Gigajam News 

We have recently cut the production costs of our Level 1 books by a considerable amount. We have decided to pass these savings onto our customers. So a Level 1 book now only costs £13.99 instead of £19.99.

The Level 1 books are a great accompaniment to your computer based lesson notes, allowing you to study away from the computer, laying in bed, sitting on the train, wherever you wish.

Visit our online store to buy them now.

Merlin John writes on Futurelab about the use of technology in teaching music.

http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/.../Web_Article930 

The search for an effective solution led Ian to the online music service Gigajam, which became the digital ‘glue’ to hold together the learning and teaching and to make the resources – PCs and instruments and rooms – go further. “I looked at Gigajam for all sorts of reasons but particularly the personalisation,” says Ian. “In reality this is the first time children in our music lessons have genuinely had the opportunity to work at their own pace, at their own level.

Being part of a broad music offering for students, and playing a part in providing more music making opportunities is everything Gigajam was ever created for. Thank you to Ian and his team at Tiverton.

Tiverton High School is one of the 400 schools in the UK using Gigajam regularly.

Gigajam's early content (first five lessons) is freely available to the 4 million UK school students in 6 of the 11 UK Regional Broadband Consortia (RBC).

1. London Grid for Learning
2. West Midlands NET
3. South West Grid for Learning
4. Northern Grid for Learning
5. Scottish Schools Digital Network - Glow
6. East of England Broadband Network

as well as across the following Local Authorities;

1. City of Salford
2. City of Sunderland
3. Buckinghamshire CC
4. Cheshire CC
5. Leicester City
6. Argyll & Bute

Please contact your RBC if you would like to try a few lessons out. Please also contact your RBC or LA if they don't have it yet, they will consider purchasing content and services if they know their schools want it.  

--
Brian Greene

All 45 episodes of Gigajam’s educational TV series for Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, and Drums are now available online in time for Christmas, free, at www.gigajam.tv.

Gigajam previously broadest theses TV series’ across Europe on the Sky TV network. Each episode focuses on one of the lessons from Level 1 of Gigajam’s award winning Essential Skills Courses. The courses teach the fundamentals of music theory whilst learning to play an instrument.

The skills learned in Level 1 equate to music grades Debut, 1, 2 and 3.

Gigajam felt that many websites, with both professional and user generated content, provided only small snippets of learning, such as how to play a specific song. Gigajam’s TV series, and the Essential Skills Courses they are based on, demonstrate a more structured and progressive pathway of study. Students do not learn to play one song, rather they develop the skills required to play many more.