This interview was recorded on Thursday, November 7 in the guitar room of the Avant Academy of Music in Kingston, Jamaica. This is the day before the historic first exams of the London College of Music in Jamaica. This has been preceded by two years of efforts to make the exams a reality with many setbacks.
This discussion is between me, Seretse Small, the founder and managing director of the Avant Academy of Music and Philip Aldred the Chief Examiner of the London College of Music exams. This interview was preceded by a meeting discussing the logistics of improving the execution of the exams and how to build a stronger culture at the school. There is anticipation as preparations are made for the exams on the following day. There is also a sense of disappointment as the number of exam candidates was not as many as were expected. This is the first major conversation between the two of us.
Philip Aldred, Chief Examiner of the London College of Music, this is your second time coming to Jamaica.
It is…
My second time spending time with you and experiencing you. A very cool experience I must say.
You are very kind.
No, it is a very cool experience.
What I want to talk about today is to see where we are at in terms of the London College of Music program in Jamaica. You came here...what was it two years ago?
Yes...
We went around, we had meetings, we had discussions and we discussed plans. We are about to have our first exams on Friday. Only two exams.
Two are better than nothing.
Two better than nothing. [It] could be somewhat disappointing, somewhat challenging. What is your feeling right now in terms of the future of the London College of Music in Jamaica frankly?
I think the future is very exciting, to be honest Seretse. You and I have got on very well from the very moment we met. We are like-minded musicians, we want to promote, educate as many people, empower people to love music from all walks as life, whether it is contemporary or classical. This school, [Avant Academy of Music], here has that ability. While I have been here, already we have discussed some logistics, for example getting books. We are now associated with Faber [Music] which should facilitate that for you. You’ve got my full support and I can see from some strategies that we have put into place, or that we are going to put into place that this will grow. And will grow existentially because of your directorship. You’re looking for new premises I understand?
Right…
The commitment of your teachers, you’ve got some great office staff who are really behind you. I just see a positive energy all the time here. But I think that the biggest thing is getting outreach to the people in Jamaica. [Get them] knowing that you exist here and what your mission is, the mission statement to give the Jamaican people the best opportunity for contemporary [music] whether it be electric or rock guitar, classical guitar, voice or pop vocals, classical music, piano, Jazz piano, theory, teaching diplomas, we are here to help you. LCM can give you all those subjects. I personally [will] give you all the support I can.
When we think about music and social transformation, the model that we have [had] in Jamaica since the 1980s is the El Sistema system in South America. This has been implemented in our orchestra. We have a youth orchestra that was built on that model. It has taken decades for us to make that happen. Exams, if I may say, in Jamaica are seen as the purview of the elite and not part of [social] transformation. You have exams all over the world...
We do..
Can you tell us of any relevance of exams to social transformation? Any stories you can tell?
I think that the big thing is that we have competitors as you know and they are already in Jamaica. We at the London College of Music were founded with the express foundation of providing music education for the less fortunate. That is in our original constitution. And that is what we really want to maintain. We offer the biggest variety of subject areas covering as I was saying, through from contemporary [music] through to classical, irrespective of race, creed or colour. We’ll do Church Music from right the way through from High Roman Catholocism through to the free churches that you have here [in Jamaica] and people so enthusiastic. My daughter goes to (and her husband is the vicar of) what we sort of say [is] a “Clap happy” Church.
A “Clap han’” Church?
Play the music about Jesus with whatever instrument there is. Whether it is rock guitars, piano etc. We at LCM will cater to that as well as the more traditional. Our examiners are fully trained to be friendly but professional. We are not stuffy. I am not doing down our competitors at all. They have what they do and they do it well. LCM is known as being the friendly [exam] board. We are all over the world. I myself have visited fifty-four different countries. We are in countries such as, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, all countries [that are] very similar to Jamaica in that they are not full of people driving around in four by fours that you would expect to see from sort of the public schools in England or say in Singapore. As I have said before, you have our full support in embracing us and for us to support you in being a facilitator for the less fortunate. For whatever reason through either background or from socioeconomic circumstances which is beyond their control, music just being the medium to provide happiness and a sense of well-being. And for some, as in your teachers, and some of those that are taking the exam, for them to go on and actually make a living out of music.
Yes…
And the beauty again about LCM is that we different forms of exams, we have the full formal graded exam. We have recital exams, where they perform just the pieces. So if someone wanted to perform all Reggae music for instance, they can. Whereas in the graded exam they have to perform a Classical, Romantic, Twentieth Century piece. So there is that facility. We have Leisure Play where they can choose Elton John or Amy Winehouse etc. We also have Performance Awards so they can do a video of three performances. Our competitors do not have that freedom.
Right.
It’s basically “Horses for Courses”. I believe in our product and I think there is a need and a market for that here in this beautiful island.
Talking about our vision of creating a scholarship program that will result in hundreds of Jamaicans, especially those who are “unattached”. Those who are not at the moment connected to any education or employment. Giving hundreds of Jamaicans a chance to do the DipLCM. That’s our goal. Our claim is that with the DipLCM they would be able to get work for example on a cruise ship…
Yes
...sight reading music, playing in the Big Band and on the stage having the tenure and the health benefits and so on. Being able to teach. When I say teach, not at the College level but at least in a music school like this, (pointing to the facilities of Avant Academy of Music), or run a church program or be a director. To be able to matriculate to other universities, possibly the University of West London or the Edna Manley College. Are we making too much of a claim? Is this doable?
