What I’ve learnt from my dissertation!

So I have nearly finished my dissertation…I say dissertation, it was in fact an extended essay of only 5000 words instead of 10000. This is because I have chosen to weight my final year on my end of year recital which means that my final performance and repertoire exam will be worth over half of my overall mark for my degree…no pressure then.

My essay was entitled: The effects of music on childhood development from prenatal up until the age of five.

This is something I have always been interested in, and a topic I was keen to cover right from the start of my degree. Now I’m at the end of it, I realise how much I have learnt, not only from the research I’ve done, but about myself and my abilities.

Firstly, I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d have the motivation to write 5000 words, not just the writing stuff, I can ramble on when I need to, but the research it entailed and the attention to detail I needed when structuring each chapter and proof reading the final product. Although I had my moments where I was unable to find any words to fill any of the areas I wanted to cover, for the majority of the time, I found it relatively easy to motivate myself to write the words down and research all the topics precisely and effortlessly. I actually enjoyed most of it!

Secondly I learnt how much my writing skills have improved. My course is not overly academic, I’ve written a few ‘essays’ in my four year here, but they are nothing compared to what I was writing at school, most of them were more like reflective journals. At school I always held the belief that my writing was no good. I am mildly dyslexic, and when it comes to structuring essays, let alone the spelling and grammar, I really tended to struggle. However I must have done something right at school, maybe over my A-levels when I was writing long scientifical pieces of coursework, as a lot of my writing through my dissertation was well spelt, grammatically corrected, and structured in a way that not only made sense, but read easily! Yay for me and learning to write!

Thirdly was the amount I learnt about the subject. I always knew that music was beneficial at any age, it uses both sides of the brain, and requires many skills to be used that you may not use in other situations, such as memory, hand-eye coordination etc. and often at the same time. Now I have learnt that, when a child is developing, music can be one of the biggest helps in encouraging progress and stimulating the brain.

It starts from before birth, as the baby can hear from as early as 16 weeks. Scientists have noticed that breathing and pulse rates of a foetus will sync to the music it is being played. Then after birth, music will aid the development of: the brain, emotional understanding, language, spatial awareness, motor skills, mathematics and more. So many different skills we will all learn are linked in one way with music, a lot through the fact that the brain that is activated when listening to music is also activated when doing these other activities. The fact that music has such a large, beneficial impact on the brain shows how important music is to our lives, especially when we are young and are learning new things and developing daily.

The fact that I chose to do music at uni was often looked down upon by my peers and teachers at school as it was seen as a ‘doss’ subject. The fact that I do 12 hour days, without having any lectures, is enough to tell you that it is not, and it is by no means easy, and now, looking at the proof above, how can anyone deny music is good for us! Lets just hope we can continue to find a way to inspire the youth!!

XxxX

Work experience

For my fourth year at college, I have to spend at least five days doing professional placement. This can be anything from performing professionally, such as with an orchestra or in a pit for a musical or other show, to orchestral management, concert organising, teaching … etc.

For my placement I knew I wanted to do something involved with music therapy, specifically working with children or adults with learning difficulties! I am currently working with a man known in the community as ‘The Music Man’. He works with a variety of children with varying needs by going into their schools and doing workshops with them. He has also been able to work with BBC NOW and WNO, both individual players and the orchestras, to put on concerts for the children, so that they can experience a new sound world and be in a different situation to what they are usually in.

I have worked in special needs schools and workshops previously, for my GCSE work experience and with Touch Trust in Cardiff, but it is something I havent done properly in a while. My first day at the school I am currently working in reminded me how much I enjoy this work! I love seeing their eyes light up when they hear different sounds. The curiosity and unaltered interest into playing instruments in different ways, something that is taught out of us in mainstream schools, and seeing the benefits they have from each session.

I took my ukulele into the sessions, and was able to walk around the group, playing basic chords, letting the children have a go if they wanted, and the response I got was incredible! Some were fascinated, wanting to touch the wood, the strings, interested to see how the sound was made. Others were happy to sit there quietly and just listen to what I was doing. Even in the children who had extreme disabilities you could see a response. I know a lot of people expect a visual response when working with special needs, but sometimes, the biggest and best response is them not doing anything!

I have been in twice now and will be going in again in a couple of weeks, this time to spend a full day in the school, spending the morning in the music sessions and the afternoons volunteering in the classroom!

Spending time in the school has reminded me of my passion for working with children, especially those with learning difficulties! Eventually, once I’m settled in an area permanently, I wish to set up my own workshop, most probably afterschool type thing, for children with and without disabilities. I grew up with an Aunt who is mentally disabled. Because of this, I grew up with an understanding of how to act around her, which I could then transfer when working with other adults and children with disabilities. A lot of people who have not grown up in similar circumstances do not understand how to act around them. They can be patronising and uncaring, although this is often not intended, and although we can learn how to interact in a more appropriate manner, I think it can help if we learn from a young age, and we can begin to accept it as norm and don’t think twice about what we do.

This is why I wish to set up a music workshop for mixed abilities. The children can learn musical concepts and can also see how each other work, both beneficial for those without disabilities as for those with. It will also give mainstream children a chance to understand the differences at a young age, meaning they grow up with a better appreciation and understanding. Music is a good way to express oneself, and a good way to be creative. At mainstream schools, experimentalism, to a point, is often taught out of them at a young age, but at the school I am working at, they are encouraged to explore sounds more. Although they can’t get away with everything – throwing an instrument across the room is not encouraged – the sounds that they hear and they create are incredible, because they look at the instruments in a different way to us. I want to explore this further and encourage mainstream children to think this way too, so that they see the world in a different way, and are more willing to explore.

Its not for everyone, Im sure many people would disagree with me, but I believe it would aid children’s growing up and could open a whole new world to everyone involved!

XxxX