Monday 24 October 2011
Stringbabies – an approach for teaching strings and general musicianship to young children – has been running successfully in Surrey for the last year. It is now being rolled out across the county and beyond.
In September 2010, Surrey Arts (a Surrey County Council service) became the first local authority music and arts service in the UK to introduce the Stringbabies approach for teaching strings and general musicianship, enabling children from the age of 4 years to start learning to play the violin and cello. It marked a new direction in the delivery of teaching strings within the county, enhancing its outstanding reputation for innovative work with partner organisations.
Stringbabies is the creation of Sussex based cello teacher and ISM member Kay Tucker and has steadily gained a reputation for enabling children as young as 3 years of age to learn to read music while at the same time beginning to play a stringed instrument. The system employs the use of shaped notes which gradually morph into more conventional notation, simple songs based around the first notes learnt on the stringed instruments, and composing and reading games often involving the use of toys. A firm emphasis is placed on creating an environment of fun and creativity which Kay believes is most conducive to effective learning.
Yvette Madden, Surrey Arts cello teacher and now Stringbabies leader in the music service, was given one of the very first copies of the Cellobabies book by Kay Tucker over 6 years ago. Being interested herself in teaching the very young found that she was reaping encouraging results from the use of the then Cellobabies ideas. She wrote to the author:
‘I have found that this very comprehensive method works for all abilities, including pupils with special needs and those with a potential talent for music. It makes learning notation and rhythm crystal clear and takes away all the expected complications of teaching. Cellobabies makes teaching beginners an easier path. My pupils feel they achieve something every week and they are raring to go. The Cellobabies method promotes the children’s work and makes them more creative. It is a refreshing new method which I think is fantastic.’
In due course Cellobabies was successfully adapted for violin and viola and was rebranded collectively as Stringbabies. Through further work and training, Surrey Arts took on the programme, piloting it first at a primary school in the south east of the county, to encourage engagement with instrumental music in a school where the majority of pupils are from a low socio-economic background.
Lessons were given to two large groups of children in Reception and year 1 on both violin and cello and within a very short time the success of the approach was beginning to make itself apparent. Leona Scott, music teacher at the school, remarked that the children ‘are always keen to show off what they have learned and are excited about their lessons.’
The Surrey Arts team, confident of the viability of this new work were happy to showcase Stringbabies at the school during their peer moderated review (through the Federation of Music Services) the following term and also invited Yvonne Rees, the Strategic Director for Customers & Communities Directorate at Surrey County Council to make a visit. She commented later:
‘The children learn so much during Stringbabies’ lessons, both musically and personally. Stringbabies offers potential life changing opportunities for children providing developmental skills at such a young age, through fun and enjoyable activities that encourage children’s personal and social skills, fine motor skills and musical development. I really enjoyed watching the session - it made me feel both humble and inspired to learn and play an instrument. Keep up this inspirational programme.’
Since January, requests for Stringbabies have been coming in from both schools and parents and the scheme has now expanded to four schools. Gillian Murray, violin teacher on the scheme, remarked that she had seen very noticeable differences in the aptitude of her Stringbabies pupils saying that she found they not only progressed extremely quickly, but also that, even at 5 years old, they were very motivated to continue their work at home. Yvette Madden added that since introducing Stringbabies into the curriculum, she and her colleagues have found the transitional stage of introducing students to ensemble playing ‘completely stress free’. She said that with the enhanced knowledge of notation and rhythm, the students blended into new ensemble situations with ease and that sight-reading skills were noticeably improved, the evidence of which could be seen in exam results.
Plans are now under way to at least double the number of schools taking part in the scheme and more staff members are being trained to deliver the approach. Surrey Arts have also asked Kay to provide a version of the existing books for double bass.
The partnership with Surrey Arts has been a tremendous encouragement to Kay. She had not envisaged engaging the interest of music service providers. She commented:
‘It has been wonderful to find a team of professionals so receptive to new approaches and prepared to give Stringbabies a go. I have always believed in its viability and credibility but it has been less easy to find other professionals prepared to look at my work with such an open mind. I am very grateful to Surrey Arts and it is especially poignant, as it was with the then Surrey Music Service that I began my career as a teacher.’
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Great stuff! I shall forward this to the pre-prep at my school
25 October 2011 Posted by Allison walker-morecroft from Norfolk
This is a truly wonderful set-up and I am most impressed. If I were a mother of a child who wished to learn a stringed instrument I would not hesitate to send her for this type of teaching!
25 October 2011 Posted by Alison Lingwood from Leeds, West Yorkshire
Good luck with the Stringbabies projects. String teaching is in real need of pedagogically sound ideas and research and this is a wonderful example of it in action. Looking forward to see how it goes.
26 October 2011 Posted by Pat Field from Glasgow
Great article :) My son plays violin, he makes his own inspirational songs :) He’s great
27 November 2011 Posted by Todd
My son has been having music lessons with Kay for 6 months. He loves his lessons because they are fun and Kay’s method is so in tune with the way children think. Her method also gives children the right skills to become good at reading and composing music right from the beginning. I fully expect to see her approach becoming the usual way to introduce children to instrument playing in the years ahead.
28 November 2011 Posted by Clare Huxley