Music leaders' development day - an opportunity

The AllStars team are running a FREE music leader's development day in Wells on March 18th.

This is for anyone with an interest in music leading and community music - come and learn some new ideas in a fun environment, and try some stuff out. The activities will be led by Russ Stanley, Alex Lupo and Jane Harwood.

We'll be sharing tips and ideas for good music leading, especially with groups with additional needs.You can do some leading, take notes, film, or just join in and play.


Bring a packed lunch and an instrument or your voice.

Venue : the Denning Room, Union St, Wells BA5 2PU
Date; March 18th
Time : 10.30 - 2.00

You'll need to book a place : email info@heartbeats.org.uk

searching and reflecting - a team day

Alex, Jane, Russ and Ben were off over the border to Earlswood in Monmouthshire last week for a team skill share and reflection day. Before we did any speaking we made time for some music - tuning up and tuning in.

Professional development is important to the way we work together. This was a chance to try out some new things and really concentrate on how we play together as well.

Cold enough for woolly hats..

We had lots of fun which must be a good sign!

It was an opportunity to eat cake and discuss the future  - we have lots of ideas for ways to take our work forward, so it all feels positive.

nice sunset!

One idea is to spend more time together reflecting on good practice and inspiration in music leading.... a day didn't feel long enough.

We discussed creating a resource that would help others work in the way that we do.

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?

Music tonight!

Hello - if you are in the Heart Beats crew - come along to Cedars Hall tonight to get our exciting programme for 2017 going with some real live music....

 

Everyone can expect a warm welcome, new faces and old : and we have some exciting news for you too.

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!

 

Festivities

Music is fun, as it should be. And seasonal fun is even better. Here's a film of Geoff, volunteer music leader at Count Me In, sharing his festive joy last night... so Merry Christmas to all our amazing group, and supporters, and music leaders - and everyone!

part of our local music community....

We were pleased and proud to open up the Wells Cathedral School newsletter - 'in the community' - and find a feature about  AllStars and a photo of a Heart Beats music session.

Thanks to Wells Cathedral School for hosting and supporting us so generously.

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.

autumn sessions

Hi everyone - reminding you that there is no session tomorrow ; we next meet on November 10th at Cedars Hall, usual time.

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.