University of Youth Music Play(ers) (UJM)

Learning Music Through Play

Young people worldwide who are learning a musical instrument do not value this artistic activity, as they find their lessons boring and uncreative. The UJM wishes to give back its letters of nobility to the word "play" in the expression "playing music" by teaching music through play and playfulness. UJM ensures that youth develop a positive attitude toward this creative learning activity.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2021

Established

600

Children

2

Countries

Target group

Community

Updated

April 2023

We hope to create powerful music learning experiences that bring a natural way of learning through play together. We also want to teach children essential skills and mindsets to contribute to their communities. We hope to bring more joy, creativity, and happiness to music learning and to be better connected to their everyday musical and social lives.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Although learning music through play should be central to out-of-school music pedagogy, the reality is quite different, except during early childhood. Play is still seen as a barrier to rigorous learning. The University of Youth Music Play(ers) (UJM) proposes an innovative pedagogy to break this musical learning misconception and combine pleasure, play, and rigor.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

The University of Youth Music Play(ers) (UJM) pedagogy is based on three types of play-oriented musical activities. "Guided-play" activities focus on musical creativity or playfulness. These activities are directed by the student but structured by the teacher. "Serious-play" activities focus on dynamics, mechanics, and play elements that the teacher structures and directs. These activities are based on analog or digital serious music games developed by the UJM or existing on the market. "Play-instrument" type activities aim to playfully rehearse and learn a musical instrument.

Our research results show that students enjoy instrument lessons and feel connected to their music learning. Serious-play learning activities are the most popular among our students, especially those aged 6-9 because they are challenging and fun. Our results also show that our pedagogical approach appeals to the learning creativity of all students.

How has it been spreading?

Since 2021, using our pedagogical approach, we trained musicians to teach violin, piano, guitar, and drums to children aged 6 to 11. We have developed and tested guided-play activities and serious-play games to implement our solution. We have set up an international team of researchers to document our approach to improve it as we go along. We are starting with Brazil this year with the international export of our approach in various cultural and social contexts. During the next 3 years, we want to export our approach to Mexico, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. We also want to develop new serious digital music games using real-time sound detection algorithms with the goal that young people use their acoustic musical instruments as a joystick to learn playing music while playing video games.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

We can provide customized training to meet their needs in French, English. Spanish or Portuguese. We can provide access to all of our teaching materials (games, activities, etc.) and provide video examples of how to teach using our pedagogical approach. We can give them feedback on how they are implementing our approach within their educational context.

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Implementation steps

Identify your learning context

As learning contexts differ globally, it is essential to identify the characteristics of the learning environment where UJM’s “Learning Music Through Play” (LMusTP) model will be implemented. For example: space (e.g., how many classrooms will be available?), material resources (e.g., which instruments are available? Access to Wi-Fi?), and budget.

Gather the Dream Team

Once the learning environment is identified, it is time to recruit educators to teach a musical instrument through play. These teachers don’t need to have previous experience with game-based approaches. However, they must have some experience teaching their instrument (group contexts are an asset) and be open and willing to learn how to teach music through play.

Training

The UJM will provide a 5-day training course (theory and hands-on activities) that will allow teachers to understand the pedagogical foundations of the LMusTP model. Some topics/activities to be covered are: game-based learning in music, pedagogical uses of games, play and analyze UJM’s music learning games and gamified activities, a brief introduction to game creation/modding, and reflections on how to adapt the LMusTP model to your particular context.

Pilot

After training, teachers will practice what they’ve learned in a pilot project. The aims of this pilot project will be a) to test the LMusTP model within your context and with a specific profile of participants, b) to provide teachers with concrete feedback about their pedagogy practice, and c) to test the data collection tools developed by the UJM (e.g., questionnaires) which will be adapted to your context.

Implement and Document

After reflecting on the pilot project experience, you'll be ready once you’ve recruited enough participants! Guided by the UJM team, you’ll establish a 12-month plan which will lead your teachers to successfully implement and document the LMusTP model in your context (e.g., lesson planning and evaluation, open access to the UJM’s pedagogy resources, data collection schedule, etc.).

Analyze

All gathered data will be analyzed to better understand the LMusTP approach's impact within your context. UJM’s questionnaires will gather information regarding participants’ engagement, connected learning, creativity, and creative pedagogy.