Weeks 24 25 26 & 27 Commencing 2nd December 2013

The main focus for the performance sessions this month has been to work on a variety of tracks to perform at the celebration at the Contemporary in April. This has given many of the young people the opportunity to collaborate and work with other young people that they do not usually produce work with. This has also been good for many of the young people's musical growth by giving them the ability to come out of their comfort zone as many of the mc's that attend sessions are used to just having studio time and rapping over a track. 

These sessions have helped them to be more involved with the creation process of music from the offset by seeing how it is being implemented and also by having more input in the creation process instead of just writing lyrics for the track. This is something that many of the young people are yet to experience. 

Looking back over the past month I believe that this process has and will continue to be beneficial for all the young people involved. This is great way to work collectively which forms a sense of togetherness and also helps to improve on their knowledge and understanding of structure, rhythm, melody and communication skills all of which are vitally important for the final performance in April.

One of the drawbacks of having performance sessions of this nature is that there are still going to be some people that do not feel comfortable performing in front of other people because this just not the way that they practise. One reason for this may be that they feel nervous however, as I discovered over the past month this has not been the case. The reason why this was caused is that some young people are scared of making mistakes when performing.

One thing that helped me to combat this problem and get the point across is a video I discovered on You Tube (see link below) with Anthony Wellington. The topic of the video was 'The Infinite Field of Ideas' What I took out of the video and what was also the main point of the discussion was that the instrument used to play music is just a tool and this can also be expressed on other instruments for example,  drum kit, bass guitar and vocal. He went on to talk about how the lack of theory knowledge can be what is missing and restricting a musician from expressing their ideas. 

The reason why this was useful is that this impressed on me that the young people come from different musical backgrounds furthermore, their knowledge and understanding will differ leading to different confidence levels when it comes to performing in front of people. However, by ensuring them that music music is an infinite field of ideas and freedom of expression is important they will be less likely to be disheartened by mistakes and focus on the freedom of expression and the infinite field of ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-GMSKM_HkE

Weeks 21 22 23 & 24 Commencing 4th November 2013

The young creatives have been working on performances to enter the battle of the bands competition at the Christmas party in December. It has been great to see the confidence and self drive that the young people have been bringing to the sessions over the past month. This is reflecting that many of them are becoming more comfortable performing in front of other people which is vitally important if they are going to perform at the battle of the bands competition next month.

This month I have been particularly impressed with young person d as they have shown maximum effort when in rehearsing their tracks for the competition. Not only has their effort been impressive but also their attitude towards working on their performance as they have shown commitment and dedication by not wanting to give up practicing until they know that they are able to perform the tracks correctly and at the same time making minimal mistakes. 

Weeks 16 17 18 19 & 20 Commencing 30th September 2013

This month the sessions have improved dramatically by a great degree (these sessions have always been well attended but now they are even better!) and this is something which is great to see as it clearly indicates how individuals are improving as the weeks go by. 

One of the main reasons I think that the sessions have become even more successful this month is that between Nina Smith and myself we now have an adaptable structure that allows us to work with a lot of individuals to create performances/music that requires them to be involved using the maximum of their musical ability as they are the key focus in the sessions not ourselves. 

The importance of this structure that we have devised is that what we do individually does not over shadow or impact other individuals performance thus making the sessions more enjoyable for individuals irregardless of their musical knowledge or experience. This is vital to every session as this means that all the individuals involved within  it can go home feeling that not only did they contribute towards the sessions but they also contributed in the right way.  

Something that really inspired me to think about this and improve the way in which people learn in general but in particularly music and the individuals I work with is a Ted Talks video with musician Victor Wooten (see link below) One of the key aspects I took from this talk is music in itself is a language and as baby's we are trying to learn our native language, when we speak and pronounce words incorrectly our parents never correct us for that. Therefore the same should apply to teaching music particularly at the early stage as this not performing in a sense we are learning amongst advanced performers so that we can then go and "perform" with little or no mistakes in the future.  

