Case studies: Music instructor (brass): Hamish Wood

Hamish has a degree in music from the University of Aberdeen and works as a music instructor for the Instrumental Music Service at Aberdeenshire Council.

My inspiration for becoming an instrumental music teacher came from my trombone teacher at school, where I thoroughly enjoyed lessons and always wanted to give that enjoyment back to kids younger than me. I also made a lot of good friends through music at an early age, and have made a lot more with similar interests throughout my music career.

I got a phone call from the head of Instrumental Music at Aberdeenshire Council the day after I graduated, offering me a job for supply brass teaching. The post then became full time and I applied for it. I arranged mock interviews with various people, including a head teacher in one of my schools, which I got valuable feedback from.

Some of the best experience and education for my line of work was actually out job shadowing other instrumental teachers that were already in the job. This hands-on experience was invaluable. Playing in the university ensembles also gave me fantastic experience which has led me on to other performance work after my degree.

The instrumental lessons that I received at the University of Aberdeen were vital to my current role. There were also many other aspects of my undergraduate degree that still help me in my day-to-day, and even term-to-term, planning and working. For example, I developed skills in analytical thinking, which is vital in music. I also gained organising skills, particularly useful when planning concerts (from the rehearsal stages to actually putting on the concert).

A teaching degree for instrumental teaching is not essential. I graduated with a BMus (Hons), focusing on performance in my final years. However, experience is invaluable - this is where the job shadowing helped me a lot.

There is a lot of travelling involved in my job so a driving licence is essential. I currently travel between 13 schools in Aberdeenshire - three academies and ten primary schools. This does vary from year to year, depending on how many pupils move up to the academies at the summer. I enjoy the travelling between schools as it gives me time to ‘recharge’ between lessons. I also enjoy the combination of primary schools and academies as you can see the pupils’ progress from an early age right through to them leaving school.

One of the more challenging parts of the job is dealing with large groups of children with a wide range of abilities - you need to keep everyone in the lesson interested and still make sufficient progress so that no one falls behind, or is held too far back. Travelling between the schools in the inclement weather can also be a challenge as you have time scales to meet each day, but it keeps you on your toes.

A final piece of advice that I would give any student wishing to get into instrumental teaching is to get out there and get as much hands-on, practical experience as you can. Learn the basics of all the instruments in your field so that you help every pupil that you meet.

AGCAS

Sourced by AGCAS editors

Date: 

February 2011

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