‘I invented a new rhythm today’. BlueJam Arts using gamelan to build leadership skills in a special school.

BlueJam Arts has been working with a dozen young people from James Rennie Special School over several weeks, The aim of this programme is to explore how accessible tuned percussion Gamelan instruments are to people with learning differences and how they can be used to build self-confidence, creative and leadership skills. Our partner in the programme is The Heathlands Project, a day centre for adults with learning differences, and where our gamelan orchestra is housed.

Our Gamajam programme with the young people of James Rennie Special School has a number of aims:

·      To build musical confidence and leadership skills in young people

·      To introduce them to the Heathlands Centre as an out-of-school and post-school option

·      To achieve an Arts Award at Explore level

During 9 weeks of the Autumn term 2016, a dozen young people aged 17 and 18 spent a morning once a week at Heathlands.  They were introduced to the instruments of the gamelan orchestra and learnt how to play simple rhythms.

‘At the start I didn't know what it was going to be like, what we'd be doing but now I've got the hang of it’.

They soon began to feel more confident and, over the weeks, they worked on creating their own musical pieces based on their chosen theme, The Seasons, with a focus on Autumn. They were clearly enjoying their regular Tuesday morning trip to Heathlands and loved the gamelan.

‘I invented a new rhythm today and I've enjoyed that’. ‘Playing all the instruments is what I've liked best particularly the big gongs. The instruments make an amazing sound. Over the weeks I've got better at following instructions’. ‘I've never seen gamelan before and I love the instruments, the materials they are made out of’.

Back at school they wrote Autumn poems and these were then combined with the instruments so that the final pieces incorporated vocals and instruments.

‘I love music and singing - it makes me feel happy and calm’.

Sessions started with a physical and vocal warm up.  After a couple of weeks, two of the young people asked if they could lead the warm-ups themselves.  This they did with remarkable skill and confidence and choosing imaginative actions or songs.

In the tenth week we transported the orchestra and held a celebration performance at James Rennie School. In fact, we had 2 performances as the Gamajam project had created a bit of a buzz and the whole school wanted to see what the young people had been doing. Parents of the group were invited. A number of day care adults from Heathlands, who had also been developing musical ideas based on the seasons, joined the performance. It was really wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves, both audience and performers and there was enthusiastic feedback about the project from parents.

‘Aaron’s passion is music and he uses it to describe his emotions and reaction to situations.  We've noticed over the past 6 weeks how he wants to share his music, his thoughts about the music and how he feels about music which he's never done before … The project has made him feel more confident that it's OK to have music as a passion’.

‘It's been good socially and for her language skills.  It's not very often she tells me what she's doing at school and she has talked quite a lot about this and been enthusiastic about it’.

After the performance, we had one more trip to Heathlands so that our group could take part in some of the other activities that are on offer at the centre.  They chose between art, animation and sport and, as their teacher said: ‘They were all very comfortable and confident to try these new activities today - coming here for gamelan over 10 weeks means they are familiar with the place’.  At least 3 of the group said they would like to return on a regular basis for out-of-school activities.

The first 10 weeks have been a fantastic way to introduce the young people to the gamelan and build their confidence as musicians exploring such an amazing and accessible instrument.  They are recording their experiences by working towards an Explore Arts Award.

The overarching aim of the Gamajam project is to develop leadership skills and one or two have shown exceptional progress which has been commented on by their families and teachers. We are now moving into the next stage of the project which will give them an immediate hands on experience working in their own school, where they feel safe and supported, acting as personal mentors to nine younger players and introducing these pupils to the gamelan orchestra.

To read more about the Gamajam project and BlueJam Arts, see the website www.bluejamarts.org