about YMI – Making Music

March 26, 2020May 29, 2020

Learn the Uke!

Introduction

The Youth Music Initiative team have created a project to support teachers deliver class Ukulele lessons The YMI tutors come to the school to start the lessons and deliver some CPD for the staff. After a few weeks the of co-delivery, the YMI tutors reduce their input and only come into the school every couple weeks, with the class teacher leading the class in the alternate weeks.

As the project is develops, and has now be changed by the lockdown, we are adding song sheets and videos that can be downloaded and used at home or in the school hubs If you have access GLOW you can see all of them on our YMI Making Music Teams Page.

Words

We have song and chord sheets that can be printed off for all of the songs videos.

To view the words online just click on the link. To download the files right click on the links and then select either:

Save Target As’ (PC)
‘Download Linked File’ (Mac

Budapest

La Cucaracha

You can download the words for all the songs in our posts on the following Learning Resource page.

Here is one of the videos we have made, with Mrs Borthwick leading La Cucaracha.

Links

This the link to the Ukulele Playlist so you can watch more at home.

You can subscribe to our YMI Borders YouTube Channel where we have other playlists and learning videos from the tutors.

For teachers and support staff you can access our GLOW Making Music resource pages. If you are not already member of the Team you can request access.

January 16, 2020January 16, 2020

YMI Impact report 207/18

YMI Impact Report 2017 /18

The end of project report for the YMI year 2018/819 has just been released. It explores the work of all the funds strands, highlight that during that year at least 240,000 young people took part in YMI activity. This includes at least 195,000 in school based activity and at least 45,000 in out of school activity.

For this year there was a 10% cut in the overall budgets allocated, which led to a 3% drop in participation numbers and the numbers of hours delivered also reduced slightly.

Despite this YMI’s impact remained very strong and the report is filled with positive developments and learning experiences. The final section makes some with some realistic and positive points for consideration.

Below is the document

YMI-Impact-Report-2017.18

November 8, 2019November 8, 2019

Paul Harris talk

For November’s in-service day music staff from the YMI project, the Music Instrumental Service and our Music Curriculum Support Teacher’s got together to hear from music educator Paul Harris.

Paul has written over six hundred books about music education and writes for major international music magazines. He performs regularly and is an examiner and an adjudicator at national events.

At our session he talked about his Simultaneous Learning approach to instrumental and singing teaching. There was so much to take in, both practical ideas and the theory of learning. One of the themes that really came across was the need for a teacher to be an empowering guide to their students, collaboratively going on a learning journey with them. His ‘Map of the Musical World’ is a practical presentation of the musical ingredients that learners need to develop. It helps both student and teacher move through, and make connections between, these ingredients to embed the learning and develop their skills.

We are already considering how we can bring Paul back to expand into group or whole class teaching and inspire non specialist class teachers.

November 6, 2019December 6, 2019

Music Appreciation Assembly

Music Appreciation Assembly

Three of the YMI team recently performed songs at an assembly in Earlston Primary schools. The school was running a series of afternoon assemblies bringing in musicians , asking some of the pupils to play their own instruments or listening to music to increase the appreciation and enjoyment of music . the Depute head teacher, Kevin, asked if we could help and Kaela, Jon and Jenni went along in December to play sing and get the pupils up dancing.

It went down well and we hope to help the school invite some other musicians along to inspire the children.

September 1, 2019November 1, 2019

Sounding Out

In 2014 a report was commissioned to examine the strengths and weakness of youth music in the Scottish Borders. The writers spoke with a cross section of sectors, music teachers and young people. The report led to the creation of the Borders youth Music Forum ‘Soundcycle’

The full report can be downloaded below.

Sounding Out 2014

July 1, 2019May 29, 2020

The Borders YMI team

The Youth Music Initiative team in the Borders consists of four music tutors , working in our schools, who are supported by the Creative Learning Officer. We are part of the Education, within Children and Young People’s Services.

Each year we apply to the YMI Formula Fund for the staff team, resources and the external projects that we run.

We work in many of our Primary schools, all of the Support and Complex Needs units and some of the High schools. We compliment the work done by the peripatetic Curriculum Support Teachers (Music), who also deliver lessons in some our primary schools, and we ensure that we visiting each primary school in the region between the two teams.

The YMI tutors are highly accomplished musicians and have taught in schools for many years. Whilst they all have their own specialism they deliver whole class music making lessons, using a wide range of instruments including ukuleles, drums, tin whistles, keyboards and the accordion, as well as using singing and music technology.

Our funding enables us to deliver a number of regular projects provided by external partners, such as the primary school tour by Scottish Opera and Mat the Hat’s ‘ Big Drum Adventure’ as well as other one off projects by touring musician’s, such as the Ghanaian Kakatsitsi drummers.

For more details about what the work YMI team in the Borders is doing and some of our activities we are currently undertaking have a look at some of our Home Learning posts.