Managing Director, Brian Greene, has written a series of articles aimed at supporting teachers and pupils get the most from their use of Gigajam.

Brian said,  ‘Like many programs there are depths of functionality and use that sometimes take a while for users to integrate into their common use. Gigajam is much more than some lessons and practice software and I wanted to show how users can grow to understand and use more aspects of the program to develop and apply users music skills whilst supporting teachers structure the lessons and music making activities.’

The series focuses on a journey of deeper use of the lesson content, software and extended activities, as well as a look at the sophisticated assessment for learning opportunties. It is meant to be a gradual illumination of the possibilities of Gigajam, not a manual.

The first  in the series discusses the two levels of Interactivity users can experience from using Gigajam’s practise and analysis Xtractor software, and makes use of the new informal ‘How to’ Video Channel.  http://schools.gigajam.com/videochannel.aspx

You can view the first email article  here http://schools.gigajam.com/email/10May1/

Yamaha and the e-learning music company, Gigajam, launched their new partnership at the 2010 BETT (formerly the British Educational Training and Technology) show at London’s Olympia in January, which will provide a cost-effective way for secondary schools to provide entry-level rock band tuition via e-learning.

Yamaha already supports the cream of the nation’s gifted and talented young classical, jazz and rock musicians, though its extensive scholarship programmes. It is also a principal supporter of the Federation of Music Services, which provides instrumental and vocal tuition which is approaching 20 percent of pupils up to the age of 15 in England and Wales – impressively up from just over 8 percent in 2005.

Of the remaining 80-plus percent, some young people learn privately but there is still a large number, particularly in years 7-9, who are interested in learning a rock instrument but who do not currently have access to tuition. Yamaha sees its new Gigajam partnership as a key strategy to help address the problem of access to learning to play – in this case, rock band instruments – for everyone else.

The Gigajam system provides a well structured system of tuition and assessment for guitar, bass, drums and keyboard, which is delivered and assessed online. Learners play along with a series of structured and well designed exercises, initially using Yamaha MIDI and electric instruments. Advanced software then provides assessment and guides the student, at his or her own pace, through the materials. Gigajam is currently preparing a groundbreaking new assessment system for audio instruments, too, which will further radically transform the already effective system.

At any stage during the learning process, learners can choose to play along live with their peers, once they have developed a basic level of skills and confidence.

The Gigajam system is certainly not intended to replace high quality instrumental tuition. However it has already proven to be an effective way to give young people who may not already be learning an instrument the chance to do so, up to an intermediate level. Following this innovative and cost-effective way of introducing more young people to music making, many who have been through the system so far have gone on to learn, either with the local music service or with a private teacher.

Yamaha’s education manager, Bill C Martin, commented: “Yamaha’s vision is simply to expand the number of people learning music and to help make it an inspiring journey for all. We are already doing much at the inspiration end of things: our extensive Conservatoire Scholarships programmes across the genres and our support for the Federation of Music Services, whose members in the local music services provide world-class, high-quality instrumental tuition. The FMS has done a great job helping extend this via its support for the KS2 Whole-Class Instrumental and Vocal Teaching Programme (Wider Opportunities), which has provided at least a year’s free instrumental tuition to junior school children and which has been praised in a report published by FMS in January 2010. However there is more to be done at secondary level to boost the numbers of young people who are learning to play. We believe that Gigajam’s proven track record over the past few years speaks for itself in providing a positive experience for young musicians. We can now begin to develop the quantity of learners without losing quality.”

Watch a video report on the Yamaha-Gigajam presentations at the 2010 BETT show.

PR by DJPR

Brian Greene, managing director of Gigajam, yesterday presented two seminars on The Bucks Online Music School, at the Buckinghamshire Next Generation Learning Conference at Green Park Training Centre, Aston Clinton.

The Online Music School is powered by Gigajam and available to all schools and pupils in Buckinghamshire. Through the Bucks Grid for learning pupils can study guitar, bass, keyboard, drums and theory online at school, at home, and on their mobile.

