Learning in a virtual environment

English Dance and Song Autumn 2020

This article was published in English Dance and Song, the magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. The world’s oldest magazine for folk music and dance, EDS was first published in 1936 and is essential reading for anyone with a passion for folk arts. 

So many important creative opportunities have stopped completely since COVID-19 hit in March. Sarah Jones, Programme Manager: National Youth Folk Ensemble, and Esbjörn Wettermark, the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Education Manager, discuss how moving music learning online has enabled activities to continue during the pandemic.

National Youth Folk Ensemble enjoys online activities

The members of the National Youth Folk Ensemble are hugely committed and dedicated, so it was particularly important for them to continue making music, learning new skills and connecting with each other. We turned their planned residential at the beginning of April into a virtual music course. Firstly, we quickly researched, created and shared our new guidelines on safe online learning with all staff, parents and young people. We also shared reliable sources of information on this topic with our Folk Educators Group via Facebook. We met online every day over the week for activities with Artistic Director Sam Partridge, music leaders and pastoral staff, starting each day on Zoom with group warm-ups. We focused on individual skills development; every member got one-to-one tuition and sectional workshops and the tutors also made workshop videos for their individual study. Normally, the Ensemble would spend time in April in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Instead, the Ensemble uncovered and interpreted tunes from our digitised Historic Dance and Tune Books collection.

A vital part of our residential courses is working together collaboratively to create new arrangements. This time Rob Harbron taught everyone how to record, edit and mix music using BandLab, and the Ensemble collaborated in small groups, experimenting and sharing ideas.Our pastoral team was with us all week to check in with each young person and provide extra activities – such as clog dancing, photography and nature art – to get us all moving around and away from our screens. Evening activities included Sam Sweeney’s music quiz, a Q&A with the tutors, and Listening Club where everyone brought a track to share. In lieu of planned performances at Cecil Sharp House and the Southbank Centre, London, we released four livetracks on SoundCloud, and each member introduced themselves to our followers on Instagram. Thanks to Ensemble member Rowan Collinson, we also have a film of the Ensemble playing a tune together virtually. Since then, the team has delivered eight free online Youth FolkSampler Days, reaching around 100 young musicians from all over England. These Sampler Days consisted of pre-recorded workshop videos, live interaction on Zoom, and optional auditions for next year’s Ensemble.

Virtual learning is a hit with participants

Meanwhile, our adult learning activities moved online at the end of March.

Our biggest project was Saturday Folk Music Workshops. Nearly 150 participants learn different instruments and sing in 14 different classes, and normally they take over most of Cecil Sharp House for the whole day. Thanks to our excellent tutors and open-minded students, we got it all going quickly via Zoom, supported with recordings and YouTube videos. Although not everyone was that keen on adapting to a new way of learning, soon almost all students had moved online. Feedback has been very positive – some even prefer the online experience, as they feel less anxious than when playing in front of others and they could see and hear the teacher more clearly. However, many missed the social aspects.

Cecil Sharp House Choir also moved online quickly, but it took a lot of planning and testing with our choir leader Rose Martin before we found the best format. Using pre-recorded harmonies while sharing sound and screen with the participants, we got a sense of singing together. The time lag makes simultaneous music-making virtually impossible online, but seeing a whole screen of familiar faces singing back brought a feeling of community. We also experimented with communal recordings using BandLab, and we recorded a video for the online Sidmouth Folk Festival.

We worked in a similar manner with our Monday Folk Choir Workshops, using Zoom to share original recordings and transcripts of songs from our digital archive.

After an attempt at online morris dancing, we reluctantly cancelled our dance programme until we can return safely to Cecil Sharp House. Thankfully, tutors Mike Ruff and Andy Richards have contributed learning materials, which we will be adding to our online resource bank.

London Youth Folk Ensemble tutors Emily Askew and Ruairi Glasheen have used the opportunity to share resources while also working in small groups. We used BandLab to record and document new arrangements, and introduced Google Classroom to collect material. We recorded a videofor our #YouthFolkTakeover in July, which was also played at Folk by the Oak’s online festival.

Many Folk Unlimited participants have profound and multiple disabilities and learning needs. The tutor team, led by Emmie Ward, took great care to develop a programme that would suit them all. Using apps such as Acapella, they created short videos so the members of Folk Unlimited could perform together with support from pictures or signs.We spent a lot of time training and talking with our tutors to make sure they felt supported and were up to date with the technology. We also offered two free training sessions to the wider folk education community through our Folk Education Group.

We shall continue to develop digital tools and online tuition in the autumn – and even in a hopefully COVID-19-free future.

Finally, we ran our first onlineFolk Educators Group Development Day on 19 June using Zoom, with around 70 delegates from across the UK and abroad. There is a detailed account on our website. Our next Folk Education Development Day will take place online on 13 November. We are keen to share techniques we have been refining over the past few months, such as our recently published technical instructions for running your own education activity on Zoom.