Music Master

Every country that Mr Stewart Allan goes to, he brings back a musical instrument. A bouzouki from Greece, a didgeridoo from Australia, a sitar from India, a balalaika from Russia, and an mbira from Africa.
“It’s all the same language,” he says, “just different instruments.”
World music is just one of Mr Allan’s musical interests. He started teaching at St Cuthbert's College at the beginning of 2007, bringing a wide range of music and teaching practices to the music department.
Mr Allan leads Year 8 and 9 students through their rock programme, as well as teaching the more traditional aspects of music.
“My approach, and what really resonates with the students, is to make it really hands on,” he said.
By having students experiment with music themselves and discover how it works, he thinks that they will understand it far better. He is fascinated with how students think when they play together and with all the different aspects of the music that they have to think about at once.

“It’s aural, visual, social and rhythmic, all at the same time,” said Mr Allan. “I’d love to get a brain scanner and see what’s going on inside!”
He also wants students to understand the potential power of music. In one class, he plays a silent trailer of Happy Feet, with an animated penguin dancing on an iceberg. The students see that the meaning of the clip changes as he plays different music on the keyboard. The penguin is sinister as he plays the Jaws theme, then cute and joyful as he lightens up the music and moves up the keyboard.
Mr Allan sings in a band, Super Highway, which recently performed at the Fight for Life charity event. He also composes music, and is currently mixing a solo album.
But he will stay in the classroom when the album is released.
“We can’t leave each other!” he says of teaching. “I get a lot of pleasure passing on the knowledge and it enthuses me to learn and grow as a musician. It’s always changing.”

College Ties December 2007