After watching this video this really made me think about the individuals that I work with and what I am trying to achieve with them and how I am trying to inspire them. I can't make them a perfectionist as that is something that only they can do themselves and requires a lot of discipline. However, through a more adaptable structure I can help prepare them for their individual musical journey's and inspire them to be the best that they can be musically and that is my aim through:

Focusing on what individuals get right -  This is one of the most important elements when preparing anyone for their musical journey and vital for keeping motivation high. I am not trying to say that everything they will do is correct but as musicians we strive for perfection but it never starts out like this as many will say that. However, if I focus on the effort and the things that the individuals get right this helps to maintain motivation, interaction effort and performance. If I tell them that they have played x,y and z wrong that is more likely to decrease all of those attributes. Therefore focusing on the positive is the right way to go, the negative is still important but instead of bringing it into the light we let the light shine over it and in time these negatives will become positives.

Enjoyment -  Regardless of level or ability music is about enjoyment the great quote from Bob Marley, "The good thing about music is that when it hits you you feel no pain", is the essence of what music is about. Music is an enjoyment process that is another reason why at this stage I am not too interested by the mistakes that individuals make but rather on the importance of the enjoyment factor and the connection that the individuals make with one another. 

Involvement  - No matter how big or small your roll (instrument/ only play during section a, b or c etc)  within the band for that session just like a football match a band is like a team. Musicianship is about teamwork there may be an overall leader but there is no "I" in team.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0

Week 14 Commencing 16th September 2013

Working with Nina Smith again this week has been great, I can see that (young person c) has really enjoyed what these sessions have entailed and over the past couple of weeks it has really helped to improve his performance by a great measure.

However, the most common issue I have found during these sessions at the moment is that there are some young people that have the confidence to perform and work on new material and there other young people that either have been playing an instrument for a short time or do not play an instrument at all. There involvement in the sessions is just as important as the young people that are confident at performing. Therefore, I think there needs to be a slight change which will be very beneficial for each young person that attends these sessions.

To move these sessions forward so that the young people may have a greater benefit I think that more structured sessions will open up a variety of opportunities:

Having more structured session will be a great benefit for the young people as this will allow them to create aims that can be achieved in or out of sessions on a group or individual basis.

Working on group performance will also help to improve the key attributes of teamwork and in addition will aid individual performance.

Week 13 Commencing 9th September 2013

Open mic night – from the outcome of the previous two events, delegation of duties was required to ensure this next night would run smooth and be successful. During this week a meeting was held to discuss and delegate each task that needed to be completed. I now feel more confident in going into the next open mic night as each trainee has been were given a role in line with their strengths and capabilities.

  

Working with Nina Smith for a two hour session enabled us to gain the full attention of the students, once directed they were very enthusiastic in participating in the session. Having the involvement of a professional artist gave a real boost to the students there as they saw actual benefits to doing what they were doing.

This session has taught me that when teaching sessions there is the need at times to introduce artists that are already established within the music industry to enable the students to see that each session of learning is necessary to attain their success and career. Each student in the session was fully involved and needed little encouragement even when playing the simplest of instrument.

Weeks 11 & 12 Commencing 26th August & 2nd September 2013

Looking back to the first training session with Phill Mullen it was very successful.   I was therefore looking forward to this next session.

The experience and knowledge I gained with regard to teaching and applying various methods and techniques to ensure each session is interesting for the students, I count as invaluable.  However, I realised that I need to ensure that during each session there is adequate time to answer all questions as this will ensure that the student(s) does not feel that they are being ignored or what they have to say is not important. Also this will help me to feel satisfied that I have delivered a good session.

I have gained great satisfaction in being trained to deliver arts awards in bronze and silver level, this has now equipped me to guide and assess students studying for this award which will give them a sense of achievement and a step towards pursuing their ambitions.

This was the second open mic night which was yet again a great success but slightly let down the organisation of the event. To ensure this does not happen again we need to delegate roles for each trainee and check prior to the event that everything is in place.

Week 10 Commencing 19th August 2013

This past week has been another great experience for me assisting on the YMCA day camp at Rushcliffe School. What has been great to see throughout this week is fun and intuitive ways to learning and these are techniques that I will take forward into sessions in the future. The young peoples willingness to partake in every activity without complaint is what made this week really special as it showed to me that through the use of the training and careful planing sessions can be made enjoyable. 

What went well?

The young people wanted to partake in anything which required a demonstration of an activity or  to be one of the main roles for the task of the day. For me just like the majority of the previous sessions the young people at Rushcliffe School were filled with a lot of enthusiasm.   

What did not go so well?

The attention of the young people would sometimes dip throughout an activity when it came to a more crucial part which required more attention. For sessions of this nature the young people could have benefited with some of the tasks that were set being less intense and more interactive.   

