Funky Teens

Rhythmix runs sessions at youth clubs across Sussex for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. At The Joff in Peacehaven Marina runs sessions with ‘Funky Teens’.  

Rhythmix have been running Saturday sessions with Funky Teens at The Joff over a number of years. The music workshops run alongside other wider activities supported by youth workers.

When we first started the project some years ago most of the young people were reticent to get involved in music making. Recently, there was a clear growing interest and participation from the group for music making.Now a group of young people has developed, who enthusiastically participate in group singing sessions and have shown clear progress in vocal confidence and technique. Young people will now take an active role in selecting pieces of music for individual or group performance, with some participants having worked consistently every session to develop their instrument playing and singing.

A big boost to the sessions comes from the fact that the youth centre has been equipped with new instruments and amps since the summer term. We have been able to use these and this has massively expanded the scope for supporting both group music making and elements of individual music tuition within the sessions.

Case study

Robin*  has significant challenges with speech and clear pronunciation of words, and therefore can find it difficult to make himself understood when expressing his interests and preferences. Through perseverance we were able to establish that Robin absolutely loves the song Littlest Things by Lily Allen and is now able to sing the entire song. Early in the term we worked on this and Robin sent a recording of himself greatly enjoying singing the song home to play for his family. He showed a clear increase in confidence and motivation for singing with us following this, and began taking a very active role in singing many other songs with us in subsequent sessions. This was a great development both socially and musically from much earlier sessions when Robin had frequently sat quietly within the group youth session, often not actively participating in shared activities.

Working in a setting over a long period of time gives young people like Robin the opportunity to work on improving their musical skills, and the development of a wider culture of participation in music making. We would like to thank The Joff and it’s fantastic staff for providing a space to make music and support throughout the sessions.