Participate in Access Music Project's SA music survey

27 May 2020 - 12:22

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

South African music education centre Access Music Project (AMP) is developing a set of accessible resources for learning musical instruments through the use of popular South African songs.

The survey will close on 29 May.

AMP's education project is titled Play Mzansi and has launched a survey that asks South Africans which local songs and artists best represent their musical identity. The first phase of the Play Mzansi project is funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa and will be available on iOS and Android devices for teachers and learners around the country.

Participants have until 29 May to complete the AMP survey. Contributors stand a chance to win the following prizes: an AMI box-resonated alto kalimba with a pickup, a set of Behringer HPM1000 Pro Stereo headphones and a SDIGITAL Submarine Bluetooth speaker. The winners will nominate a school, which will receive a free licence for Play Mzansi's resources developed in phase one of the project.

“We will include the most popular songs in the resources we produce,” AMP said. “We will be producing written music that is carefully graded to guide learners through different levels from beginner to advanced, with audio tracks, delivered through an interactive app.

“We need help from musicians and music lovers in compiling a list of songs that define the South African sound. We want to hear from ordinary South Africans about which South African songs and artists they love the most, and which truly represent a South African musical identity. We will use the most popular songs to produce the resources.”

AMP director Gareth Walwyn said: "Although Play Mzansi is a young project, it answers a very old need to provide a pathway to music training for South Africans via our own music. The first step in bringing our own content into the curriculum, thereby making it relevant to our learners, is to establish why we value it and what do we love about South Africa music? We seek to gather data that nobody has yet published.”

About AMP and Play Mzansi

AMP is a music education centre serving children at the historically disadvantaged schools in Makhanda. The centre was established in 2011 and aims to use Play Mzansi as a resource centre for South African music teachers and pupils.

Find out more about AMP and Play Mzansi here and here.

Access Music Project