The Music Workshop Company Blog

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs.

We embed multimedia content in many of our blog posts, if you have rejected cookies for this website, you may have white spaces where the multimedia content should be. This is due to a recent change of policy by YouTube, Spotify and other platforms. We are in the process of updating all our posts. If you come across white spaces in a blog post, you can open the link in another browser or private browser and approve cookies to access all the content. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk

Your Year in Music

Posted on 15th September 2014 at 14:00

Our workshops here at the Music Workshop Company explore music, culture and history from all over the globe. Many festivals and important calendar events can be linked to a workshop theme to add depth and understanding to a topic.

This month we take a look ahead to see how music workshops relate to learning throughout the year.

Junk Percussion: Recycling, Design and Music

Posted on 15th August 2014 at 14:00

Our junk percussion workshops create a space for learning all sorts of skills. Participants use every-day objects, many of which would otherwise end up in the rubbish or recycling bin, to build their own instruments, experiment with sound, compose music and prepare for a performance.

The workshop develops a range of activities across the curriculum. In inventing, building and playing the instruments, students explore aspects of music, design, science, geography and World cultures.

Music and the Great War

Posted on 14th July 2014 at 14:20

July 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, a horrific global event, but one that has faded into deep history for today’s children. It is important and challenging to find new ways to look at subjects like this one, giving a fresh and personal perspective where children might struggle to relate to a difficult, almost unimaginable topic.

Composition, Improvisation and Creativity

Posted on 16th June 2014 at 13:30

The Music Workshop Company (MWC) runs a range of workshops based on a wide variety of World Music, including African Drumming, Samba, Junk Percussion and Singing.

We also run Music Composition workshops during which participants create and perform new music under the guidance of one of our workshop leaders. These workshops can be based on a theme or topic, or they can focus on a particular style of music such as pop, jazz or classical. Compositions are built up from ideas, notes or chords, often using improvisation, and built into a final performance where students play the pieces without sheet music.

MWC Supports Protect Music Education

Posted on 14th May 2014 at 14:30

This month, we wanted to bring to your attention the Protect Music Education campaign, a drive launched in April by the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) to rebuild Government support for music education.

The Music of North Africa

Posted on 15th April 2014 at 15:30

Our World Percussion Workshops at the Music Workshop Company introduce participants to music from around the globe. We include African Drumming and Samba techniques, which we have looked at in detail in previous blogs, and we also investigate the music of North Africa.

North Africa has always been a region of diverse cultures, ethnicities and religions. Its recorded history stretches back to the Phoenician sea traders, Carthaginians and Greeks, and the area was under Roman control from around 200 BC to 300 AD.