Pendle school musician 'Making Music' for homeschooled children

Steve Brown, who is currently the 'musician in residence' at Whitefield Infant School, Nelson, started producing his 'Making Music' videos during the first national lockdown.

He wanted to ensure children could carry on engaging with and learning about music in a fun, accessible way. Since then, his Facebook page – which can be found here – has amassed than 8,000 likes.

"The Making Music videos are silly and it's about developing a child – or an adult's – love of music," said Steve.

"They are perfect for homeschooling as they don't require loads of equipment but are loads of fun and have been a big success.

"Music tends to be thought of as an add-on, but for me, it's integral to a child's development. It's not just about learning to play an instrument, it's about expressing yourself and learning about emotional wellbeing.

"I always say that music is with you throughout life. It's there when you're born, when you die, when it's your birthday, when you're shopping. To me, we should be sharing the enjoyment of music in as many ways as possible."

Steve has taught music at Brunshaw Primary in Burnley, and has been involved music project work at a number of schools in the town including Ightenhill, Stoneyholme, St Peter's, Casterton, Worsthorne, Heasandford and Springfield.

The 39-year-old recently released a song – 'New Year Blessings' – as "a message of hope" for 2021 as the country continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

"I hope that people take hope from it, we've had plenty of negatives in the past year."

The song, which he sings with his seven-year-daughter Isla, took around two years to complete, and focuses on celebrating good times, recognising what's gone, and sharing moments with loved ones.

He said: "I wrote the lyrics about two years ago, and the music was written well before that as an instrumental. I listed to the introduction again and to me it sounded like frost and ice, so it inspired me to write the lyrics.

"It was timely to bring it out now as the lyrics will match a lot of people's sentiments."

The video for the song was recorded in early December at Holden Clough Nursery near Clitheroe by a filmmaker friend of Steve's.

He said: "It took about an hour to film, and the location was just beautiful. There's slow-motion in the video and the funny thing is, for slow-motion you have to record it at double-speed, then slow it down. So I had to perform it doubly quick, but It was bitterly cold and I couldn't move my fingers properly."

The 'Making Music' YouTube channel can be found here.