The Playful Music Company

Many parents tell me they wish they’d had more opportunities to explore music when they were growing up.

What they really want for their children isn’t necessarily a future career in music, it’s the joy that music can bring. 🎵

The confidence to sing, the creativity to write songs, the friendships made through choirs and bands, and the lifelong pleasure of making music.

The good news? You don’t need a musical background to support your child’s musical journey.

That’s why I’ve created this FREE resource, to help parents encourage, explore, and enjoy music-making with their children.

The activities are flexible, fun, and easy to adapt for different ages and interests.

✨ Comment “BOOST” below and I’ll send you the free download!

Success rarely happens by accident. We have to plan for it.

But what does success mean to you?

To one of my students, success might mean a top mark in a Grade 8 exam…
To another student, success might mean releasing their first album…
To someone else, success might mean taking part in a choir performance…
To another, success might be having the courage to have their first ever singing lesson…

The beauty of this is that YOU can choose to define what success means to you…

All you have to do now is pursue that success.

Follow to hear about my 90 Day Singing Success Planner, coming soon 👀

Here I am, aged 10 and looking a bit bashful, but enjoying a hug from my Grandad Douglas, whom I adored. He was not just my grandad, but my best pal too. (Please note the Hammond organ on the right. It is significant, because despite limited training for either of us at that stage, we shared a great love of music).

As a child, I loathed school. I did well academically, but I was frustrated. I ached for more opportunities to be creative. Sitting still at a desk for hours on end wasn’t for me!

So music and dance were my escape. Creative activities gave me a sense of belonging, autonomy and freedom.

I didn’t need my Grandad to teach me about music. He just gave me space to enjoy it, be curious, and explore. He introduced me to the music he loved, but most importantly, he asked what *I* thought about songs, performers, even certain chords (if you know, you know!)

We all need someone to encourage us 💖

You don’t need to be a musician to raise one.

If you’d like some musical games, ideas and prompts to support your child’s musical learning (no musical experience necessary!) comment ‘Boost’ to receive my FREE Musicality Booster Challenge PDF and playlist 🎶

Always here to show you that you are musical,

Polly 🎶

From Ciaran’s first discovery call with me I knew we’d have fun in his lessons, as he shares my own excellent taste in music! 😃

So far, we have worked on building skills through repertoire, including early rock ’n’ roll songs.

Ciaran has also taken on the challenge of learning to sing in harmony with some Beatles songs and some Rat Pack classics. At his most recent lesson Ciaran asked if I knew the song Love Of My Life by from A Night at The Opera by Queen - it’s one of my favourite songs *ever* from an incredible album.

We have been able to work on this song as a way to explore different vocal registers and moving the voice smoothly from middle register to falsetto and back.

Ciaran is a keen guitarist and wanted to build his singing skill alongside his instrumental lessons. His enthusiasm is infectious. We’re both buzzing at the end of Ciaran’s lessons!

I’m looking forward to hearing these songs in a performance setting. Well done Ciaran!

After 25 years of teaching, I have met so many amazing parents, who *didn’t believe* they had the skills to support their child’s musical learning, even though they wanted their children to experience the opportunities and enjoyment of learning to sing or play an instrument.

So often, these parents didn’t have the chance when they were younger to take part in musical activities. What they really want for their children is the pleasure of a life spent in music making, for the *joy* of it, not just as a career path or course of study. They want to gift their child the possibilities of escaping into a solo; writing their own songs; being in choirs or bands and forming friendships along the way.

I know for certain, that extensive musical training is not necessary for a parent to become a fantastic co-pilot on a child’s musical journey. That’s why I created this free resource, to prove that a willingness to encourage and explore are the best tools a parent can bring along.

I’m so excited to share this free resource to start you on a musical journey with your child. Have fun with it, there’s flexibility built into the activities, so you can adapt them to your own child’s age and interests.

Send me any questions you have or send me some photos of you using the resources. I’m always happy to hear from aspiring music makers.

Playfully,

Polly x

Comment “Boost”

Required musical signs every musician should know!

• Staccato — short & detached
• Accent — play with emphasis
• Slur — smooth & connected
• Tie — hold notes for combined value
• Crescendo/Diminuendo — gradually louder or quieter
• Fermata — hold the note longer
• Repeat Marks — repeat a section
• Ottava (8va/8ve) — play an octave higher/lower
• Metronome Mark — indicates tempo 🎶

Save this post for your music theory revision & share with a fellow musician 🎵

Performance terms every singer should know 🎶✨

• Cantabile — in a singing style
• Da Capo (D.C.) — repeat from the beginning
• Dal Segno (D.S.) — repeat from the sign
• Dolce — sweetly
• Fine — the end
• Legato — smoothly connected
• Staccato (stacc.) — short and detached
Understanding these terms helps singers bring emotion, style, and confidence into every performance

Just a reminder that it’s half term from 25th May, followed by exam week.

There will be no singing lessons during this time, and lessons will resume the week commencing 8th June 🎶
Wishing everyone a sunny half term and the best of luck with exams, you’ve got this 💫

Pol x

❤️

Understanding tempo changes is an important part of developing musical expression 🎼

Here are some common tempo change terms every music student should know:

• Accelerando (accel.) – gradually getting faster
• Rallentando (rall.) – gradually getting slower
• Ritardando (rit. / ri**rd.) – gradually getting slower
• A tempo – return to the original speed

These terms are included in the requirements of ABRSM, with plenty of overlap across Trinity College London and other music exam boards.

PianoLessons MusicEducation MusiciansOfInstagram

This is the kind of message that makes everything worth it. If you’ve been thinking about starting singing lessons this is your sign.

Drop me a message and let’s have a chat.

Polly x