Link between body image and 'voice'
A conversation with one of B Sharp's young music leaders has thrown up some potential links between young people's body image and development of their 'voice' or 'sound'.
K joined B Sharp 3 years ago as a participant. She then joined B Sharp’s houseband for a year, and has been a trainee music leader for a year.
K has acknowledged her struggles with her mental health, particularly anxiety, and issues around body image. She didn’t find school an easy experience, struggling with social issues, as well as periods of exclusion from school. In addition the breakdown of relationships at home have meant recurrent periods of being excluded from the family home, and the risk of homelessness.
K talked movingly about her struggles with body image, and how for a long time she wasn't able to leave the house without wearing heavy make-up. She wore her make-up like a 'mask', which allowed her to take on a persona that was confident enough to go out.
think I do have an alter ego, 100%. It used to be because I wore make up. At home I was this shy person, introvert, with my family, quiet little mouse. When I went out, to school or out the house at all, I put on this mask, put on my make-up, really helped me with my confidence. It was like I could put on this cocky, humorous persona.
K feels that her self-esteem has grown through having the opportunity to improve her vocal skills and develop her own individual sound. She said:
My range has improved, vocally. Mainly being in a band. But also just being able to experiment, has definitely improved my range. In school people used to say, you won’t be able to do this unless you have a singing teacher, doing these exercises every day etc. But I didn’t need that, B Sharp did that for me 100% ...because when you are given free reign over what you want to do, see were you go, where your voice takes you, to experiment – I got so much better. And it so organic and amazing because it means you are not trying to be someone else. And I think that is so important in our society, and for young people. For young people to find their sound.
It goes back to self-image. If they are trying to be who they are … then they can learn to like the way they look, the way they sound. To like the way they make music.
It is really personal to me, the way I play and sing.
K links the development of her voice, and finding her individual sound, with her improved body image. This is an interesting link between a young persons musical development, their development of an individual and personal style and their self-identity. It implies that improvements in confidence around a young people's physical and visible persona can be caused by them developing a stronger and more unique audible voice - a voice that sounds like 'them' and not like everybody else. Where young people feel so much pressure to confirm in so many aspects of their lives, this is important. This suggests that musical sound is as crucial an aspect of a young person's self-identity as what they look like, and it therefore is crucially important to help them realise their own sound. This reflects the finding from Youth Music's Sound of the Next Generation Report: "[Music] makes a positive contribution to young people’s subjective wellbeing – a positive state of mind where they feel good about their life, and its constituent parts (such as their relationships with others and how they see themselves)." and perhaps illustrates one of the mechanisms by which music making benefits young people's subjective wellbeing.
G has now built sufficient confidence that she now doesn’t feel the need to wear heavy make up to leave the house:
But since I have stopped wearing it [heavy make-up], my confidence has come out quite naturally. So now I can kind of get that balance between both. At first it was the make-up, but now I know, it was there all along. But I know being in that band, raised my confidence. Having the people, you love around you, all doing the same thing, that they all love, gives you a huge boost. I always cracked under pressure. In primary school, I wanted to do performances, all the time. Then secondary school, I thought no – and I had to build it up again, through B Sharp.
She has found the opportunity to share her skills, and work with younger participants, has also been really helpful in consolidating these gains in confidence:
I have really enjoyed working as a trainee, because building relationships with the young people has been fulfilling for me, because B Sharp helped my confidence hugely, and to be able to pass that on has been amazing. Because I know in my life if I hadn’t had that push, or that extra support through music, then I don’t know where I would be. It has helped me enormously.
It would be interesting to know if other projects had evidence of similar links between body image and 'voice'?
B Sharp, July 2019