Music at home – Resources and links for independent learning
06 April 2020
Hints and Tips - 4 minute read
Marie Bessant, Subject Advisor Music and Performing Arts
Working from home is well underway for most of us now, and social media is full of posts about young people continuing their school work from home.
In these times, I think it is important to keep enthusiasm alive, and to continue learning for learning’s sake. Music is so important for both mental and physical well-being so the more we can keep this up, the better.
My advice? Don’t worry too much about sticking to curriculum plans that were in place before the school closures – just set your students things to maintain and build their musical skills and creativity. Encourage active listening and playlist building, review writing and playing and singing.
To help I have pulled together some resources – many from familiar faces, that music teachers can quickly use to set relevant activities for their students to do independently.
Music teaching and learning resources
Steinberg have REALLY given us lots of resources for you to use:
- FREE Cubase LE. Please contact Richard Llewellyn (UK Education Manager for Steinberg) at r.llewellyn@steinberg.de if you would like copies of Cubase LE for free, for your students. To find out what you can do in Cubase LE, check out this video by professional music producer, Dom Sigalas.
- Cubase Elements. You can download the current Cubase Elements version for a free 30 day trial.
- Cubase Artist & Pro. If you use Cubase Artist or Pro at school, college or university, then how about asking if you can borrow the USB eLicencer (dongle) for you to use at home?
- Cubase Videos. There are loads of fun Cubase videos available to watch on the Cubase and Steinberg YouTube channels. These include interviews with famous musicians, including Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, and more. There are also lots of videos here about certain aspects within Cubase from the professionals, helping you to get the most out of Cubase.
Stay connected
As always, we are here to support you. Advice can be sought on music@ocr.org.uk and do follow us on Twitter @OCR_performarts where I often retweet resources and ideas from all over music ed.
If you have any other resources you’d like to share, tell us about your suggestions in the comments below. You can also sign up for email updates to receive information about resources and support.
About the author
Marie Bessant – Subject Advisor – Music and Performing Arts
Marie joined OCR in July 2014 as Music Subject Specialist after teaching Music for 10 years. With experience as Head of Department at secondary schools and FE colleges. Marie has a wealth of experience teaching Music and Performing Arts at GCSE, A Level, BTEC and HND. As OCR’s Music specialist Marie took the lead in the development for the new Music GCSEs and A Levels as well as overseeing resources, running training and CPD events, and supporting the performing arts teaching community. Marie also has the same responsibilities for Drama GCSE and A Level and the Cambridge Technical vocational Performing Arts qualifications. Alongside this Marie is an organist and pianist with a love for rock music.
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