Finding new ways to get primary-school kids to tune in to music

When I was eight, I joined a new school, in a new county, with new classmates. My family had moved from Dublin to Kildare. Some things in my new school were different. For one, the class all wrote with a pen, not a pencil as I was accustomed. We also had a music class, which was completely new to me.

The rest of the class could play the recorder to an acceptable level before I got there. I couldn’t follow the lessons because I was missing the basics imparted before I arrived. I never caught up. Most days, I’d “forget” the recorder at home.

While reading about Dabbledoo, a new way to teach music in primary schools, I wondered if such a system had been in place when I was younger, would I have grasped the concepts easier. Would it have affected my learning in other ways?

Shane McKenna, who came up with Dabbledoo with illustrator Killian Redmond, suggests that music education is often lacking in the way that it is taught in Irish schools. Why focus on crotchets and quavers when you can introduce musical concepts such as notes, tempo and rhythm using a more accessible system based on colour, friendlier symbols, and characters such as Igor The Octopus and Jazz Cat?

A new notation
McKenna, who has a background as a music teacher and musician, developed an animated music notation while studying Music Education and Music Technology in Trinity College Dublin. He then took his notation to primary schools and discovered the notation was suited to classroom education.

“I starting running creative music workshops in primary schools and used some of my animated music notation to get composition and performance happening in the classroom,” says McKenna. “It made group performances and composition more accessible, practical and encouraged the children to think creatively.”

McKenna says that Dabbledoo is a more suitable system for teachers too, particularly those teachers who are not the most musical.

“Music is a particularly difficult subject to teach in a classroom setting, especially when attempting a group performance or composition. The curriculum is well written and laid out, but for a non-music specialist, it is hard to translate it into practical music lessons.”

In the works
There have been some successful initiatives in music education in Ireland that energise and involve young people. Organisations such as Music Generation, BEO in Donegal, the Carlow Young Creative project and Irish Youth Music Awards are recent examples of work in the sector. But, these are all either extra-curricular activities or focused on performance or instrument tuition, while Dabbledoo is aimed at the regular school curriculum.

Dabbledoo's online interactive resources were developed by McKenna and Redmond, and currently 400 primary teachers have signed up. The resources include one-off lessons about tempo, different types of Irish music, composition and performance along with a full curriculum. Weekly plans offer timely audio and visual content as examples.

Dabbledoo can be used by teachers in conjunction with the existing curriculum and can tap into whatever music resources the school might have. Subscriptions are available. McKenna also runs workshops in schools and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses for teachers and Dabbledoo can monitor class progress through its site.

“Most schools have a collection of simple pitched and unpitched percussion instruments that are perfect for music making in the classroom,” says McKenna. “The resources we have made can use whatever instruments are available to the school or the teacher.”

From Bach to Ed Sheeran
Dabbledoo uses contemporary artist examples: from Bach to Ed Sheeran to John Cage. Björk's version of It's Oh So Quiet is used to convey loud and soft dynamics and song structure, as an example. McKenna, who plays with popular party covers band Attention Bébé, and Redmond, who is also a DJ, visual artist and educator, are interested in showcasing current Irish music in schools.

So could we see bands like experimentalist collective Meltybrains?, funk pop band Tongue Bundle and Afro-soul and R&B singer Fehdah perform in schools soon?

“It makes sense to us that music education in schools should reflect and show the work of contemporary Irish musicians and artists. All the aforementioned artists have elements that are perfect for exploring through music education.”

There’s a larger question of why music education receives less interest than other forms of education – relying on old-fashioned notions to teach. McKenna and Redmond would often ask themselves was “how did science ed become cooler than music ed?”. Dabbledoo was their answer.

“There has been a huge amount of money put into science education over the last number of years and it has attracted education companies to put a lot of time and effort into creating resources,” sayss McKenna. “The same funding has been lacking in music and the arts, giving education companies little incentive to invest in this area.”

Redmond and McKenna recently received a boost in establishing Dabbledoo in the form of €30,000 funding and support from the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards. They hope that the more Dabbledoo is used, the more possibilities there are for children to grow their creative thinking and problem-solving, which studies suggest can lead to reduced anxiety and fewer socio-emotional difficulties. A child – just like my eight-year-old self – could pick up the basics easily and be in tune with the class much quicker.

“Music has crossover benefits from self-esteem and confidence to teamwork and empathy, all areas that we feel should be more prominent in primary schools to help educate healthy, happy children.”

For more, see dabbledoomusic.com