Teacher Training

Training courses for Music Teachers of primary school children and up.

Training Courses For Music Teachers

The Musician Magician one day course led by Peter Sills is a training course based at the Hermitage Centre, Brentwood, Essex. But for teachers and schools who are unable to make it out to external courses, INSET days will be made available at a time and date of your convenience.

Learn how to present music lessons to all ages

The Musician Magician day course is cram-packed with extremely practical and inspirational material that will enable teachers to present lively, progressive and creative lessons in their classrooms. Most importantly, teachers will be shown how to present music lessons that are suitable for a wide range of abilities – the brightest gifted child to those with severe learning difficulties.

Is this course for me?

Teachers with little or no musical training.
Specialist music teachers wishing to extend their repertoire.
Experienced musicians seeking to share their talents in a primary school environment.

Enquire about the course

If you are interested in taking the Musician Magician one day course, please fill out the contact form and we’ll be in touch.

Course Length

1 day on the following dates.

Location

Hermitage Centre,
Brentwood,
Essex.

Hermitage Centre, Brentwood, Essex

What makes a good teacher?

There are two essential ingredients for presenting creative, progressive music lessons in junior schools today:

A positive attitude from the teacher.
The correct material that will get you started and guide you, step by easy step along your musical journey.

A Positive Attitude

Of course, a positive attitude is a given, especially with music. If the presentation is flat, the lesson will also be flat. Music first and foremost is about passion and self expression. It is not about slick glossy software, app’s and children sitting at keyboards with headphones. These elements all have there place, but they are not a substitute for what music is really about – noise, organised sound – vibrations bouncing from one side of the room to the other.

Music integrates emotion and intellect in a way that no other subject can. Small class, big class, every child participates – making music. The class may get a little chaotic at times, it may even push the boundaries a smidgen too far, but if the end result is a bunch of kids playing together, creating music, having fun – the end certainly justifies the means.

Great material and easy steps

The thing that makes the The Knack of Making Music stand out is the material. Peter Sills is a highly successful musician and songwriter. He is also a very experienced teacher and has worked on the shop floor teaching pre-school through to A level music. He wraps his lessons up around fun songs that children will want to sing again and again.

His teaching covers every aspect of music including reading notation, playing ensemble incorporating guitars, recorders, keyboards, xylophones, ukuleles, drums and percussion. Most of his lessons start off with a musical quiz (two teams) covering all aspects of music theory, history, harmony, styles of music from around the world plus a few current pop questions thrown in to help the medicine go down. He ardently encourages composition and improvisation and reserves a space in every lesson for children to “show case” their latest, hot of the press master pieces.