'a different outlook on improvising and listening to one another.....'

On Saturday we ran a training day - music leadership skills development. It was inspiring and fun to spend the day with a group of talented young musicians, who have an interest in community music and music therapy.

Days like this are rare enough -  and short, too - so we needed to get straight to the point. We wanted to talk, share, play, and explore concepts.

Being given the opportunity to share what you do begins with plenty of thinking. The idea was to explain what we do in our sessions, and why, and put some context on it all. We needed to cover all areas of interest, through doing as well as telling.

Between us we covered a lot of ground, from information on how the brain is affected by music, to receptive and expressive communication, to what happens to your listening ability when you only play for 50% of the time in an improvisation.

We asked everyone what they thought of the day - was it useful? Some comments...
- inspirational, invigorating, eye opening, educational
- very grounding, so much de-stressing - so warm and friendly
- a different outlook on improvising and listening to one another
- meditative, insightful, really fun
- cemented my want to be involved in community music and music therapy
- JOYOUS! - expressive, relaxed, informative, and personal in the sense that I felt as if I and other members of the group were expressing personal things through spontaneous music making
- I hope we can have future sessions like this!

We're already planning how we can offer more sessions like this. Thanks for coming, everybody.

the music of how we're feeling

At the Listening Lounge, we were thinking about how other people might be feeling..... how those people made us feel ...and even, just how we were feeling ourselves.

 Then we had a think about what kind of music would describe those feelings, and had a go at playing some of those feelings.

Playing 'calm' made us relaxed.... even if we weren't that calm at first.

Playing 'angry' was noisy but fun.

'Jealousy' was the most surprising : we all ended up laughing, sneaking a go on each others' instruments, and being playful.

What we discovered was that, as a group, playing music could change our mood. It wasn't just that we could represent a feeling through sound - it was more complex than that.
Because we were listening, and responding, and initiating,  together we could build pieces of music that could make us happier, calmer, or surprised.

Playing 'angry' didn't make us angry though. Actually - we felt better afterwards!

Later, Josh started to play the piano. Here's how it sounded. How would you describe this?

AllStars in 2017 : heading West

This is the final year of our AllStars project, which will end with a HUGE celebration this summer.
We've got plenty of great stuff to look forward to in the next few months.

This January we start a new mini-project that we're calling AllStars West.
The Jean Rees post-16 centre in Bridgwater is hosting a series of weekly music sessions where we will be playing live, interactive music with 11 students.
These sessions will build listening and social skills, as well as being fun, interactive and age appropriate.
We'll work with staff to help students move towards their Thrive targets.

Because AllStars brings mixed ability groups together to communicate through music, we will invite students from Chilton Trinity school, which shares a location with Jean Rees, to join the sessions too.

We expect to help build self esteem, confidence, listening skills, and social and emotional learning....because music is a great way to do this!

 

Active listening

Hear, absorb, process, react, respond. This is active listening - a communication skill - it's what we do when we're really engaged.

When you do this in improvised music sessions, it can become a transferable skill, so that listening in conversations - displaying empathy - becomes easier too.

By responding, we reflect and lead on. This is a fundamental of interactive communication.

Active listening can be hard work. Sometimes, in group sessions - often when things get loud! - as a music leader, you feel that people can become self absorbed, giving full attention to their instrument rather than other people, or maybe even not being fully present, in a 'zone' induced by rhythm and the physicality of playing. (Which is nice enough)

As a music leader you have to feel the balance of the sound, and make decisions as to whether the music is working or not. Sometimes just gaining attention, stopping for 4 beats and starting again will bring focus back. Sometimes it's ok to take the risk and let it find a level. ....And sometimes you might ask some people to stop for a while and others to continue playing, to allow a clearer listening space.

Tonight at the Listening Lounge we are going to explore invitations to play, inviting and respecting others. We shall play some listening games too - trying out ideas for the bigger group.

Moving - and shaking....

Moving Heart Beats to a new location was a big decision : the creative space we build around ourselves as a group is important to everything we do. Many of us take a while to get used to new places.....different access, lighting, acoustics - there's a whole load of multi sensory aspects to consider.
We'll soon get used to the stairs and the lift, heavy fire doors, piles of instruments and music stands, and an energetic atmosphere with other people buzzing about.

Cedars Hall

Cedars Hall is an exceptional building because it's brand new, and designed with acoustics in mind.
Our room has carpet, acoustic panels, a specially designed floor,and big windows looking out across tree tops. Our instruments and voices sound different in this room.
In the corridors students are moving their instruments about and practicing pieces. In the main hall ('The 'Eavis Hall' ) orchestras rehearse and we can look down to see what's happening as we walk along the corridor.

Eavis Hall

Michael Eavis opened Cedars hall officially on October 8th. He said 'I learned to laugh about lots of things in Wells.'

