“What a new year will bring to you depends a lot on what you bring to the new year” —Vern McLellan
It has been a tough year for everyone; especially so for music teachers and small businesses teaching music who have been disproportionally affected by the Covid crisis! But with the vaccine becoming available soon it looks like we are turning the corner and can look forward to a new year filled with hope and opportunity for everyone!
At Manoké we have been busy tracking the shifts that the crisis has brought about and looking for ways to modify our platform and offerings to better equip the music teachers and students looking ahead to 2021 under a new normal.
Here’s what we will be bringing to the new year:
1. Digital Grade and Diplomas
In response to the Covid crisis, Trinity College of London has recently launched its Digital Grade and Diplomas program that enables students to present their credentials through a digital medium. This is a dramatic shift from in-person assessments and creates new and better ways for assessments and certifications. At Manoké we have tried to make this simple for teachers to guide their students with the new process and requirements.
2. Develop comprehensive Musicianship skills using a standard repertoire.
The musicianship is not about memorizing and regurgitating classical pieces from a standard repertoire. It is much more than that! A strong foundation requires the development of aural skills, sight-reading skills, playing in an ensemble setting, and being able to improvise. Manoké has partnered with Musee Musical consultants and Professor Karl Lutchmayer of Trinity College, London, to develop a 90-hour curriculum for guitar, keyboard, and piano.
3. Leverage AI technology to help students perfect their practice
While technology will never replace good teachers, it can help them to take in more students and not become overwhelmed. At Manoké we have started to put in place an AI-powered state-of-the-art technology infrastructure that will enable students with self-assessments and guide teachers to quickly spot weaknesses in their students’ playing and help them with additional work to correct those. This is still in the early stages and we look to develop this into a robust capability in partnership with participating schools and teachers in the coming year.
4. Learning Music through popular songs
Learning to play a western instrument does not necessarily mean one has to learn western classical compositions. Although they are rich, help develop technical skills and required repertoire for grade exams, one does need to start there. We have been working with a famous music director in South Indian cinema and have developed a curriculum based on popular movie songs! The learning of the song is broken into distinct steps: learning the scale, the rhythm, the chord changes part by part and then put it together to play the whole song. Early data shows that this method not only helps students master the song quickly it also equips them to improvise and adapt to changes that a conductor might ask in a live setting. We will continue to build out the library of such songs in the coming year!
