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MUSICAL MINDS
A HARMONIOUS LEARNING BLOG FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS & PARENTS
Welcome to "Musical Minds," the harmonious learning blog for primary school teachers and parents brought to you by Music Kids Academy. Our blog is a resourceful hub where you can explore the world of music education for young learners. With our experienced team of music educators, we bring you a collection of articles, tips, and tricks that will guide you in incorporating music education into your child's daily life. From the benefits of music education to the latest trends in teaching techniques, our blog is the ultimate guide for primary school teachers and parents looking to nurture a child's love for music. Join us on this musical journey and watch as your child's love for music grows!
Why Most Music School Assemblies Don’t Convert (And What To Do Instead)
here’s a lot of talk in education about systems, automation and efficiency. Online booking. Automated emails. Forms instead of conversations. “Everything’s in the system.” And yes — some of that matters. But here’s the problem. Parents don’t choose music schools because the admin is tidy. They choose them because they feel confident. Confident in the teacher. Confident in the experience. Confident that their child will be looked after. That confidence isn’t built by systems.
Hidden Musicians of History: The Man Who Made Christmas Before It Was a Thing: St Francis of Assisi
A man usually portrayed talking to birds and looking mildly disappointed in humanity. St Francis of Assisi. Patron saint of animals. Champion of poverty. And, inconveniently for the stereotype, a songwriter. Francis didn’t just like music. He used it. He wrote hymns, sang publicly, and believed music was one of the fastest ways to reconnect people with joy, humility, and wonder. His most famous work, The Canticle of the Sun, wasn’t meant for quiet reflection. It was meant
Hidden Musicians of History: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁: Napoleon Bonaparte
Our hidden musician didn’t play an instrument particularly well. Which, frankly, didn’t stop him. Napoleon Bonaparte. Military genius. Control enthusiast. Five-foot-seven bundle of ambition and insecurity. Napoleon understood something most leaders still don’t: you can shout orders all day long, but music moves people faster. He was obsessed with rhythm, tempo, and morale. Military bands weren’t decoration; they were tools. Drums regulated marching speed. Marches kept exh
Hidden Musicians of History: The Man Who Liked to Chop and Change: Henry VIII
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱: Henry VIII He is a man better known for chopping and changing than practising scales. Henry VIII. Six wives. Two beheadings. One brand-new church because Rome told him “no”. And yet, inconveniently for the caricature, he could really write music. Henry wasn’t pretending. He wasn’t dabbling. He wasn’t commissioning and slapping his name on it. He composed. He performed. He understood music. He played the lut
Hidden Musicians of History Month: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗱: King Saul
Today’s hidden musician sits right at the awkward intersection of power, paranoia, and divine disapproval. King Saul. First king of Israel. Deeply unstable. And medically dependent on live music. The biblical account is wonderfully blunt: Saul was tormented by an “evil spirit”. In modern terms, we might call it severe anxiety, depression, or a complete emotional unravelling under pressure. The prescribed treatment? Not prayer. Not counsel. Not rest. Music. Whenever Saul
Hidden Musicians of History: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀: Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia. Military genius. Absolute monarch. Relentless expansionist. And, rather inconveniently for the tough-guy image, a serious flautist. Frederick didn’t dabble. He practised daily. He performed regularly. He even composed over a hundred flute sonatas and concertos. This is the same man who spent decades at war, reshaped Europe through force, and ran one of the most disciplined armies in history. Yet every evening, without fail, he would sit down and
Hidden Musicians of History: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰: Leonardo da Vinci
Today’s hidden musician isn’t hidden because he was obscure. He’s hidden because we talk about everything else first. Paintings. Anatomy. Flying machines. Notebooks that look like the ramblings of a time-traveler. But Leonardo da Vinci was also a serious musician. So serious, in fact, that when he arrived at the court of Milan, he wasn’t hired as an artist. He was hired as a musical performer. Leonardo was an accomplished lutenist, known for improvising so beautifully th
Hidden Musicians of History Month: Boudicca
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 Boudicca — the warrior queen who nearly kicked Rome clean out of Britain… and who also, rather gloriously, sang. Not in a “lute by the fireside” way. Not in a “courtly entertainment” way. But in the fierce, spine-tightening Celtic tradition where leaders used music as a weapon. The Celts believed song carried power — literal power. War cries were sung. Rituals were sung. Laments were sung. Even strate
Hidden Musicians of History Month: BlackBeard
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 Boudicca — the warrior queen who nearly kicked Rome clean out of Britain… and who also, rather gloriously, sang. Not in a “lute by the fireside” way. Not in a “courtly entertainment” way. But in the fierce, spine-tightening Celtic tradition where leaders used music as a weapon. The Celts believed song carried power — literal power. War cries were sung. Rituals were sung. Laments were sung. Even strate
Hidden Musicians of History Month: Ramses II
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗵 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮. Ramses II, the long-reigning pharaoh who built temples the size of shopping centres and carved his own face into every cliff in Egypt. He was also a performer. Ancient Egypt treated music as a vital part of public life. Festivals, parades, coronations, prayers, harvest rituals, military celebrations, funerals, victories. All of them were filled with music. harps, flutes, percussion, chant and dance. Ramses
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