What do our musicians think about the new music space? 
Katie says 'It's an adventure in a new place - I appreciate it.'
Emma -'I love the new place.'
Sophie - 'I like the lift!' 
Geoff - 'It's all fresh - a good atmosphere. This is a new achievement.'
Mark - 'The building has a phenomenal atmosphere. I liked seeing the orchestra.'

We're starting something new together.
We have a feeling the music we make in this new room will be quite different.

Reflecting, understanding, and sharing - working in a team

Leading a training day for other professionals, who come from a range a backgrounds and experiences, forces you to reflect on what you do - pick it apart - and distill it down into a cohesive presentation.

We work as a team of three independent music leaders who deliver sessions together, with an interconnected  approach.

 As musicians our job is to scaffold the music in the group whilst waiting our turn to lead - it's interesting switching from leading to modelling and support, whilst our colleagues interpret the plans we make together. This gives you a real sense of how effective the music leading is, too.

When we were planning for 'Joining In' training this Saturday, we started with the premise that we bring three different approaches to the whole.

The day was about approaches to 'musical inclusion'.

Obviously between us, we have a range of expertise. To keep things clear we focused on the AllStars  'musical inclusion' approaches:

• Alex, as a music therapist, spoke about the personal outcomes, the process-based approach;
• Russ, as a musician, spoke about musical outcomes, and enabling everyone to be included in a musical process;
• Jane, as a community music leader, spoke about social outcomes, participation and communication.

It worked! - we managed to re-affirm and support each others' work, whilst describing our broad and cohesive approach.

Just through putting this together, we learned a lot through reflection and sharing.
A great experience.

Some feedback:
'fundamental, free, expressive, understandable'

'Inspiring and eye opening'

'It made me realise what a variety of things music does and has taught me not to be so regimented with music.'

'Makes you think outside the box.' 

'Amazing, I learned a lot. I learned, what is music.'

 'Life affirming - opened my eyes to a different type of 'work.''
 

Drake Music : top ten needs for Music Hubs and SEN/D music provision

A few weeks ago, Drake Music published a document listing the 'top ten needs' they've identified for music hubs and SEN/D music provision.

This list sums up previous research and leads into their new Think2020 project, which aims to increase musical opportunities for disabled children and young people through strategic and sustainable partnership work in the music education sector.

It's good list, and the reason we're blogging about it is because we feel strongly about the importance of  partnership working, skillshare and information exchange - especially in our area where it's rural, provision is patchy, and sometimes it is possible to feel isolated.

Here are some recommendations from the list:

- Practitioners working in SEN/D and music (or planning to) need to work towards, or maintain, a ‘hybrid’ set of skills in order to best meet the diverse range of musical and access needs

- Communities of Practice/ teacher networks are vital in order to ‘help teachers to help each other’ get better in their practice and to share ideas and resources. 

- Music Hub activities around learning an instrument – Peripatetic teaching and whole class instrumental sessions – need re-thinking and adapting in order to present an appropriate offer to SEN/ disabled young people. Priorities may well include: flexibility, creativity and performing using appropriate music technology.

We have some training coming up that focuses on exploring good practice for inclusive music. Our team have a wide-ranging experience of working in SEN/D settings and we're really keen to share this experience.

If you think our training can help you to increase musical opportunities for children and young people with additional needs, please book a place!
info@heartbeats.org.uk for more information.

Heart Beats Music on the Sound Connections website

We were pleased to hear from Sound Connections after they read our words about inclusion on the Youth Music blog.
We gave them some information on how we work towards youth participation, and now we're listed on the 'Rewired' section of their website.
Being off in the sticks here in muddy Somerset, it's always good to know you're moving in the right direction, and can have a voice in the national debates and research into inclusion and music.
We feel we work hard to get it right, and part of that is knowing and understanding what other people are doing right across the country, in rural and urban settings. We learn from other people and it's good to have platforms like the Youth Music Network to share our ideas.

Another thought provoking blogpost!

Co-incidentally (or not - perhaps it so 'now' it's actually no coincidence at all) Siggy Patchitt has posted a blog on the YM network about inclusion, and what we're calling integration.
After many years of doing this kind of work, it's great to see it on the agenda.

Recommended reading, anyway.

What we are aiming for is simple. It’s a world where these two things happen:

1. A project is set up so that anyone, no matter what their needs are, can access it.
2. A Music Leader walks into a room and is able to work with any individual, no matter what their needs.

- See more at: http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/learning/blogs/siggy-patchitt/dropping-pennies%E2%80%A6or-jigsaw-pieces#sthash.LSJYcWEX.

What we are aiming for is simple. It’s a world where these two things happen:

1. A project is set up so that anyone, no matter what their needs are, can access it.
2. A Music Leader walks into a room and is able to work with any individual, no matter what their needs.