A summary of the seminar content is below which details the current Online Music School as well as the new version which is planned to be integrated into the new Bucks Learning Portal during 2010.

Presentation Notes for delegates

Introduction

The Bucks Online Music School is currently available at http://gigajamprem.bucksgfl.org.uk. For free access use your Bucks GFL login credentials.

Gigajam provides a rich multi-media music school, with over 128 lessons for guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and theory. There are over 968 videos, 45 TV Shows and 520 notional hours of study.

 The course covers KS2 through to KS4, the equivalent to music grades debut to grade 5.

Gigajam in action

Gigajam is being used in schools up and down the UK, Australia, Netherlands and Finland and I have provided, below, a  few examples of the different ways in which Gigajam is being used to provide more opportunities to learn a musical instrument.  Schools differ in resourcing of computing. instruments, space, teachers and pupils and therefore use  Gigajam in a wide variety of ways to support the development of music skills in their pupils. Please note that it is not essential to use any specific instrument to follow Gigajam lessons, you can use any instrument that you have available. If you do have MIDI instruments then they simply enable access to our analysis programme, but that is not essential.

Here are some different uses of Gigajam.

1. Pupils using purely at home with their own instruments.

2. Small rock clubs (4 pupils, 4 computers, 4 instruments) After school, lunch time. -Set up in the corner of a room, or a music practise room made into an ‘Interactive Music Room’.  

3. Larger groups using an Interactive Whiteboard to go through lessons doing virtual drumming, or using whatever instruments are to hand to learn the concepts. Perhaps one or two instruments connected used with a computer individually.

4. Whole classes on a two to one basis, with a high degree of independence.

5. Whole classes with a one to one basis with complete autonomy and personalised learning experience, extended schools, adult education, community learning, lunch time, breakfast clubs and Gifted and Talented.

Video Case Studies used:

http://schools.gigajam.com/casestudies.aspx

Specifically

Using Gigajam in a primary setting where the school made good use of the instruments that they have.

Buckingham Primary School – http://schools.gigajam.com/CaseStudyBuckingham.aspx

Secondary school providing one to one independent studying in class,together with live performance

Bradley Stoke Community School – http://schools.gigajam.com/CaseStudyBradStoke.aspx

Live performance of a primary school showing how the real skills learned enable bands to be formed (away from the computers). This class is around 10 weeks into the course and performing Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.

South Manchester CLC – http://schools.gigajam.com/CaseStudySouthManchester.aspx

Live presentation

How to use Gigajam – Video Channel

Here are a series of short videos demonstrating how to use Gigajam, which can be viewed on our Video Channel.

http://schools.gigajam.com/VideoChannel.aspx

(In the presentation I performed an exercise live on the drums, after following the instructions, watching the videos and playing along with the performance backing track. I then uploaded the performance to my locker (ePortfolio), using the latest version of Gigajams Xtractor X5 http://gigajamvle.com/download . I used the new Gigajam service at http://gigajamvle.com

Assessment for Learning

There is a short video demonstrating the power of the new assessment for learning engine. It captures and stores all student performances into their locker, which provides an automatically marked ePortfolio of the students work. It also captures where the student is within the course, provides a view of teacher comments and produces certificates of completed work for each lesson.

http://schools.gigajam.com/VideoChannel.aspx?id=9

For the teacher, it provides a summary of every pupil performance, ordered into classes, as well as the opportunity to review and comment individual student’s exercises. In essence it provides, continual, formative and summative assessment.

Questions and queries

Please feel free to ask any questions, we want you to get the most out of the Bucks Grid for learning and its Music School. We will be only too pleased to help in any way we can. Contact details are:

Brian Greene, Managing Director | T:0800 055 6797 |M:07976 208859 E: brian.greene@gigajam.com

www.gigajam.com

Stoke-on-Trent City Music & Performing Arts Service is running a 4 week course using Music and I.T called Gigajam for Adults, on a Wednesday evening 6-8.15pm, starting 28th April 2010.

