A Music Learning Paradigm Lost and Found: The Play by Ear Music Curriculum

Event by Musicological Society of Australia - MSA: South Australian Chapter

In the 50 years since the Tanglewood Symposium there have been calls for “a new paradigm” for wider participation in music education. Rock, tech, hip hop and social inclusion initiatives have not changed the underlying performer-audience paradigm. Tom received an Australian Innovation Patent for an “instant play” approach to music learning. It makes a fundamental inversion by not accepting music as a given but re-writing the tune to match the simplest finger movements for total beginners. He has since scaled it across the full educational curriculum levels so that likely users such as relief teachers, non-music teachers and community groups can use the methods without fear of clashing with requirements. In this talk, Tom will review how the music sector fits within the paradigm concept and briefly demonstrate aspects of his approach such as gamification.

Tom has formed a free Play by Ear Association to advance the methods: https://www.facebook.com/groups/playbyearassociation