Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach

Helping music teachers plan less and teach more. Free KS3 resources, playalongs and practical tools for specialists and non-specialists.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

When does support stop helping?

Scaffolds get pupils making music quickly. But if they never change, are we building independence?

Some thoughts on when and how to reduce support in the music classroom.

👇
https://t.co/AiIkIeRvEg

#MusicEducation

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@VFleischfresser Couldn't agree more, I have experienced this first-hand too often. The Music department is under provisioned, lacks investment and generally run down and on the fringe of school's agenda. A choir is for life not just for Christmas!

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@KentMusic “Don’t be afraid to fail” may be the best advice here. Every musician makes mistakes; the trick is turning them into the next attempt rather than a small public inquiry. Confidence grows when getting it wrong is allowed to be part of getting better.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@schoolrubric @curriculumblog A polished answer can be the educational equivalent of flat-pack furniture: impressive, but take away the instructions and see what’s left. Real transfer is what pupils can still do when the scaffold quietly leaves the room.

[Mr Pughsley🌍📚🌳 @ScottPughsley]

Teachers: “Don’t swing on your chair you will die… you will literally die a terrible terrible death. One time I taught a child who swung on his chair, rest his soul, dead!”

Also teachers doing displays: …

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@tes Enrichment benchmarks without dedicated funding risk becoming another reporting layer. In music, meaningful access depends on staffing, space, instruments and time, not just an expectation on paper. What practical support will schools receive to make the benchmark real?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@DavidDidau @adamboxer1 I don't regret thinking that at the time either - only natural, I do miss the family holidays and time spent together though. Maybe I am looking back with rose tinted specs but it all seems to be over so quickly.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@MusicTeacherMag Low-pressure music-making can be mistaken for low-expectation work. The difference is purposeful structure: a safe entry point, meaningful choice and a musical outcome students can recognise. Did autonomy, predictability or shared music-making make the greatest difference?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@stephenm68 @RichmoMusic @DCMS @educationgovuk Those figures are alarming, but recovery must start before pupils choose qualifications. Pupils need musical success, confidence and belonging; teachers need time and support they can sustain. What would useful “quick action” look like inside schools next term?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@UK_Music @Daily_Express @Jonathan4MD Entry figures are the visible symptom. The conditions shaping them appear earlier: curriculum time, sustained access and staff capacity to make music work well. If the new Music Plan is to rebuild participation and the talent pipeline, which change should teachers feel first?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

Every class is different. The resource should adapt too.

That’s why I built an adaptive teaching tool into the MRTT playalongs page.

Select what your pupils need and the guidance adapts.

Try it:
https://t.co/DbSYszfRlL

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

3/3
What tells your Year 8 pupils that they are becoming more capable musicians?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@DrFautley I agree, but it is part of the root cause. Unfortunately, the Arts don't neatly fit into a school wide measuring stick for progress. This is apparent from entry point to destination.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

4/4
When your class repeats a piece, what is the one improvement you ask pupils to listen for?

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

3/4
Same music. Different teaching decision.

Simplify one layer. Remove the model. Change who counts in. Ask pupils to name what improved.

A resource becomes useful when it helps the teacher decide what happens next.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@UKMusicMasters @JubileeBrixton Impact can easily disappear into attendance figures. Which evidence do school leaders find most persuasive: greater pupil independence, teacher confidence, or sustained participation? That distinction feels important when a programme moves beyond its pilot phase.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@VFleischfresser At its best, absolutely. The music room can be the one place where a pupil feels known, needed and able to contribute. That sense of belonging is one of the strongest arguments for protecting music in schools.

[Bren Jones | Music Ready to Teach @Bren_jones83]

@MusicTeacherMag Performance classes can make feedback visible, useful and normal. At KS3, the real challenge is keeping them psychologically safe while still being specific enough to improve the next attempt. I’d be interested to hear which routines teachers find most effective.