Ever since I was in P5, I was always very musical. I started playing the clarinet in P5 when the opportunity arose to take up an instrument. This really excited me and was raring to go. I continued to play clarinet and take part in many school concerts and music festivals until 6th year when I was forced to hand my clarinet back to the school. My experiences of musical tuition have been very positive, I always got on with the instructors. Their methods for teaching all differed but were all very effective in helping me learn and develop my skills. In primary school music for me was usually taught by listening to different music and trying to learn to play different songs on the recorder. I feel, although learning music in school was positive, it still needs a bigger part in the curriculum in my opinion. In primary school, I also played several lead roles in musical concerts and musicals, such as Toad in ‘Wind in the Willows’, Joseph in ‘Joseph and his amazing techni-coloured dream coat’ and Oliver Twist in ‘Oliver’.

I achieved A’s in National 5 and Higher music. Studying music in high school was different in the way that it was more in depth and was not just playing instruments. It involved listening to different music and learning to recognise musical concepts as well as making our own music. Due to my musical background, I feel as though my music reading is of a good standard.

I have always been very passionate about music, be it playing instruments, singing or learning about music and also just in general, listening to music. Whenever I can, I will always be listening to music. It could be new modern dance or pop songs, or classic songs from years ago. I have always loved music, but the reason I like older music from the 80’s etc. could be due to the fact my dad was a DJ in Spain in the 80’s and still volunteers for a hospital radio station in Kirkcaldy. I grew up listening to older songs, because of my dad’s obsession for music and I am still undecided if that was a blessing or not. My music taste is varied and I will listen to any song, given of course that it is a good song.

I believe that the experiences and skills I gained throughout those years has lead to me being quite confident in my ability in teaching music in the primary school setting.

However, despite this, I am also of the opinion that you don’t have to be musically talented or naturally musical to be an influential, successful music teacher, and I agree with Mills (2009, p6) who stated that ‘Their advantage is that they already have musical self-esteem‘. This is a vital element that teachers have that can help them be as successful as possible in the classroom.

I believe that music should have a more prominent purpose in the curriculum as it engages children in an activity that can broaden their horizons and give them vital skills for now and later in life. It allows children to enjoy learning and challenge them to critically think about and learn a variety of different music genres, some they may have never heard before.

Overall, I feel quietly confident about teaching music due to my positive experiences and musical backgrounds. There will obviously be struggles along the way and difficulties to overcome, but I believe that by gaining even more understanding and knowledge and further developing skills throughout my course, I have the best chance of being a successful teacher of primary school music.

References:

Mills, J. (2009).  Music in the primary school.  England: Oxford University Press