How do I become a community musician? (The transition from trainee to facilitator)

‘Community music’ is such a broad term, and finding work within that box can be a daunting prospect. Personally when faced with it, I decided on going back to University. It had been three years since I graduated from my undergraduate degree and I had finally decided to pursue the path of community music with a speciality in gamelan. I had hoped it would give me more skills in a self employed world, while also giving me some connections. 

What is gamelan and Sound of Bronze?

Gamelan is (broadly) both a type of music and set(s) of instruments from Indonesia, seen as similar in style to some western percussion instruments (alongside vocals, and some stringed and woodwind instruments.) It focuses on repeating patterns around important notes (usually accented by instruments such as the gongs, kempuls, and kenongs) which interlock together to create a beautiful scene of music. There are different types of gamelan, but Sound of Bronze uses a Javanese set of instruments. 

In my first term of my postgrad, I encountered Emily Crossland (Gamelan Director for the University of York, and community musician) who had just started the Sound of Bronze project. The aim was to take the gamelan out for workshops with different communities across North Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire, with potential for a gamelan youth group meeting weekly. They were looking for student trainees, who would volunteer their time delivering gamelan workshops whilst also benefiting from Emily’s coaching in becoming music leaders. It seemed timing was on my side - this was the ideal learning opportunity I was looking for! Thankfully, Emily accepted my application to join the program and the work began.

Trainee to facilitator

Very soon after being accepted, the workshops began! After 3 years of these, it’s hard to remember the order of most of them but it’ll be impossible to forget the very first. A wonderful collaboration alongside Accessible Arts & Media, we used a traditional Javanese story (Too-Too-Moo and the Giant for those who want to read it) to create and perform a short wayang (Javanese shadow puppetry accompanied by gamelan music) in front of family members. Having only ever run short intro to gamelan sessions before, this was a very different experience for me, and exactly what I was wanting to learn! The next year proved eye opening for me, as I was introduced to a whole new side of gamelan that I had not experienced before and quickly set about absorbing the different ways to facilitate exploring and learning music. The traineeship also involved having one on one meetings with Emily to help decide goals, discuss how previous sessions had gone, and identify strengths and weaknesses. I have personally always been very good at focusing on only the weaknesses in myself and often been overwhelmed by them. So, it was reassuring to have Emily to help me not only see my strengths, but also how to work on my weaknesses constructively and not just  panic. A very useful tool when working as a freelance community musician! 

Over the course of that first year, I grew as a facilitator in my own right and developed alongside Emily making us a trusting team. With room in the budget and the dedication of the two of us towards this project, regular weekly youth sessions were able to become reality. Emily brought me on as a working facilitator (a trainee no longer) and we were thrilled to start teaching and facilitating our group. 

While there was (and still is) a lot of hard work ahead, this series of events could not have been better timed for me. Had I not decided that year to begin my masters, or chosen a different University for it, or even gone down a different musical path my life would be very different. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities that came my way, and always thankful to Emily Crossland. Because in the end, the most important part of my journey from trainee to facilitator was the inspiration, support, and faith they gave me. I would not be who I am right now without them, and if I become even half the facilitator and mentor they are I will consider myself very lucky indeed. Thank you Emily.