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.