Not at all. It is doable and the DipLCM is our first level post grade eight. It is what we call level four of the national qualifications framework. Which is recognized throughout the world. It’s a University entrance Diploma. It means that anyone who has that can put DipLCM after their name. It means that they can go to somebody, an employer or a school and say, “look, I’ve got this as a teaching diploma, I would like to teach the guitar or piano at your school. They can set up their own teaching practice. Yes they can go to cruise ship and say, “I have performed up to this level”. They can then go on to do an Associate level which is Level five [in the national qualifications framework] then LL, which is Level six and we are now talking of [being equivalent to a] master’s [degree]. Then eventually to do a Fellowship, which is the highest, which is just short of a Doctorate. They map roughly accordingly, they are not university courses as they are not done through semesters. They are done on individual study and an examiner comes out and assesses them. They are fully accredited and valued throughout the world. Again, I mentioned Vietnam before, what they do is that all their teachers there at all the centres take a Dip LCM [exam]. That means that they are qualified to teach the LCM program. They start with the little ones from the pre-prep, Step 1, Step 2 programs grade 1 to grade 8. They rise in their abilities, the teachers themselves go on to do an AL (Associate), and it just floods the market. If you take Vietnam [as an example], three and a half years ago there were two exams. We now have two examiners there for four weeks each, one in Hanoi, one in Ho Chi Minh City. You are talking about two to two and half thousand candidates.
Per city?
Yeah. All come from doing the DipLCM.
Question though, what percentage of that is below grade 8 and what percentage would be at the “Dip” level and above.
That would be very difficult to straighten out off the cuff to say, but there are more DipLCM’s in Vietnam per say than in any other country because they followed this program which is your goal of doing of this scholarship program of getting your teachers to do the DipLCM and using this as a benchmark from which those candidates can step on, but also to support their students who are coming up from below.
These are offered in contemporary or classical. Contemporary is Rock guitar, Jazz guitar, acoustic, Jazz piano, even in composition theory and as teaching diplomas. Or if they want to [enter] as performers but as I understand it you want to concentrate primarily on the teaching diplomas because that is the biggest opportunity for people to earn money and make a living.
Yes and no. We want to focus on the teaching diplomas for training our staff and creating a body of persons that are qualified. Now, we would like to offer the DipLCM in performance to [the scholarship recipients]
Which would lead to performing on cruise ships etc…
Exactly!
Now I have a logistical question for you. This is a bit of brainstorming, or “workings” in this interview.
We have Jamaican musicians that play Reggae and Jazz and they perform stuff but they are not necessarily versed in reading [music] or music theory and so on. So aspects of their playing might be at a grade 8 level or a grade 7 level. But their understanding is somewhere [at the level of] grade 2 or grade 3. We take somebody like that, do you think that it is possible in three years, if we throw in grade 5 theory along the way through instruction that we will be able to get them to qualify for a DipLCm in three years?
Yes. The simple answer is yes.
We have three types of Diploma, we have the standard, the concert and the recital. The Standard involves some technical work and some sight reading and discussion. As you go on the Recital has a longer program of performance plus sight reading or discussion, and the Concert is simply performance only. [with the Concert Diploma] there is no theoretical aspect involved, no sight reading etc.
But obviously to play a piece of music you have to have an understanding, whether you are playing reggae, you have to understand where it came from. To play Rock & Roll, to go back to the Baroque and Mozart or the I, VI, V, IV progressions on which Rock & Roll is based etc. That understanding would come through the study of the pieces. But if you can get a grade 5 theory qualification that will open so many doors. But to those musicians who haven’t got that chance then we do offer a written email to myself saying that this candidate has performed in this club, that club, and has performed with, like yourself, performed with the greats and has been doing this for twenty years or five years, would you consider them as a direct entry into DipLCM for performance?
I would weigh up all the evidence and the usual answer is, “yes” Yes they can because theory is part of being able to perform it’s not the be all and end all. If somebody comes and plays in a concert you don’t ask them to play an E flat scale before they start playing a Beethoven Piano concerto. We don’t ask them to explain the form of the piece. They have to know what key it is, they have to know the form and to know when the main theme is coming back or the variation. That’s inherent in their performance.
So there are ways around it. The prerequisites are grade 5 or study at University it is also by direct entry with an email to me for someone to support their CV (Curriculum Vitae or Resume) that they have performed here there and everywhere. With your influence around, we go to several places and everyone says, “Oh hello Seretse!” and you say, “that so and so, and that’s so and so..”. That means a lot. That gives me great hope that all this will come to fruition.
Now you are the Chief Examiner but also in the two times I have met you I have seen that you are a real believer and advocate for the London College of Music exam and the program, the history of it and so on. As we have said before you have traveled the world…
Yes.
