Page 34 - Cadet ReviewAutumn/Winter 2020

CEY Wing ATC MUSICAL ONLINE
TRAINING
By Flight Lieutenant Adam Waudby
Our very active Wing Band has made the transition to operating virtually, providing musical engagement to our cadets given the unfortunate circumstances the world finds itself in.
Since lockdown hit, the Wing Music Team (comprising of staff and senior cadets) have met virtually to come up with solutions of how musical training could be delivered, to both benefit and engage cadets during the operational pause. During this time courses have been created and ran in Music Theory, How to Conduct, along with some sides of music not normally seen including the History of Military Music (back before the Romans!).
One of the more unusual sessions ran by the band was ‘Musical Physics’. It’s something that really
isn’t as well known as you’d think, but Music and Science are actually really well linked. The session was created and ran by the Wing’s Brass expert
– Sgt Jonathan Owens. The relationship between sound waves, frequency and the note produced
were all explored – along with the different methods instruments use to generate a range of notes. There are a lot of clever tricks used with instruments to get the tuning to be accurate – it’s not as easy as it looks!
Another different session was when we were privileged enough to be joined by Wg Cdr Gil Singleton, Principal Director of Music for the Royal Air Force Air Cadets on a talk about his history as an RAF Musician. Gil rose all the way through the ranks to be a Warrant Officer, being Bandmaster of both the RAF Central and College Bands in his time – performing for high profile audiences at home and abroad, including tours of Australia and the United States of America, and is pictured in the photograph of the band, on the right with drum.
The session we are most proud of though, would have to be our basic music theory courses. We’ve run this twice, teaching just shy of one hundred staff and cadets the basics of music theory over four sessions, taking them from total beginner to able to read and understand basic music! Of particular note was the
I think the best thing about moving to online training has got to have been the ability to work with new friends all over the country and indeed world
fact that each of the four sessions was created and taught by a different team member, with two of our senior cadets delivering sessions to benefit all in a clear display of the strengths having senior cadets in your team can bring to the organisation!
One of the positives about moving training online, has had to have been the ability to work with new friends up and down the country. We’ve been joined by cadets and staff from over 98 squadrons and contingents, representing 23 of the Corps 34 Wings. The numbers speak for themselves, with over 1,700 hours of cadet training managed – to over 215 unique people across the country. We’ve also been fortunate enough to have some of our new friends offer us return training in their specialities – with South West Region inviting us to their STEM and First Aid Sessions due to their cadets attending ours; benefiting cadets in the Wing beyond just those interested in Music.
Wing Music Officer, Flt Lt Adam Waudby said: “I think the best thing about moving to online training has got to have been the ability to work with new friends all over the country and indeed world. On
one of our early sessions on rhythm, to be asking questions of the attending cadets and hearing the accents ranging from Northern Ireland to Scotland, from London to Jersey and even Australia in the same session was amazing and really hit home how big the organisation we’re part of is. Music has always been a universal language, and it’s been brilliant to see
it bring us together. I’ve especially enjoyed meeting other Wing Music Officers that I haven’t had the privilege to meet before, and discuss our comparative challenges and loves within the field of cadet music.’
Sgt Andrew Houiellebecq of 7 Overseas (Jersey) Squadron said: ‘We were given the opportunity to join in the virtual music sessions from Jersey, enabling our cadets to learn in conjunction with their English counterparts. The feedback I received from the cadets that attended was great and that working together was a really good way to develop the cadet experience. My cadets have said that they would recommend attending the course to anyone who is interested and that they look forward to working with their new friends again soon!’
Wing Music are taking a bit of a back seat currently whilst the organisation is starting up with face to face operation again, but we do have the odd session left up our sleeve and we look forward to continuing to work with our new partners across the globe. Thank you to all the members (both staff and cadets) of the Wing Music Team who have worked so hard to benefit cadets and staff in all parts of the organisation.
34 CADET REVIEW AUTUMN/WINTER 2020