical instruments for and by the learning disabled. Encourage others with your success stories.

News Letter - March 2008

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Melody has had an eventful year since our last communication.  We are grateful for your support received as encouraging emails and cheques through the post, and hope that you will continue to help us promote the benefits of musical instrumental tuition for those with learning disabilities.  We passionately believe that as awareness grows, and more children and young people are given the opportunity to play a musical instrument and participate with others in music making, so the lives of many will become enriched.

MELODY WEBSITE

We invite you to inspect our newly designed website, together with a forum for discussion of the issues involved.  Please accept our invitation to join the forum and participate in existing discussions or start a new one.  We plan to extend the site over the next few months, and you can expect to see more suggestions and ideas in the teacher resource section, more links to related sites and more success stories to encourage others.  We are grateful to Tom Adams of Scend for his work in setting up and designing this new site.

SPECIAL VIRTUOSI

This is a project of Melody, set up by Melody trustee Noriko Tsuzaki and takes place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.  Children and young people with learning disabilities attend once a week and take part in a wide variety of musicianship activities and ensemble playing.  They also receive a weekly instrumental lesson.  Further information can be obtained via the Special Virtuosi website http://www.specialvirtuosi.org.uk/ or via the link on the Melody website.  http://www.melody.me.uk/  

Last year we applied to the BBC Children in Need for funding for the Special Virtuosi project.  We were not successful last year, but were given sponsorship in the form of help to put together a Business Plan.  This is now done and we hope that our next application will be successful.  We have received enthusiastic support to establish a Special Virtuosi project at Birmingham Conservatoire during the academic year 2008/09.

INSTRUMENTAL TEACHERS WORKSHOP

Professor Helen Coll whose area of expertise is secondary education and Rosie Cross have developed a workshop for instrumental teachers, which challenges them to re look at traditional pedagogy in the light of learning disability. It encourages and assists teachers to find alternative ways of teaching, for example, pupils who will never read notation.  This work shop is available to any group of teachers, preferably between ten and twenty five in number.

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