Melvin Alick teaching the Percussion Lesson.
Programme Director, Elan Trotman
By:
Peta Rowe-Forde
Head Start music is a five-day programme where we offer free instruction to students ages 7-11 in saxophone, flute, clarinet, trumpet and percussion.” The was the introduction given of the newest musical training programme, started on Sunday, by Programme Director for Head Start Music Barbados, Elan Trotman.
The instruments were donated to the programme from a company in Utah and students heading into the respective classes will receive training from five of the best local tutors on the island. “The parents don’t have to pay a fee for the lessons nor the instruments but the instruments belong to the programme,” stated Trotman.
During this time, students will be given only an introduction to the instruments but the programme is expected to be more continuous next year.
Trotman explained, “Once the 2017 school year begins we will resume the programme and then it will be on a more consistent basis hopefully once a week if not bi-weekly….The students will be learning a very basic introduction to the instrument, basically this is an opportunity for students to experience the instrument and then make a decision on whether or not they want to continue playing the instrument on a more continuous basis.”
This concept is modeled after the music programme in a school in Boston Massachusetts where Trotman has worked for the last ten years. Likewise, third graders are given the opportunity to play a band instrument for a short period of time and then they are given another instrument to try and when they turn eight, they choose which one they like best and they can play that all the way until they graduate.
With high hopes for the programme, Trotman stated, “I’m just excited… It is a lot of work, a lot of moving parts…we give them three options and the percussion seems to be the most popular. There’s nothing more rewarding then seeing a child with an instrument because it reminds me of how I got started in music... I’m 37 and I’ve been playing music my whole life.”
On Thursday, the programme will conclude with a recital.
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