Appendix 6 - International Music Council

In the more advantaged schools, awards are offered to learners who
participate in cultural activities and are therefore encouraged to join a
choir. This statement was confirmed when I saw the entries for the Tirisano
Eisteddfod: almost no entries came from Mamelodi or any other township
school!
Voice training
On the other hand, there is a great interest in solo singing. Utilising this
interest I have started teaching the basic fundamentals of good singing
technique to a group of learners. Part of their repertoire will include the
singing of duets and trios, with the focus on enjoyment. There are,
however, two very talented grade 12 students who are entered for the
Music Performance subject in September.
Trumpet
In 2005 I took up the challenge to teach the trumpet. The GDE had supplied
the instruments and it was definitely a waste of instruments not to make
use of them. I have had only limited tuition on the trumpet, but it gave me a
new challenge. The trumpet is proving to be very popular among the
learners. Presently I teach in groups and the different groups share the
instruments.
Our motto at Melodi ya Mamelodi is “Doing hope through Music”…….. I
hope that what we are doing will also bring hope to the revival and survival
of a culture of making music together!
VIOLIN (BETSIE MEYER)
I joined Melodi ya Mamelodi in January 2004. I received Suzuki training
from Christophe Bossuat (France) and Karen Kimmett and thought that
with Narritive Therapy and Pastoral care, this would be a winning
combination for the township experience. It was like visiting Antarctica in a
sundress!
We started with nine violins and seven bows and a hundred eager, noisy
and excited children who wanted to learn the violin.
Lesson planning
Ideas of name-lists and timetables were immediately eliminated. I took
seven learners for 15 minutes who then changed with the next seven
learners, who then changed with the next seven, etc. This happened while
the other 93 learners were watching in not-such-a-quiet manner. The
changing of instruments was a very dangerous event. They stormed the
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