Home Education School of Rock

I saw a flyer for Home Ed School of Rock and I thought that my Little Man would really enjoy it. Plus, I thought it might be an event I could get Graham to take us to. He loves his music too.

We arrived nice and early, and after a little walk around we managed to find the dog café where it was being held. It seemed a bit weird but they had a big back room and you could take your dog if you wanted. There were lots of dogs around but they were all little and the kids were happy.

The School of Rock was being hosted by Joe Novelli who opened the session with a video from his A Capella group Sons of Pitches. It certainly got us in the mood for more music!

I actually remember Sons of Pitches when they first started out and we saw them perform at Birmingham University when the Little Man was just a baby! They have also appeared on Britains got Talent and won on Naked Choir.

The Warm Up!

We started the session with a round the circle introduction of who we were and what we were capable of musically. Parents included. Then we did a few warm up exercises. Then referring back to the video Joe led us through some beat box techniques. He involved the kids all the time, talking about the different drums and what noise they would make and how we could make with their mouths. The Little Man kept calling out the answers and in the end we had to ask to be quiet so the other kids could answer. I didn’t realise he knew so much about the drums. He continued to surprise us with his knowledge of music.

Then a few of the kids, who were willing, had a beat boxing competition, putting together the things we had all been taught. It was fun and informative. Beat boxing is the baseline of modern A Capella music.

Making Music

We then moved on to the kids making a piece of music for themselves. Joe is a mix engineer and he used his skills to put the kids piece together. All the time he told us what he was doing and asked the kids questions about what needed to be done to make the music better. He explained quantization which uses studio software to transform a piece of music.

They started with a drum base on a midi which was made by one of the kids. Then using the software Joe transformed it to a perfect beat for the song in 4/4 time.

Then another child added a piano tune on the midi and Joe got the kids to work out how they could change the timing of the piece to fit the drum line.

The kids learnt about time signatures and how to put different pieces of music together. Going back to my days of learning music theory it was all a bit simplified with the computerised quantization. The program also helped to transpose the kids music on the midi to sound consonant. I remember my student days spending hours transposing music but now it can all be done with the click of a button. Even the metronome was computerised. It didn’t take away any of the learning though, the kids were talked through each step and had to work out what would work and how it was done.

Next up it was time for some lyrics for the music. Joe told the kids to have fun and make up something no matter how silly.

I remember the song well because in the end we all had to sing and record it.

I Left home and walked up a Cliff,

Then I cam back down to go to the shops,

I went to buy dog food but the shops were shut,

But I don’t care because I love dogs.

It was probably the dogs running around that inspired the lyrics but I doubt it will be making the charts anytime soon. I have to say though, with the computer doing it’s job, it certainly sounded pretty good in the end.

Music Home Education

I think the School of Rock is going to continue, Joe said he’s trying to work it out with the venue and the cost. I really hope it does because my Little Man had a lot of fun. I hope that maybe I can get him interested in doing some more music at home. Graham plays the guitar but the Little Man has not really shown an interest, he’d rather play the drums. (No thanks, not at home anyway!) I do think I could get him interested in computerised music though, and even though I’m not that good with the digital side I do actually have the knowledge to teach the Little Man a lot.

It looks like we’ll be home educating for a while yet, so music could be a part of it that I think the Little Man will enjoy.

I hope to be recording the rest of the Little Man’s Home Education journey here.