Encouraging online music lessons right across East Sussex

School children and young people across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove are being offered online lessons during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The hope is to help them to keep making music at a time when arguably we have never needed music more.

The education music service run by BHMA and East Sussex Music ESM normally teaches more than 5,000 pupils each week with instrumental and vocal lessons in schools. They are currently reaching around 3,000 students online.

Physical lessons had to be cancelled when schools closed in March and social distancing measures were implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But since then, virtual tutorials have been set up for children to join live classes online.

Peter Chivers, head of Brighton & Hove Music & Arts, is delighted with the response so far and hopes it will continue to grow, meeting a very real need.

“Music is such a fundamental part of human expression. It is something so unique, something that doesn’t necessarily require words. It is really hard-wired into us as human beings to express our emotions. Music is a language. Music connects us across the globe in a way that nothing else can.

“And I think our students are really keen to get back. They are still making music. You see that they are still putting out various videos of themselves playing and sharing it on social media. Even though they are not at school, it is still something very much that they want to continue to do. It is a great way to connect.”

Especially at a time of anxiety.

“The power of music is that it can really help and focus you. It does both really. Music can give you a sense of space and a sense of getting away, but it can also be a way of reflecting and of helping you to grapple with some of the events that are going on right now.”

Peter is keen to reach the service’s existing students; but so too is he keen to bring in new students: “People might already have instruments at home or you can hire them or a lot of them, like guitars and keyboards, can be really quite affordable. We have got a great team of 125 teachers that are raring to go around East Sussex and Brighton. They have all been given the training in the new models and they are ready.”

In addition, the service has also got a new virtual music centre, which can be accessed at https://www.bhma.org.uk/virtual-music-centre – a chance to work towards playing together online in groups and ensembles.

“This is something in response to the crisis. We wondered how on earth we could get the music-making going for groups. We realised how important it was for these young people and their friendship circles. We got to thinking about how we could do this in a really exciting way, how they can work together online and the idea is that once we are back together again in some form, then the performances can be properly live.

“A lot of this online work we had been looking at – except the virtual music centre which is completely new. But I think that once we are post-coronavirus, we will see a much more blended service, face to face but also online. I am sure a lot of the work will continue online because of issues like travel and so on.”

So things will certainly have changed by the time we get back to something approaching normal: “I think in future we will be using technology a lot more. I do think the whole thing will develop in different ways now.”

For info or to register visit: www.eastsussexmusic.org or www.bhma.org.uk

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