Angus Council Testing Procedures
Why test?
There are more pupils than instruments. We must construct a means of finding those who will benefit most.
A typical situation
Twenty children want to learn an instrument. There are only eight instruments.
Eight successful children are chosen and the rest are put on a waiting list.
We would caution about offering to buy an instrument against the tutor's professional judgment. Learning an instrument is a long, hard process with many knocks and frustration along the way.
If the tutor genuinely feels it will cause distress in the long run, their judgment should be respected.
How long will it take?
To give every child an equal chance, testing is spread over several weeks to allow children the opportunity to settle and get used to the tasks.
There is no preparation or homework for these tests.
What will my child have to do?
Tests will vary in content from teacher to teacher. Among many musical skills, we are looking for:
- Pulse; ability to maintain a beat / pulse
- ability to repeat or produce a rhythm over the beat.
- ability to pitch and sing back a note or a phrase
- coordination - ability to do several things at one time
- read simple notated rhythms
- behaviour - a willingness to take part, contribute
Testing with most teachers is based around Kodaly activities and games. This gives the tutor a chance to observe the qualities of each child individually.
| Goal | Activity | Materials | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse / response to music | any music with a heavy beat in 4/4 | CD / CD players | Ability to maintain a beat / pulse Warm up. Settle nerves. Clapping on beat 1,2,3,4. 2 Quavers on 1,2,3,4 etc. Materials: see Lucinda Geoghegan’s NYCoS books |
| Pulse / coordination / behaviour | Acha-bacha | Bouncy ball | A playground game, keeping pulse by bouncing ball. Passing the ball effectively to another player so as not to interrupt pulse. Measuring the bounce of the ball in relation to the beat. |
| Pulse / coordination / behaviour | Pass the beat | Bean bag | Similar to the bouncy ball, kids stand in a circle, hands up as if for a reel – left hand palm up under the right hand of the person to the left. The bean bag is then passed from the right hand across the body to the pulse of the chant/music |
| Intonation | Singing | Piano | Sing a tune the pupil knows |
| Rhythm / memory | clapping | Hands / cards | Identify rhythm |
| High / low | singing | Instrument / voice | Identifying high / low Extension: pick out higher / lower note of a chord |
| Motivation | Eyes / body language | To establish attitude to learning an instrument. | |
| Rhythm | clapping | hands | Musical Short Term Memory: to test ability to retain and reproduce a simple rhythm in simple or compound time. |
| Motivation | Discussion / interrogation | To establish reasons why a child may want to learn an instrument. Establish musical experience so far. | |
| Establish parental support | discussion | Liaise with teachers about their staying ability, parental support. Do they already have too many hobbies? Additional needs? Behaviour in class / group. | |
| Physical suitability | Try the instrument | instrument | Check posture, hand coordination, space between fingers , stretch, weight, discomfort, buzzing Risks: mouthpieces |
| Aural awareness | singing | Instrument voice | Teacher sings a phrase, pupil echoes phrase |
| Behaviour | All activities | Ability to respond individually and as a group, to act on instruction |