MUSIC CREATION WORKSHOPS

Educational Background

While there have been many changes in Education over the last decade or so, one thing that successive governments have agreed on is the value of music in education. The Foreword to "The Importance of Music - A National Plan for Music Education" published by the DfE (November 2011) states: "The very existence of this plan underlines the unswerving commitment by both the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to recognise the importance of music in the lives of young people and to ensure that we consistently give young people a music education that is of the highest quality." The full Report can be downloaded from The Department for Education site here.

Music creation encourages coordination, spatial awareness, creativity, teamwork, self-esteem and much more. It has been clearly shown to help develop cognitive abilities. And, above all, it is FUN!

However, not all children naturally take to traditional musical instruments and, for those with a physical impairment, it can be an impossibility. Thankfully, modern technology can now help to overcome these barriers to music-making.

The Technology

Over the past few years, a number of electronic musical instruments have been invented which make it possible for everyone, even those with a very limited range of movement, to participate fully in music creation and performance. I use two of these instruments, sometimes in conjunction with traditional percussion instruments, in my Music Workshops and these are described in more detail below:

1. Soundbeam®
Soundbeam® is described by the manufacturers as "The Invisible, Expanding Keyboard in Space". It uses sensors to translate movement (even very small movement such as an eyelid!) into musical sounds. The huge range of settings enable anything from starting with simple sounds to accompanying a concert orchestra. For more information on how it can be used, watch the video below:

Soundbeam2®

2. Skoog™

Skoog™ is brand new. The following is a quote from the manufacturers' website:

"Skoog™ is an exciting new musical instrument for children of all ages and abilities. Expressive, tactile and intuitive, The Skoog™ is a universally accessible platform for creating and exploring musical sound. Skoog™ uses state-of-the-art software to deliver the quality and expressive character of real musical instruments. Flexible and simple to use, it offers not only the opportunity for learning, creativity and expressive musicianship, but also a fun and engaging audio resource."

Each Skoog™ consists of a tactile soft cube with five playable faces, each of which can be programmed with a different sound or musical note. The faces can be pressed, punched, squeezed, twisted, tapped, tilted and so on to create a tune. There is a wide range of musical instruments already with the device and more will follow. For more information, visit their website.

I recently ran a music session at my local PHAB Club, using 3 Skoogs and two Soundbeams. watch the videos below to see and hear some of the results of that session.

This is a picture of a Skoog™

Music Workshops I can offer two types of workshop - a straight Music Creation Workshop or a combined Dance/Music Workshop where the dance and movement creates the accompanying music. In both cases, I can supply a CD of the music created at the end of the workshop and can also incorporate a final performance if required. The workshops can be themed to fit in with any area of the curriculum that may be relevant to the participants. In addition to the Soundbeam and Skoogs, the workshop may incorporate traditional percussion instruments. For more information or to book a workshop, please complete an Enquiry Form .

Dance Workshops Dance Performance Enquiry Form Contact Me Site Plan