Hope Creative Project - Filwood, Bristol. Session 2 - November 2016

Session 2 - November 2016

I was informed prior to this session that two of the young people from the previous session were unable to attend. It was unfortunate, because I was really looking forward to building on the progress we made in the first session, however it meant that we had an opportunity to focus all of our creativity on a smaller group, so small infact that just one child had the full attention from myself and my fellow practitioners!

We arranged the array of instruments in the same manner as the first session, spread out around the room, but this time we also decided to form a circle of chairs in the middle of the room in order to create an 'introduction' to the session and build from there. After our feedback discussion from the first session, I was given the opportunity to introduce some new technology to the session, so I incorporated an iPad app that takes advantage of a simple 'record and trigger' format that is incredibly intuitive and easy to pick up. When 'Child A' arrived, he was immediately drawn to the circle of chairs which was great and a perfect opportunity to begin a musical adventure! We created some simple rhythms with percussion instruments whilst also recording a story on the iPad app, and then triggered each 'mini chapter' with each practitioner adding accompanying musical elements. This worked brilliantly and it gave 'Child A' an opportunity to express himself and his imagination played out for the entire session.

The session was really fun and felt natural without any constrictions. 'Child A' moved freely around the group, working with each practitioner and choosing different areas and instruments to play with along the way. At the end of the session, during our feedback discussion, we all agreed that this was the most musically engaging session that 'Child A' had been involved in and his development was clearly apparent.