Music
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A long and distinguished tradition of fostering ambitions through the development of supportive friendships between staff and pupils has created happy, challenging and co-operative environments in our music departments.
Elite Musicians of all ages are given, where considered desirable, a bespoke timetable in which they can concentrate on honing their particular skills whilst also taking leading roles in the many instrumental and vocal ensembles which occupy protected space in the co-curriculum.
We offer a provenly successful route into higher musical studies at University or Music College or simply the necessary grounding for a lifetime’s love of playing and singing with friends and colleagues.
Bedales Pre-prep nurtures the initial passion every child has for music. At Bedales Prep, students soon discover that the more they practise, the more exciting ensemble opportunities become readily available to them. Orchestras, choirs, rock bands and chamber ensembles perform regularly in concerts and theatre productions.
Bedales offers every musician even more challenging opportunities in which to study and take part in concerts, both at school and on tours abroad. Every student who is interested in the academic and practical study of music can be assured that these needs will be well looked after by members of staff who are themselves actively engaged in professional musical making.
The appreciation of artistic beauty informs all that we offer. It has been most elegantly summarised by Lady Marjory Allen: “The splendid sense of belonging was at its most intense at evening Assemblies when we heard music that I love.”
Students opt to take music and are given two 35-minute period lessons. The course is open to experienced musicians and also those who are curious and enthusiastic about music. Music in Block 3 at Bedales places emphasis on the practical. It acknowledges that the acquisition of knowledge is only half the story: students must also develop skills necessary to put it into practice. We aim to help students become active performers and enthusiastic listeners rather than passive consumers of music.
As well as the usual performing and composing, the course places fluency in industry-standard computer software and music technology at its heart.
Notation has been inextricably linked to Western European music’s development, but it is important to recognise that a significant proportion of the music being written today has no recourse to sheet music in the traditional sense. The course recognises the importance of both approaches, and encourages mutual respect between literate and non-literate musicians.
Tasks are collaborative, encouraging small-group problem-solving and exchange of ideas.
As with all arts subjects where there is almost limitless scope for refinement, differentiation is by outcome. A very simple set of instructions and parameters may lead to a workmanlike outcome, or the identical rubric may lead to an almost professional-level response.
Assessment is through individual project work, with students having a degree of choice over the direction a project should take. Live and recorded performances, traditional or software-based compositions and presentation of research projects would all be acceptable assessment pathways.
As well as promoting the inherent and much-documented benefits of musical education, the Block 3 music course aims to give pupils the knowledge, experience and skills required to access the BAC music course:
- Understanding principles of traditional notation (if not becoming absolutely fluent)
- Formation of chords and short progressions
- Melodic writing over given chords
- Aural discernment of textures and elements
- Understanding how elements combine to create mood in music
- Fluency in Sibelius and Logic X Pro software
- Awareness of structure and form in music
- Playing leading and subsidiary roles in ensembles
Heads of Department
Doug McIlwraith
Heads of Department
Doug McIlwraith, Director of Music
Neil Hornsby, Head of Contemporary Music