Further Activities

Many members of the Beaumont community undertake a variety of musical activities in addition to classroom music. If you would like to continue your musical development outside of 'lessons' during this period of distance learning, some ideas are listed below.

Practice

Practice is an essential part of the development of musical skill. Practice can be therapeutic, cathartic, rewarding, difficult or distracting. It also has intrinsic value as a pursuit in and of itself.

Regular, short practice sessions are encouraged. In order to make effective progress on your instrument, 'deliberate' practice is essential. The video below details some of the facets of 'deliberate' practice.

How to practice effectively...for just about anything

Annie Bosler and Don Greene

Extra-Curricular Music

We intend to run 'extra-curricular music' in some form during this period of school closure. When we have set this up, details will be made available on the Beaumont Music Family Google Classroom (code: xlxzem6).

Details of online concerts that have been made available in light of COVID-19 are being collated here.

Online Sequencers

All Year 8-9 students have access to the education version of BandLab, a powerful online sequencer (requires Google Chrome). They may use this at any time to undertake a range of musical projects. Tutorials are available here.

All Year 8-9 students have access to the premium version of Soundtrap, a powerful online sequencer (requires Google Chrome). They may use this at any time to undertake a range of musical projects. Tutorials are available here.

Sonic Pi is a live coding music synth that runs on almost all home computers. It is simple, accessible and very powerful. A fantastic 'getting started' tutorial is available here. Highly recommended.

Recommended Radio

Classic FM, New Sounds and BBC Radio 3 remain fantastic sources of music, and the latter two have extensive back catalogues available on their respective websites.

Free Course: How to compose a jazz piece

We have been able to secure a number of codes to access the 'How to compose a jazz piece' for FREE. Usually this would cost £15. The course is recommended for GCSE students and enthusiastic Year 8/9 students.

To access this course follow these steps:

  • Visit the 'How to compose a jazz piece' page and add the course to your basket.
  • Use the code BS210 at checkout.
  • Sign up for an account to access the course.

Let us know what you think!

Miscellaneous Recommendations

BeatGoesOn - The aptly-named 'BeatGoesOn' (friends of the department) will be posting regular activities that can be done in your front room, requiring no equipment whatsoever.