Music lessons

[knaffedoff]

Can anyone advise if schools receive funding for music lessons, if not is it just the for families that can afford them?

If you pay for the lessons, how much do you pay?

Mine all learn to play the recorder in school music lessons, but it's £16 per half hour lesson for anything else (individual lesson).

My DD was fortunate in that our Music Centre runs "Beginner Strings" for String beginners from Day 1. You do not have to be an improver, you just have to start! Lots of schools do teach the recorder for free, if a teacher can manage it!

In my DS school (independent school) we pay £19.50 for 30 mins of 1-2-1.

Included in fees is a year where they have a term of brass, a term of strings and a term of recorder (in groups of 6 or 7). They do this in Yr3 to give them a taste and see if they would like to take up any of those instruments.

Music is expensive and I think the perepetetic teaching Union suggests teachers charge £38 per hour for private lessons....sounds a lot, but bearing in mind that if in schools, they don't work or get paid in the school holidays and are self employed so get no sick pay, pension contribution etc and often don't have a full days worth of work, you can start to see why they charge what they do.

Where music is heavily subsidised, there is higher take-up, but especially when it is only subsidised in the short term (perhaps for a year) there is also a high drop out rate......most people learning an instrument never progress to take a music exam. When the lessons are very very heavily subsidised or free, parents often don't encourage their kids to practice....not paying leads to not being invested in the process. Even a nominal charge helps people be more interested in it.

I think the attempts to widen access are great, however they only go so far. If you look at who progresses in music...takes exams and keeps going for several years with an instrument, it is the kids in the Prep schools or those from state schools with more affluent parents......a real shame!

As far as I know there is no funding for music lessons at most schools, there may be some schools so do though. I pay £100 approx a term for 30mins music lessons for my 4 kids (no instrument hire as we bought but that would be an extra on top for some)

I pay £13 half hour singing lesson, £14 half hour piano and £10 half hour clarinet. There is no funding available.

Just out of interest, presumably all of you are paying for music lessons because you think music is a subject that SHOULD be studied? As opposed to the view that some, (and in the government) think, that it is "not academic".
Ask my daughter, who took 'GCSE and 'A' level music, if it is a 'soft ' subject!...
When I see how she can adapt and arrange (if necessary, compose) music, and even orchestrate,as well as perform... Don't tell me it is 'not academic enough.'
(She wants to be a Music Teacher in secondary school.)

Sorry...Rant over. I get quite cross about the attitude to music!

I've never heard anyone describe music as a soft subject. We looked into it in some depth when DD was making her applications to Law schools and found this sort of thing :

www.trin.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/applying/a-level-subject-combinations/

www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/application/requirements/preferred-a-level-subjects

We also spoke specifically to lecturers at open days at LSE and other similar unis and all did not consider A Level music to be a soft option. In fact, it was the reverse with them explaining specific elements of Music A Level that made it a good academic A Level.

I have heard and read it described as a 'soft' subject!(can't give specifics, )

Luckily her school did not consider it so, but I know some that would rather you didn't do music .

The primary school I work in has a specialist music teacher, who teaches the entire school during the year (different terms) at PPA time.
We have a good orchestra, and choir, and she teaches keyboard skills for those who want it. In addition we have peripatetic teachers for wind, upper strings and guitars.
I think we are quite lucky in this respect.Certainly the teachers are happy with it.

^presumably all of you are paying for music lessons because you think music is a subject that SHOULD be studied? As opposed to the view that some, (and in the government) think, that it is "not academic".
Ask my daughter, who took 'GCSE and 'A' level music, if it is a 'soft ' subject!...hmm^

eh?? Where did that come from.
I suspect most parents pay for music lessons to give their dc a chance to do something 'extra curricular' in the same way people pay for sports clubs or swimming lessons or dance classes or karate, etc.

Who has suggested music is a 'soft subject' ?

My kids have lessons buy haven't chosen GCSE in it, not sure where that came from