- See more at: http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/learning/blogs/siggy-patchitt/dropping-pennies%E2%80%A6or-jigsaw-pieces#sthash.LSJYcWEX.dpuf

New post on the Youth music network

Count Me In have just put up a new blogpost on the Youth music network.

It's some thoughts about 'participation' and how tricky that can be to get right sometimes... and how everyone comes to music for a different reason, and just maybe leaves with a different benefit too.

This piece was inspired by a paper by Francois Matarasso, you can read that here.
He says some great things about impact and involvement.

The AllStars Listening Lounge

AllStars is a cluster of projects running across Somerset for two years.

All of these projects explore different aspects of integrated musical inclusion - based on our key principle of improvisation and 'music education by encounter.'

Alex and Jane are running the Listening Lounge. This is a small closed group that meets monthly. The group is equal :  a mixture of mainstream and SEN young musicians who have varied experiences of formal / non formal music education - and most possibly have very different expectations of the role of music in their future lives.

Within these sessions, Alex and Jane are exploring new approaches to the questions 'what is music for?' and 'what does music do for us?'
The Listening Lounge is a combination of community music practices and music mentoring, informed by therapeutic methodologies, in regular closed sessions with a dedicated group.


The group play, talk, listen and explore personal relationships with music.
The process will be informed by the group's narrative as it forms its identity.

We're waiting to see what measurable outcomes will look like. We think that being part of this group will be useful for the leaders and the group - that we can build on our sense of self worth, interpersonal skills, and tools for self expression.

Yesterday evening we gathered together to talk, laugh, reflect, improvise two pieces of music, listen to favourite tracks, and do some quiet, focused drawing to music.
Outside it was dark, windy and wintry, but inside the session it felt warm, relaxed, and safe.
Here are the drawings ...the music has just melted away, into the November night.

Gathering ideas for our training day

On Saturday January 30th 2016, the AllStars Music team will be hosting an open-access CPD session for educators who use music and musicians who work in care and education.
The training will focus on developing a person-centered approach to music: unlocking creativity and confidence.
As a team, we have a wide range of SEN/D expertise, so the training will be useful for people who work in SEN/D, or the wider aspects of musical inclusion.

We'll be sharing some of the thinking and practice that informs our work, both in  our inclusive Heart Beats sessions, and also our wider work with schools, mentoring, and using music as a tool for therapy and communication.

As part of the package, we'll be offering linked opportunities for experiential learning through placements at the Heart Beats music group.

At the moment we're gathering ideas for the day, especially thinking about what 'musical inclusion' means and how to create a 'playful' environment.

There will be plenty of playing on the day, so if you want to come, bring an instrument.


Watch this blog for more details. The venue will be in Wells and the day will run from 10.00 - 3.30. Tickets will be available soon.

Partnerships, meetings, Fast Forward Festival... a busy time

It's been a busy time recently - the last month has been full up.

We've been meeting our fabulous partners who are helping us to set up and deliver an excellent programme of music making. 

We've had meetings and hatched action plans with Wells Cathedral School, the Somerset Rural Youth Project, Elmwood and Penrose federation of schools in Bridgwater, and Spaeda in Langport.

We've run an arts week music day in Fiveways school, who loved our work and want us to come back and do more.

We've visited Fairfield Farm College in Wiltshire and fixed dates to do an evening session there, and an arts week day next year.

Alex and Jane have been planning out the Listening Lounge strand of the project, with a focus on mentoring and Arts Award - that's going to be exciting, a new departure for us. We're looking at creating a space where music therapy and community music can work together -  where we can listen sensitively and respond intentionally.

We attended the Fast Forward Festival 'Inclusive Excellence' conference at The Colston Hall in Bristol. This was a thought provoking day that ended in performances by Drake Music and the Paraorchestra.

We were asked to consider that 'The musical world discriminates against disabled people. If we don’t change this, we endorse it.
1. What must the music industry do to create a fair ecology?
2. How can music education change to prepare young disabled musicians for this new ecology?'
We went away with a head full of questions and ideas about access, ability, inclusion, and participation. We need more chance to meet and investigate these big issues together. It's  a vibrant discussion and there are so many angles.
AllStars offers an informal music education environment where our team do their best to provide a valuable, progressive experience for everyone, reacting to individual abilities and interests. We feel we can work with young people who wouldn't have been offered much in the way of formal musical education; we believe access to live music making is a universal right. Not sure if this is 'inclusive excellence', but it's always surprising and exciting, and goes further than we ever thought it would. One thing for sure, there's no discrimination here. Come and play music with us.

On Thursday Jane joined a conversation on SEN/D music education at the Wiltshire Music Centre. Again - lots of thought provoking questions were raised about music, excellence, and inclusion. One thing that emerged was that the AllStars project may be able to help with CPD and developing the workforce.

