About

Hi - I'm Tom.

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I'm a British professional trumpet player who visited Rio de Janeiro in 2008 for a three month trip and never came back. In 2012 I moved to one of Rio's favelas and in 2014 started a free music school for children in my house specialising in brass and percussion. The Favela Brass project now has 34 students between the ages of 5 - 15 who come to my house 3 times a week.

Through a combination of research and classroom experiment I am evolving a collection of music teaching techniques (both my own and borrowed) and a rough system of course organization that is very different from the way music is currently taught in most schools. This "method", along with my ideas about music education, are what I propose to share on this blog.

The underlying aim of both this blog, and the Favela Brass project is To promote rhythmic, acoustic live music as a central part of popular culture through music education.

The More Music Manifesto:

1. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing: Music education should focus primarily on rhythmic, acoustic music that the kids might actually like and enjoy playing.
2. Get them playing: The focus for music education should first be on getting kids experiencing the joy of playing live music together.
3. Pull, don’t push: Education is a generally a better place to spend money than subsidising professional shows. If you get enough kids hooked on live music, this will guarantee a future demand for and supply of great live music.
4. The emperor has no clothes: Music is about the emotion that it engenders, not about a feeling of cultural and intellectual superiority.
5. Teach in the zone: The “flow” state outlined by Mickeh Chickasoi is of critical importance to teaching music. For children to enjoy music lessons, we must avoid overwhelming them with new information. This requires keeping an open mind to non-traditional teaching techniques.
6. Learn first: Meaningful creativity in music comes from first internalizing existing live music music traditions. This is what sets the stage for future innovation.
7. Bring on the Livegeist: Electronic music producers and DJs have produced very little that is genuinely exciting and new since the 1990s. We need a breath of fresh air. We need acoustic music back at the forefront of musical innovation.
8. Live is life: Nothing will ever replace the expressiveness, intimacy, and connection of a live, preferably acoustic, music show. It is one of the greatest experiences that life has to offer and enhances massively the cultural and social life of any location (just ask anyone who has been to Rio de Janeiro). Creating and maintaining local live music traditions is not easy, but the juice most is most definitely worth the squeeze.

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