Sonappa in Action
Sonappa is 1 year old!
This year we have been looking closely at the effect that music technology lessons can have on primary school students and teachers. We thought we'd send you a breakdown of our discoveries that have come from analytics on the Sonappa resource, surveys from participating teachers, and interviews with students and school staff.
Our data shows nearly 1000 uses of the video resources during the 9 month pilot - which were used to either deliver music lessons for children in schools, or conduct professional development for teachers. Our average suggested lesson time is about 1 hour, which means that Sonappa has resulted in approx 900 hours of music taking place in primary schools in Scotland this year during the pilot. The data sheet for these statistics is attached to this email.
We have also surveyed teachers taking part in the pilot. Sonappa's mission is to put music lessons in the hands of teachers with minimal preparation and zero required expertise, and over 85% of teachers agreed/strongly agreed that Sonappa made it easier to deliver a music lesson, and 90% agreed/strongly agreed that Sonappa resulted in more music lessons taking place in their classroom and school.
They also said young people enjoyed using Sonappa, and progressed their musical learning as a result, making it more likely for a student to choose a musical subject when transitioning to secondary school.
You can view the full results of survey responses by clicking the button below (NB: responses are ongoing, above summary correct at time of writing):
Sonappa - Teacher and Pupil Experiences
To hear from the voices of pupils and teachers, we created a video that allows them to speak about their experience using Sonappa, and how it has impacted their musical development.
Testimonials
Annick Primary School P7 class are producing compositions for their We make Music - Digital award, using Sonappa to help them learn and develop their skills. They are getting on really well now, and we can't wait to to hear what they come up with!
The primary 5/6s at St Bridget's Primary in North Ayrshire had a virtual digital music making session with Stu from Sonappa recently.
They were getting a sneak preview of one of our new Musical Skills lessons that have just launched on the Sonappa online music making resource – a series of practical exercises that develop musical skills in a really hands-on way, working on musical timing, constructing drum beats, playing melodies, making arrangement choices and lots, lots more! This lesson uses the classic 80s song Walk this Way by Aerosmith ft. RunDMC. The kids showed fantastic skills in producing a perfect version of the original drum beat complete with record scratching!
“An absolutely stupendous session with Stu of Sonappa (music making at your fingertips) in P6/5 today. Our GarageBand skills are improving at quite the pace!”
— St. Bridget’s Primary School, North Ayrshire
Sonappa came to Craigdhu Primary in East Dunbartonshire and had a brilliant day with a great bunch of kids!
They are using Sonappa to complete their We Make Music - Digital award, and we dropped in to give them a hand! We worked on several things that day, including writing short pieces of music for visual arts (jingles), and we were really impressed with the creativity and standard of work shown by the young people we met.
Watch this space for more news from them!
Lots of schools have been taking part in the We Make Music - Digital pilot project this year. We Make Music is a nationally recognised award for primary schools, being developed by the Music Education Partnership Group. The digital part of the award uses Sonappa to support the teaching and learning, and we are very excited to be involved in such a brilliant idea!
Annick Primary School in North Ayrshire recently took part in a Sonappa introduction session, and it was great to welcome them on board the project!