What we're looking forward to now is our next music session on July 16th. It's all very well talking about music, but you mustn't forget to play some now and again, too...
This seems to be a good time to say how good it is to be part of such a great team, in the SW, doing what we love best : making music!

Oh - and we mustn't forget Geoff: see you all on Thursday.

Running an integrated group.

Our group exists for young people with learning disabilities, but it's a bit more complex than that....
Over the years, we have always had student placements at our music sessions. We provide support and opportunities for young musicians to experience working within a mixed ability setting.

Vicky

It's also brought us into contact with some brilliant instrumentalists and singers who really do bring a sparkle to group improvisations.
We feel that through offering this experience we've helped young people make higher education choices, and perhaps see music differently.

Gemma

Gemma, who was with us for a year, says ... 'I've ended up going to do recorder and violin at Birmingham Conservatoire instead of computer science'. We asked Gemma if she'd be interested in coming back for some sessions : 'This sounds amazing!  I'd love to come back and take part in the sessions!'
With the AllStars project, we felt that we'd like to open out this opportunity and move towards running a more integrated group - bringing together people from different backgrounds, who have had different opportunities, but have a common love of music.

At the taster session

Our partnerships with Wells Cathedral School continues to grow, and we also now have a partnership with the Elmwood and Penrose Federation of schools in Bridgwater.
This year Wells Cathedral School have stepped things up a bit by agreeing to host our integrated music mentoring sessions - "The Listening Lounge" - which begin in September.
They will help us identify A level music students to join the AllStars groups, and we'll be joined by one of their Graduate Music Assistants, who will be at the school studying for a CME (Certificate of Music Education).

Taster session warm up games

At our tasters this summer so far we met have Bella, Ellie, Esther, Molly and Laura. Laura is from Frome and is interested in a career in music therapy ; Molly is a signed songwriter.
Bella, Ellie and Esther are A level music students from Wells Cathedral School.They're all brilliant and we hope they will all join the group!
Our team of music leaders realise we will have a challenge to meet everyone's needs - but that's what we exist for : that's inclusion. We've said we're all stars in this context, so we need to discover how that works, and what that sounds like.
We all have so much to learn from each other, simply by being in a room where we can work and play together, listen and respond on equal terms.
What will be fascinating will be to observe the outcomes of these two years of 'music education by encounter' that we have planned for the AllStars project.

AllStars project begins

This is it - this week we have our first AllStars taster session - Thursday at Wells Museum, 6 - 8. Now that is good news.

See you there.

the lovely things that people say

I keep bumping into people who have been to our sessions. People even send us messages about the session. We thought we'd put some of these messages on the blog.

It really cheers you up when you hear how much everyone has enjoyed the music...Wendy says
'I would like to share some of the comments from some of the clients that I work with who used to attend Heartbeats. Frequently many of them ask me when is heartbeats going to start again and that they miss it very much.  One particular client said she missed playing the instruments it made her feel happy.  Another client has stressed how he misses making music with other people at heartbeats. We hope that heartbeats will continue to run throughout 2015.'
 Maggie says :'it’s very moving to see how those that struggle to communicate verbally find it so easy to communicate musically with a percussion instrument in their hand and engage with others in an extraordinary way. Their smiles and enjoyment are wonderful to see....'
MJ says 'Heartbeats is a very special group where I can relax and enjoy making music with friends.

Jane, Russ, Alex and Ben make every week fun and we learn different exciting things.

 I am happy to help people with music at Heartbeats. I have learned to play the Hammered Dulcimer and love improvising with Alex. Music always makes me feel good...' 

 

 

 

Heart Beats - the movie

Alex has made a film about Heart Beats.
If you would like a copy, email us at info@heartbeats.org.uk and we will send you one (please don't forget to tell us your address)

Day service providers forum

Here's an event which may be of interest to any of you based in Mendip, Somerset.
(We can't help thinking that's the Heart Beats crew up there on the top right......)

We're not a day service but we do offer extra curricular fun and learning opportunities for all the young people this event is aimed at. We'll be there if you want an informal chat on the day.

CPD opportunity for professionals - with Alex

Sound Foundation workshops

Good times had by all at the Brewhouse Theatre on Saturday, where we were running inclusive 'drop in' workshops for the Sound Foundation Somerset festival. A truly integrated day! - all ages and abilities. As someone pointed out, the dynamics and feel of the music change every time a new person enters the room.
We all bring in our own way of responding and contributing.
Warm, welcoming, surprising, musical. Funny, and often very beautiful.
Thanks to everyone for your playing!

Thanks to Spaeda for supporting this. And thanks to Rod Paton for the Lifemusic ideas that make this kind of thing work so well.