Looking forward into 2017
In what could be a pivotal year for communities in general we are reminded that now is the time to strengthen communities in the ways we know how; participation, compassion and acceptance. These ideas tie in with tolerance of others and understanding of others.
The community is bigger than the individual but without self knowledge of the individual a positive contribution to the community as a whole cannot always be made. MSTW in partnership with Musinc Teesside has been delivering music making projects with the Myplace mixed ability group. Each Thursday night we get together and work with young people from the Middlesbrough area. Some of the young people have very challenging lives and music is the great harmony that bonds us all regardless of race, religion, social status, abilities and experience. Using the Myplace facilities we deliver one-to-one guitar lessons as well as musical exploration in the custom built studio. The sessions are a great way for the young people to learn new musical skills and socialise with fellow musical explorers. Another project that we are currently working on is a music project with AAPNA Services. This project works closely with people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The young people are from challenging circumstances and the sessions offer some fun and unique learning possibilities. This project is funded by Musinc.
We use percussion instruments and guitar to develop rhythm techniques. Games such as call-and-response help to involve the young people and get everyone engaged.
As well as these ongoing projects I have been finding myself more and more in the music studio doing short one-off projects with local young people. Sometimes I get phone calls asking if I can facilitate in the studio with some group or another. These small one-off projects never get much mention but they deserve recognition just as much as the longer term projects.
I have been working with a small group aged 14-16 developing there own style of Grime music.
Before these little projects came along I had not had much experience with Grime. A sub culture/genre that has came out of hip hop music in which emcees tell there unique tales of urban life. Grime can be many things and sometimes it's given a negative image because of its explicit lyrics and dark content but I have found it a useful medium for these young people.
It is a good genre to express how life in a place such as Middlesbrough can affect them emotionally and socially.
I have developed an instrumental for the young people to use for free-styling over, if you're a community musician engaged in similar activities and you need an instrumental, feel free to use it in your own practise. You can find it on our youtube channel.
As the sessions progress I wish to give the young people the skills to make their own instrumentals. When we first started the sessions they would often use instrumentals from various youtube videos. This would sometimes cause issues with regards copyright and it would also detract from the originality of their material. I'm very fortunate to be able to do the work I do, it's inspiring to meet so many gifted and creative young people. Music is the greatest weapon communities can use for social expression.
I will finish with a quote.
All audible musical sound is given us for the sake of harmony, which has motions akin to the orbits in our soul, and which as anyone who makes intelligent use of the arts knows, is not to be used, as is commonly thought, to give irrational pleasure, but as a heaven-sent ally in reducing to order and harmony any disharmony in the revolutions within us.
If you know who said that, fill it in the comment section below. _ _ _ _ O