Learn how to play lead guitar, bass guitar, drums or keyboard, using Gigajam, the latest in music software.

The course will be held in the Music Technology Suite at the Bridge Centre, Birches Head Road, Birches Head.

This is an opportunity for adults to experience playing a musical instrument or build on prior knowledge and ‘JAM’ as a band! (If you wish to)

Total cost for the course is just £5 !!

Places are limited, book now to avoid disappointment!!

To book your place(s) or for further information please contact:
Suzanne Lovatt
Interim Music & IT Coordinator
Stoke-on-Trent Music & Performing Arts Service
Tel: 01782 233794
Email: slovatt@sgfl.org.uk

The Innovations Centre at Gigajam have released the configurations to enable Gigajam’s Xtractor software to automatically upload through proxy servers.

Schools using proxy servers should download and install the latest version directly from here:

http://gigajamvle.com/download

Thank you to Kevin Haddell and Peter Booth at Hugh Christie Technology College and Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School respectively for helping us trial and  test.

For any technical help then please contact us on: support@gigajam.com or 0800 055 6797 .

GigajamVLE has both a Local Authentication for single school users as well as single sign on through Shibboleth 2. Schools in the South West Grid for Learning can login into GigajamVLE using their Shibboleth credentials at:

 http://gigajamvle.com/w?i=merlin

For schools using Merlin who wish to have access to award winning music content for their students please contact our MD Brian Greene. Your students will be able to use a single username and password to access all their resources and tools through Merlin, including Gigajam.

Brian Greene |:t 0800 055 6797 |m:07976 208859 |e: brian.greene@gigajam.com

Gigajam across the National Educational Network

Gigajam’s award winning Essential Skills Course is now available in more schools than ever before with agreements that make Gigajam available in over 100 of the UK’s Local Authorities.

The UKs Regional Broadband Consortia lead the way in implementing the aims of the government’s strategy for ‘Harnessing Technology’. Six of the 13 UK RBCs, which make up the National Education Network, now provide all of their schools with access to a significant taster of Gigajam content.

Gigajam’s vision is to make learning a musical instrument available to All pupils and students, free at the point of access. We have a lot of hard work to do in enabling all students to be able have access to musical instrument lessons, whether they are at school, or at home, but we continue to make significant progress in support of the aims of our government’s Music Manifesto. Personalisation, Independent Learning and Assessment for Learning are just some of the ways in which Gigajam ‘Harnesses Technology’ to create genuinely affordable, sustainable and progressive opportunities to support music making in and out of the class room.

How to access Gigajam through your RBC

The first five lessons can be accessed at school from the participating RBCs listed on our National Education Network page.

http://schools.gigajam.com/NEN.aspx

For more information then please contact Brian Greene, Managing Director:

e|brian.greene@gigajam.com

t|0800 055 6797

Students can learn the guitar, bass, keyboard and drums courtesy of the Bucks Grid for Learning. The Online Music School can be accessed by all students in Buckinghamshire via http://gigajamprem.bucksgfl.org.uk . Students can study in school, or at home by simply logging on to the Bucks GFL.

Gigajam Junior Drum School is also available in Bucks and is especially suitable for students aged 7-10. http://gigajamjun.bucksgfl.org.uk/

Please contact Brian Greene if you require any more information, or help in using Gigajam in Bucks.

e|brian.greene@gigajam.com

t|0800 055 6797

Saranna Maureau, BOA Project Manager, has recorded, in a  short picture animation, a photographic journal of the visit by KPN to the Gigajam school, Vlinderboom, hosted by BOA (Broadband Amsterdam)  26th January. You can see the set up of the Yamaha instruments together with the layout of the workstations, together with the children (of all ages)!

http://photopeach.com/album/12ni1rg