Let´s Play Classical Guitar Together Erasmus Project

Project Title

Let´s Play Classical Guitar Together

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Creativity and culture; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

This project is a look at the history of an instrument deeply rooted in the European culture since the end of the 16th century, highlighting the social and cultural importance of an instrument that has traditionally been neglected in relation to other instruments belonging to the orchestra such as the violin or the cello. The project is born due to the high rate of students who drop their guitar studies in the last years of middle medium level so that only a very small percentage continue their studies in higher conservatories.

In this sense, the main goal of this project is to improve the levels of motivation in our students by establishing an incredible experience for them. We believe that it will help the students involved in the project not to abandon their studies and decide to pursue a musical career. On the other hand, and as a consequence of the first goal, the project aims to reinforce the role of guitar teachers by increasing their knowledge of the history and pedagogy of the instrument, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the pedagogical skills of the teachers.

The project is devoted to students in whose age there are high levels of abandonment. The group affected is mainly those students with ages between 14 and 18 years old, because they are about to get into the last fase of middle school and are leaving aside more and more the instrument to focus on the university entrance. These students need activities to stimulate their motivation because they usually go to the conservatory to have their lessons, and they rarely have time to attend to concerts. Being part of an important project like this one will make them to feel included in an experience that goes beyond music in general, which will undoubtedly be a success for them.

In order to carry out these goals, the project is divided into six meetings, of which two, the first and the last one are Transnational meetings, (exclusively for teachers to prepare and evaluate the project). During the other four meetings the students from the different conservatories will play together in different scenarios during six days learning and playing music together, having as a result a final concert.

In each meeting where the studens participate several chamber music groups as well as a guitar orchestra will be created having as a final goal the performance of a live concert in an auditorium in the city. For this purpose, classes will be given by the teachers of the different institutions involved. Each meeting will have a different theme based on a relevant period in the history of music (baroque, classicism-romanticism, nationalism and 20th century and Spanish and South American music).

In addition, in five of the six meetings, teachers will give a lecture per country, which will be written in English, with the intention of making a book that gathers all the material that has emerged during the project. This implies a total number of twenty lectures over two years. Some of the topics that will be discussed with are: the organization of music teaching in each country, guitar teaching, individual lessons, collective lessons, history of the guitar, etc., so that each meeting will also have a theme in this sense.

To sum up, as essential results, the project includes the realization of four concerts and a book with twenty lectures throughout the project. This material will be uploaded to the platforms that Erasmus+ recommends in its guides in the form of recordings and digital editions, as well as in the web page expressively created for this project.

The impact on the participating organisations is expected to be on two levels. In relation to those institutions who have never participated in European projects such as Erasmus+, as it is the case of Italy and Germany, the project will encourage these institutions to collaborate in other iniciatives in Europe. In relation to the institutions that already have some experience, Portugal and Spain, this project is expected to strengthen their bridges with other European centres that some teachers in these institutions have been working on for a long time and which is essential for the good quality of teaching in their institutions. On a national and international level, the idea will surely be a reference to other institutions throughout Europe, since it is a project that can be reproduced by teachers of other instruments. Moreover, this idea can be developed in a virtual way, so that quality learning communities can be generated from this proposal to promote learning networks of this type.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 125004 Eur

Project Coordinator

Conservatorio Oficial de Música “Hermanos Berzosa” & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Musik- und Kunstschule Havelland
• Escola Artística do Conservatório de Música do Porto
• LICEO PAOLINA SECCO SUARDO