Weeks 8 & 9 Commencing 5th August 2013

Learning from the taster day and using more elements of VARK in the one on one instrument tuition lessons and production sessions has really helped me to provide fun, interactive and educational sessions throughout the two weeks of Music Mayhem. In particular the first week where young people turned up filled with enthusiasm wanting to learn about production.   

What went well?

Taking Phill Mullen advice in hand has helped me a lot with one on one instrument tuition throughout the two weeks of Music Mayhem. I was able to make tuition fun and enjoyable for young people at the same time as being a learning experience. 

The young peoples enthusiasm and willingness to learn even after technical difficulties.

What did not go so well?

For a lot of the work I did with young people on production during the course of Music Mayhem I could have benefited from having a structured plan which would have helped me to show young people various stages of production in a more organised way. However, this did not take away from the young people learning the basic elements of production but it is very important to take using a structure plan into consideration in the future for sessions of this nature.

Week 7 Commencing 29th July 2013

The first open mic night was a great success for me in terms of performance although it could have been a lot better in terms of the running and organisation. it was great to see a variety of the many genres of music in which the young people have been working on in sessions. The stand out act for the night was (young person b) he stole the show for me his clear distinctive character and personality had a positive impact on the audience as they were clapping along and engaged in his songs. What was also really great to see was the confidence in some of the performers as I have previously mentioned they have been filled with nerves when practicing in the performance space. This is a testament to their development and how much they have progressed as an individual and a performer.

If there is anything to take away from the sessions this week in particular the open mic night it is that events of this nature need to be more organised to run more smoothly as this can help to encourage more young people to perform.

Week 6 Commencing 22nd July 2013

This has been a great week for me musically as the music leader training that I have undertaken with Phill Mullen has really help to broaden my horizons and teaching techniques for instrument tuition and rhythmic demonstrations In a general nature. One of the key problems that I stressed to phill during this training was what approach to take when working with a young person on one to one instrument tuition this was particularly for people starting out.  

What I have taken from this training is similar to what I learnt at the taster day with people having different learning styles. Also to add to this, the importance of making instrument tuition fun. This is something which I had not thought about prior to the training with Phill Mullen. I can recall when I first started playing up until now abd how much fun the learning process has been for me. Therefore this is something which will be of high importance when I am starting out with instrument tuition as I want to make sure that the learning process for the young person is as fun and enjoyable as possible as these sessions are not imperitive but may help open up doors for their future and career path. 

This week it has also been great to see more young people performing songs in the performance space, whether they are covers or their own material. What is really great about this is that despite a few of the young people saying they are nervous they are still finding the confidence to perform in front of other people. This also provides a great opportunity for any of the young people who are willing to perform at the first open mic night.

There are two key points which I will take from the training this week with Phill Mullen. The most important but simplest of these is to make instrument tuition fun for the young person as this is what will help then to enjoy it. The second is to minimise the use of theory in the early stages of teaching as this can become very confusing for the learner even more so depending on their learning style. These two points have given me more confidence for when I am teaching one on one instrument tuition as my key focus will now be to make the lesson rrearding and afun experience at the same time. 

Week 5 Commencing 15th July 2013

The key focus for me going into this week was the first aid training that I was going to undertake on Thursday, it was quite a surprise to me that this training only lasted for one day. The main reason for this is that to me it felt like they were many areas of this first aid training course that were not covered in enough depth for a course of its nature. However, the instructor did mention at the beginning of the training that there are different first aid courses which do last longer. Although there was a lot to take in on this training course this was reinforced by an emergency first aid at work booklet. This will be a great help for me as I know that I will be to go over any of the areas that I forget as this was my main concern when the training had finished.

In addition to this, this week it has also been great to see the development of (young person a) since I have started my job. It is clear to see their passion and love for music when they are recording in the studio. Since I have started this young person has attended each session where I have been working which has showed to me their dedication for music as they have wanted to go back over recordings from a previous session and improve them at any opportunity Their enthusiasm to come up with new ideas for how they can improve their work has really impressed on me that with the correct guidance they will be able to produce music which is radio worthy.