And your examiners travel the world developing the exam and protecting the brand and working on it to make it better and to make it current and all of those things…
What makes you most proud? Is there anything that you can identify in the London College of Music program like a location, a program, an incident or a story that makes you think, “That makes me so proud of the London College [of Music program]!”.
To be honest, everything I do is geared to promoting the LCM. And we have the backing of the University of West London.
Yes.
We have just had a meteoric rise of the status of the University within the UK. With the backing of very proactive and dedicated Vice-Chancellor who I get on well with.
Yes.
It is the day to day of helping the teacher who emails and says, “I’ve looked at the syllabus but I don’t quite understand it”. So instead of just saying, “Well just look at the syllabus again”, I will actually go through it. So from that, to somebody saying, “Can you give advice as to what the best program might be?”, for this that and the other. Every day is different and I think as I have gotten older and hopefully wiser. Just imparting my knowledge and my love of the whole thing it just grows from day to day.
All of my exams were done through one of our competitors. In 2000, a very short story really, the Associated Board wanted to become accredited by the government. The government said it should be open to all boards and so many boards applied and LCM, Trinity, Guildhall and ABRSM were given this accreditation. That means an awful lot. We come under OFQUAL (The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) so our grade 8 is equivalent to an Associate Board grade 8 and a Trinity grade 8 but what we try to do is to be innovative in the way we set out our syllabuses. For instance we have more female composers on our piano syllabus that anywhere else. It is a conscious decision of us to do that.
We employ examiners who have not spent years in the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra) and then retiring (some of our examiners are like that).They have never taught the violin. We try to get teachers who have a rapport and knowledge of very basic teaching right up to high quality, and really are enthusiastic and committed to the brand. So it is very difficult for me to sum up in one thing. But to listen, to coordinate, and to mediate there’s an LCM. To lead and to consider and to motivate there is another LCM. I actually have that on a board behind my desk and I look at that each day. Actually, just as I think of my Dad each day and sort of [say],”What would he think?”. And he would say, “Well Philip, I am quite proud of you, well done, keep going”. And so I think it is the general ethos of the London College of Music and what we try to do.
There was a time when manuscripts and printing were the cutting edge of technology.
Yep.
And everything around music education was around mastering the vocabulary and the tools that resulted from this technology. There have been different shifts over time where the technology, culture, tastes, possibilities of globalization…
You travel the world, and I know that London College [of Music] has maintained the philosophy of being current and being relevant. Is there anything you can advise us of changes that are coming in terms of teaching or music education, or trends that you see [that says] that we need to get ready for that!
Not really, just to keep looking at the website, see what the developments are. We are innovative. We began [examining on] the electronic keyboard back in the day and Musical Theatre as a separate genre and then pop vocals and classical singing. Splitting them up instead of just generally saying, “singing” because there is a difference between them all. We do traditional music. An ideal thing for you to do here to consider and I know we have discussed it is perhaps doing steel pans.
Right
And ensembles, you mentioned your orchestra before. We do those. And that can be any combination [of instruments]. I think steel pans is something that you could say to me, “Look, actually at a grade 2, 5 or 7 entry [level] I would expect a steel pan band to be able to do this that and the other”. I would look at it and I don’t have all the information about everything. I am just an ordinary musician with some specialties but you or you may somebody here on the island [who could advise on musical standards for steel pan for example]. And that would be something exciting to do. To introduce specifically here.
We are continually looking at trying to streamline what we do, to improve the theory side to change the Pop theory to make it again, more relevant to modern times. Some of the questions were dating back to Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and there’s nothing wrong with those guys but you know, times have moved on. I may be getting on to becoming an old man but my daughters and grandchildren keep me young and all that but we are always looking for new things. I would like to introduce a kind of Pop Piano. It’s quite a skill to busk piano on chords while someone sings or what somebody does in the band like a rhythm guitarist. I think there is a need for that as well playing Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” or Jazz or whatever it is.
So I am always open to ideas, We just started the Ukulele, which is a smaller instrument than the guitar so it’s for smaller fingers. It is a good starting point. Basically I throw that back to you. You say, “actually, we would like to introduce this that and the other”. Put it to me and we will work at it. My maxim is to say yes, and then work out how we are going to do it.
(Laughter)
Alright, well...thank you so much!
No, [you’re] welcome it’s a pleasure.
[Is there] anything that you are looking forward to experiencing while you are in Jamaica?
Just the coffee. The friendship. I love the way that everybody sort of says, “Hallo, what’s your name? My name is Seretse”. I think that is really important. You explained it to me a couple of years ago when we met as to why and that stuck with me all the time. I go in to London everyday on the train and the tube. I am a creature of habit and I sit in the same seat and after six months you see the person opposite and you sort of go, (makes a very quiet sound as if saying hello). After a year it is sort of, “hello”. And now I actually speak to someone that I have known for two years and I would say, “is it ok? Did you have a good weekend?”. But that’s it. We are terribly reserved, the British on that [kind of thing]. Whereas you walk down the street in Northern Ireland and it’s, “Hello, how you doin’?” and here it’s,” Hello, I’m Seretse, what’s your name?” and that speaks volumes. So thank you very much, it’s an absolute pleasure to be here.
Yes. Always.