And the music in the house...

I feel like these last few blog posts are a sort of "tidy up" of things I had lined up to write about and now have to as I'm running out of time. However, this doesn't make them any less important, particularly when the subject is yet another noble Shepherd's Bush not-for-profit project.

The Music House for Children can be found on Uxbridge Road, next door to Bush Hall, which is described as a sister company of the school. Established in 1994 by Emma Hutchinson who remains Director, as a not for profit music school for local children, Music House works with national music bodies and initiatives to make learning music accessible and affordable for local young families in Shepherd's Bush and surrounding West London areas. Though this blog has hinted at my love of music in terms of the #bushw12 drum and bass night coming up in October, how I love a band called Mean Poppa Lean and how each and every one of my blog post titles is a song lyric, it suggests this love is only so deep. In actual fact, music is like oxygen to my blood, a necessity, a lifeline, something I'd not sure how I'd live without. Thanks to my parents who share this opinion some of my earliest most treasured childhood memories are of songs, not sights. As a child I learnt to play the recorder, the piano (terribly), the alto and tenor saxophone and as a teenager I achieved Grade 5 in singing (though battled terribly with my singing teacher who fought to destroy any Mariah Carey-isms out of my singing style. Thankfully it was a passing phase). Though rusty, I can still read music and I am grateful for this skill, which I've come to realise many of my peers don't have.

I was lucky. My parents invested heavily in my learning these skills, but also music lessons were made easily available at the schools I attended. Others aren't so lucky for many reasons and that is why a project like Music School for Children is so important. They offer music tuition for children, music and dance groups for early years and activities during school holidays. They also provide training to teachers in early years music provision, enabling both musicians and non-musicians to provide music based learning activities to babies and toddlers. Many of these classes and groups are just starting up again now so do make contact if you're keen to get your little ones involved.

For more information have a look at The Music House for Children's website which features some lovely illustrations and let the music play on and on and on!

P.S. This was my 300th blog post. That seems a bit ridiculous and a bit cool. Again, thank you for reading.