Workshop on Western Music by Mr. Ritesh Khokhar

DPS RN Extension celebrated ‘World Music Day’ in the first week of July in lieu of 22 June 2019 when school was closed for summer break. It was part of ISA activity under the project ‘ Sound of Music’. The International Day was celebrated with great flamboyance with a special assembly to bring out the significance of the day and a stirring performance by the school percussionists who presented a fusion of Indian, Western and African percussion instruments such as Tabla, Drums,Cajon, Tambourine, Bongo and Congo. The performance was enhanced even more with beat-boxing by class 9 students. As a follow up of the assembly a Workshop on Western Music Education was organized on 15 July 2019 for the students of classes V-XI... This was also a part of ISA activity. The resource person Mr. Ritesh Khokhar, the Country Manager and Director, Rock School London. He took the students through the evolution of music starting with Baroque to the Modern era. He told them about various styles and genres of music. He also played a few tracks on the synthesizer to show the difference between a classical and a modern piece. There were a couple of sing-along sessions that energized the children as they learned to harmonize the songs. Mr. Ritesh told the students how important music was in all aspects of life and that it is even used as therapy by medical practitioners to cure nerve-related diseases. He also explained how music helps to improve memory and concentration skills and the students who pursue this as their hobby have been known to perform well in academics too. The session ended with queries from children who were curious to know about various musical instruments and which would be most suitable and easy to learn.