Thursday 30th September, John Madejski Academy, Reading- Matt Sanders, Brass Dept
Vicky and I were lucky enough last week to be invited to the John Madejski Academy to help out with a series of Hands-On classes in their excellent music department. They were keen to start new beginners to help grow the music department at the school. Lead by Leah Mills, the head of music, and Paul McManus at the Music Industries Association, we were asked to bring 7 flutes and 7 trumpets and told to expect some fun…
Our first class came streaming in at around 10am and made a beeline for the shiny trumpets! I had 6 children at a time and 10 minutes later had 6 children just starting to play “hot cross buns”. Then it was Vicky’s turn, almost unbelievably, 10 minutes later she too had a group able to blow 3 notes on a flute!
We had a few really outstanding players through the day, taking to flute very naturally and even a few budding trumpeters. One spectacularly managed a whole scale of C-major.
It’s nice to see enthusiasm in the children’s faces when playing an instrument; the educational and behavioural benefits have been proven in various studies. We hope the kids over at the JMA enjoy their new music lessons and get all the benefits they deserve.
* Images courtesy of MIA and approved by Madejski Academy *
It arrived safe and sound and we set about the often perplexing assembly of harmony instruments, happily this was a breeze and within seconds the instrument was assembled with due care and off we went. First impressions: this adjustable floor peg is really useful…Having had a fair amount of 