Overall Looking back at this week I have undertaken some valuable training which will be of great benefit for not only this job but also on any occasion where an incident would arise and first aid would be required. Something that I will look into in the following weeks is helping (young person a) and also any other young person to promote their music by using sites such as Soundcloud. From the work that they have been producing it is clear to see that they have great talent and by using platforms such as Soundcloud this will provide a great opportunity for them to not only share their work but also improve their self confidence and believe in the work they are doing which is highly commendable.

Weeks 3 & 4 Commencing 1st July 2013

Over these past two weeks I have gained great experiences through being involved in the following sessions:

 

Taster Day

The taster day was a great opportunity to display the different types of work that happens within YMCA Digital and the Young Creatives. It was a pleasure to see how willing the young people were to participate in the musical activities. What really impressed me on the taster day was that I did not have to ask any young person to play any instruments once I had explained and demonstrated what we were going to do they were all more than willing to try their hand at anything.

After School Sessions at Fernwood School

Being able to assist on one of these sessions has been a great experience for me as I now have a basic understanding of how the after school sessions are ran. I admired how the young people took such an active approach to participate in the activities even after a full day at school. This showed to me the importance of making sure that education is also fun so that the young people are more likely to participate in educational activities as they are engaged in what they are doing. What was also great about this session was that after the young people were eager to learn more and showed enthusiasm towards attending Music Mayhem and other sessions.

What I have took away from these past two weeks and the sessions that I have been a part of and which will probably be one of the most important points to remember is that every young person does not learn in the same way. For example I found that at the taster day not every young person was able to understand the rhythmic activity which they were going to take part in through an aural explanation alone as everyone has different learning styles. By showing them what they would be going to do in the activity as well as explaining it at the same time they were able to grasp what was required of them and perform the activity.

This is something I will take into consideration when I am working on sessions and also doing one on one instrument tuition with a young person as by using VARK, visual, aural, read/write and kinaesthetic this will allow me not only to demonstrate and teach in a fun way but also tailor sessions to an individual persons learning style.    

Week 2 Commencing 24th June 2013

Moving on from my first week as a trainee music leader and youth worker I have had time to look back on how it has been so far from my position:

It is clear to see the enthusiasm that the young people bring to each session week after week and the determination that they show in wanting to complete something that they have started. This makes doing the job an even greater experience as it shows that they have a real passion not only for music but for wanting to thrive to be the best that they can be.

I have really enjoyed working with young people in the studio whether it is engineering for them while they are overdubbing vocals to a track or showing them how to use the studio themselves so that they will be able to engineer a session. What has really amazed me is how quick some of the young people have understood how the studio works and grasped the concept of the recording process.

Something that is very special to me is to have the ability to be able to teach young people to play instruments. Looking back to when I first started playing the drum kit in particularly no one taught me how to play I learnt by watching which for many years gave me a great foundation to stand upon as I started to progress but as I started to progress but as I started to become more advanced with my playing music lessons were something which I could have further benefited from at the time. 

So because of this I take pride in teaching anyone who asks for lessons during the sessions that I work as just like any musical instrument it is important for them to build a strong foundation if they are to progress further with the instrument of their choice. 

What can I take out of the sessions thus far?

The young people are very determined and strive towards anything they set out to do which is a great attitude and mentality to have and is something I highly admire.

The energy and passion I see the young people put into the sessions which they partake in is really commendable.

Over the forthcoming sessions I will seek to help any young people that want to improve their music skills in their desired area using the most appropriate method that suits them. 

Week 1 Commencing 17th June 2013

Going into my first session working for the YMCA I was filled with optimism as this was a great opportunity for me to use some of the skills and knowledge that I have learnt over the last two years of my degree and bring them into this job role to help guide and mentor young people.  

It was a great feeling to start becoming a role model by inspiring young people and helping them to enjoy what they do. This is even greater for me because music is something that is a great passion of mine also so I see it as a blessing in itself to be able to be given the privilege to guide them on their journey.

What did I get out of my first session?

Overall, for me this was a successful first session as I was able to engage with the young people and gain a basic understanding of the ways in which they want to learn and the different approaches to doing this.

I also felt comfortable in the environment that I was working in which for me is something that is vitally important as this really helped me to relax into my job role.

How can I move forward and improve further?

From this session I saw that when working with young people there will be certain aspects that need to be  taken into consideration:

• Trust 

I found that trust is one of the most important factors if not the most important to be built between myself and the young people.

At this current stage I feel that there are no further developments that need to be taken into consideration.