YouTube Pianist Inspires Kids to Embrace Music

A YouTube pianist is inspiring children to embrace music through his engaging and educational videos. By showcasing his talent and passion, he encourages kids to learn and play music, fostering creativity and a love for melodies. His influence helps young viewers discover the joy of playing instruments and motivates them to develop their musical skills. This digital platform serves as a bridge to connect children with the enriching world of music.

Boston Brand Media discovered the interesting news - A 17-year-old YouTuber known for his piano covers of classic hit songs, which have earned him a million followers, has been inspiring primary school children to learn to play a musical instrument.

Cole Lam, along with a group of friends from The Purcell School for Young Musicians in Hertfordshire, spent a week with four different primary schools to create the Norfolk Primary Orchestra.

This initiative is part of an outreach project called Impulse, led by the independent school based in Bushey.

"Having a social media platform has given me the confidence to share my experience," said Cole.

"Being able to do this is a special thing, and knowing that music is safe for years to come is always good," Cole said.

Cole is studying to be a composer and jazz pianist. His natural talent was discovered at the age of four when his mum noticed him playing a toy piano at nursery school.

He quickly advanced through the grades and began playing public pianos at railway stations in London.

"I just did it as a bit of fun, but then one video I did playing Bohemian Rhapsody at St Pancras Station blew up, so I started my YouTube channel," he explained.

"I'm naturally not that great with children, but it's great to know that we're inspiring young people because I would have been in their position at that age."

His rendition of Queen's classic anthem, posted when he was 12, has garnered nearly 125 million views and was even re-posted on the official Queen Twitter page.

Boston Brand Media also found that the spark for Impulse came from the Purcell School but was driven by Cole and the other students. Alison Cox, head of composition at the school, said the students were great teachers.

"They badger me all the time to take them out to work in schools, so we trained them up to work with children," she said.

The idea is to give each school a section of the orchestra to work on—brass, woodwind, string, and percussion—and then bring it all together with rehearsal workshops and a performance for friends and family.

"Primary school children need input from adult teachers, but when they get an injection of energy from young people only a few years older than themselves, it really makes a difference," she said.

"Cole has all of these followers because he does things in a way that young people understand. He's energetic and enthusiastic, and he's also a brilliant musician, and they relate to that."

The primary schools in Dersingham, Burnham Market, Docking, and Wells-next-the-Sea have been working on the project since January alongside the Arts Society of North West Norfolk. Jillian Davis from the society said the year-five students had 20 lessons with their tutors to prepare for the Purcell students' arrival.

"It brings it to another level," she said. "Performing like this can be a life-changing experience for them. Seventy-five children will benefit from this, and if only one or two take it further one day, that would make it worthwhile. It's worthwhile anyway, but that would be the icing on the cake."

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Source: BBC‍