Music is Giving: The giving relationship between young people and music leaders
Do we take time to acknowledge what music leaders get out of our work with young people? Until recently we hadn’t thought too much about it but then we asked. Here Lucy Stone, our Strategic Director, reflects on how much the young people we work with ‘Give’ to the music leaders that they work with. ‘Give’ is one of the ‘Six Ways to Wellbeing’ and we are delivering a programme using the Ways in Maidstone in Kent which is funded by Kent County Council, with investment from Artswork and the Royal Opera House Bridge.
‘For me the two sides of my practice are utterly connected. I think I'm a better performer because I run workshops and vice versa.’ Graham Dowdall
We recently asked our music leaders ‘How does your work with children and young people feedback into your artistic/ musical practice?’
The answers were varied and fascinating with many common themes - thoughts included
- Discovering new techniques when trying to recreate genres music learners are into
- Exposure to emerging genres of music they wouldn't normally keep up with
- Being more expressive and honest in their own work
- Finding new artist to listen to, work with and be inspired by
- Creative problem solving in making equipment accessible for new learners and those with disabilities feeding directly back into practice, especially use of technology
- Challenged to make new and interesting work
- Opportunities to meet other artists and collaborate
- Understanding and making funding applications for new projects
- Using knowledge of specific environment to create bespoke work (e.g. Hospitals)
- Flexibility required to connect quickly with a range of people leads to creative ideas
- Use of and need for improvisation, listening and artistic skills
- Musical rule breaking and an open minded approach to music making influences creative practice
There is so much in here - I could write a blog on each of these areas! Interestingly so much of this shows that the relationship between music leader and young person is two way - it’s not just about one person having the knowledge and imparting to the other - it’s reciprocal
‘It can feed back to your own music, keeping things fresh and interesting. It's a symbiotic relationship for me.’ Dave Tribe
The ways in which young people create, learn, play and experiment are essential to effective Music Leadership and session delivery.
'Both involve a lot of improvisation so they feed into each other naturally. I love watching how some of the young people explore instruments & soundmaking - they often approach things in ways that are new to me as they (initially at least) have no expectations, so that’s inspiring for my practice in all areas.' Bela Emerson
Even in some of the most challenging environments such as in hospital environments which are incredibly difficult for children and their families to cope with. Unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells add to the stress of illness.
'I've been visiting the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital for some years making music at the bedsides of babies, children and YP (now our 'Wishing Well' programme)... I constantly get creative ideas from bedside music making, because of the flexibility required to connect quickly with a range of CYP in challenging situations.' Kate Murdoch
Some tutors felt that being a music leader had transformed their musical practice and that young people had given them a chance to reflect on their musical path.
'Being a workshop leader and working with young musicians has actually made me more selective about gigs that I play and projects I get involved in. Most of the projects I work on are my attempt to push the boundaries of what instruments I can fuse together which is down to direct experience of working in YP's projects and fighting traditional models that dictate that you can't have, for example, an electric guitar in an orchestra (which in fact you can and has been done for over 50 years)' Russ Grooms
Giving
We could not talk about giving without linking to how you can ‘Give’ to Rhythmix to help support the work we do Text RHYT14 £5 to 70070 or donate on our JustGiving page here
MORE INFORMATION ON SIX WAYS TO WELLBEING
We are interested to hear what other organisations think about the Six Ways to Wellbeing and will be blogging over the coming weeks about our learning and experiences of the pilot programme.
The Six Ways to Wellbeing are:
- Connect: People
- Be active: Body
- Take notice: Place
- Keep learning: Mind
- Give: Spirit
- Care: Planet
You can find out more about Six Ways to Wellbeing
Website: www.sixwaystowellbeing.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/liveitwellkent
Twitter: https://twitter.com/liveitwelluk @liveitwelluk
#sixwaystowellbeing
PREVIOUS SIX WAYS BLOGS
1) Introduction: Ways to Wellbeing Through Music:
Here we introduce the ‘Ways’, look at how our tutors have adopted the ‘Six Ways to Wellbeing’ using music to engage the ethos behind the project and Russ Grooms (Project Manager) reflects on the programme as a whole. Article here
2) Connect with People Through Music: Six Ways to Wellbeing
Lucy Stone, our Strategic Director reflects on the minutiae of music making and how music making enables young people to connect with peers and their communities. Article here
3) Be Active Through Music: Six Ways to Wellbeing
Russ Callaghan Grooms, the project manager, reflects on his early days listening to his walkman and how music, movement and being active go hand in hand. Article here
4) Take Notice Through Music: Six Ways to Wellbeing
Here we are thinking about how music helps us stop and take notice and connects us to a place (in our memories, a sense of place or where we are now) and we reflect on music and memory, the everyday, our environment and lyrical content. Article here
5) Playing an instrument - the ‘Full-Body Workout’!
Here we are thinking about learning music and how it music affects the mind. We share an amazing TED-Ed talk called ‘How playing an instrument benefits your brain’ by Anita Collins which shows why music education is so important for the brain. Article here