Myleene Klass launches her online Music Klass for the nation’s children

Myleene Klass has grand plans during the coronavirus crisis, declaring ‘I want to be the nation’s music teacher!’

The mother of three and former Hear’Say singer had a brainwave last week as the UK prepared to go into lockdown, realising she can offer her talents as a classically trained musician.

After discussing the stresses of homeschooling in her school mums Whatsapp group, Myleene has decided to do her bit to ease the burden on parents by launching her online music lessons, dubbed Music Klass.

She tried out the classes last week, taking requests from her 300k Instagram followers as she played tune after tune at her home piano.

Her daughters Ava, 12, and Hero, eight, joined in, wowing with their talents after years of being taught by their mum, while baby Apollo, seven months, sat on laps and her boyfriend Simon Motson played cameraman.

‘When I was a poor student working in a bar that’s what I’d do, I’d sit there and play whatever,’ she says, ‘playing by ear has been my hidden secret that no one has ever really known that I can do!’

This week, the Music Klass plan has evolved to include two classes for the whole family on Monday and Fridays at 10am, plus a lullaby session on Wednesday evenings where the talented star will serenade us all by taking requests, this week’s theme is Disney. 

Speaking to MailOnline about her new initiative, Myleene admitted she started out doing the videos for her mum friends. 

‘I have a Whatsapp group with a load of my school mum friends. All of us are having a meltdown about home schooling and homework,’ she admits. ‘And I just said “I’m teaching my children music at home anyway so I’m just going to turn the whole thing into a lesson and you can have it for free, it’s my gift!”‘

Myleene, like most parents, admits home schooling ‘is a really big ask on a lot of families,’ after schools and nurseries were closed to all but the children of key workers from Monday.

‘We need a break,’ she insists, ‘we’re trying to work from home, trying to keep the dinners going, trying to keep the sanity going at home as well as the physical exercise, the lessons, everyone’s got different needs. There’s huge concerns for everyone about work at the moment to there’s a lot of pressures on families’.

‘Obviously it’s not comparable to what has been going on with NHS and frontline workers out there, but everyone is trying to do their bit’.

‘I’d say it’s one of the most stressful things I’ve ever experienced! There’s no blame, the teachers are doing a phenomenal job, the children who are completely out of their normal environment are doing a brilliant job.’ 

‘I just think I need to remember everything I know again about the Spanish Armada. There’s a new way to do maths, what’s the bus stop method?  I don’t want to stress my kids out but I don’t know all the answers. Anybody who is thriving on it, I salute you!’  

With the cancellation of all public events for the foreseeable, including festivals like Glastonbury, Myleene, who has lost work too, points out how crucial hearing and playing music is for mental health. 

‘People want to hear gigs, they can’t go to the theatre, they can’t go to concerts anymore, Glastonbury has just been cancelled, all the concerts that I was supposed to be hosting through the summer, they’ve all gone.’

‘That’s where you get your soul, where communities come together. Trigonometry is very important and so is physical exercise but we’re all aware more than every how important mental well-being is and that’s where music comes in.’

She mentions that perhaps this period in history will be a ‘resurgence’ for music, pointing out that ‘people have got their views and the government and people who put the curriculum together maybe have deemed music as a softer subject.’

The star is delighted to realise that her passion has physical bonuses too, gleefully revealing that she’s done some Googling and found out that you can burn 72 calories an hour playing the piano. ‘I’m going to be so fit!’ she quips.

As for family life, Myleene admits her classes have the added bonus of ensuring quality time with her girls amid the stresses of being on top of each other 24/7.

As well as ensuring her girls are keeping up with their school work, she has baby Apollo to consider and she admits she knows all too well how tough the first few months with a new baby are. 

‘I know how isolating it can be as a mum with a baby,’ she says. ‘I’ve got a girlfriend who just had her first baby, she said to me that she can’t go to any of the classes. She said “don’t get me wrong I hate the classes” but it gets me out of the house and I feel like I’m part of something.’    

And what about her boyfriend Simon? Myleene started dating the fashion PR executive, himself a father of two, four years ago and she insists he’s thrown himself into the musical household. 

‘He’s absolutely loving it, he’s Robbie Williams in his head!’ she laughs. ‘He’s singing along, he’s doing the technical side behind the camera. I’m teaching him piano as well, he’s doing really well!’

Myleene is determined to find the positives in this uncertain time. ‘I want my children to see that I’ve done something,’ she says.

‘They’ll remember this period in their lives and I’m hoping they’ll remember it because we were resourceful and enterprising and kept ourselves entertained and my bit is being the nation’s music teacher’. 

Myleene’s Music Klass airs on Instagram and  YouTube Monday and Fridays at 10am and on Wednesday at 6.30 for lullabies for little ones. Subscribe for FREE.