Bye!

We've come to the end of our project! It's been brilliant to be a part of this project for the past 2 years. We've made so much music in loads of different styles. I've met some really great music leaders and some talented young musicians. Hopefully we have inspired some young people to keep on playing music. There have been some who I think will become really great musicians, who have shown a real talent for it. It's been really amazing to see our participants help each other out - more experienced musicians teaching the younger ones. I think we've set up a music programme in Hodge Hill that can continue due to the generosity and enthusiasm of our partners, participants, music leaders and supporters.

Thanks for reading. Pip pip.

Stina

Sarah Westwood, drummer extraordinaire

Sarah Westwood was the first ever music leader on our project, teaching funky West African drumming. She's recently been on some training which we were able to fund through our CPD (continuing professional development) budget, and she's written an insightful and entertaining article on Youth Music about her experiences. Check it out here!

http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/resources/blogs/sarah-westwood/sarah-experiences-%E2%80%98village-music-circles%E2%80%99

Kids United presents: An African drumming showcase: The Aftermath!

So we had our African drumming showcase on Monday...it was brills. I really enjoyed it, and I think all our performers did too. The audience of parents and friends was great and very supportive. It was an excellent chance for the young people to show off the skills they've been learning over the past few months, and for each of Sarah's groups to see how the other one got on!

The showcase started with an introduction from Forid (from the Hutton group) who welcomed everybody. Then the first group to play was the Naseby Centre guys - who did excellently with their 2 pieces. The young people involved were dedicated to making a good performance, which started with Heartbeat (based on a Caribbean rhythm) followed by Ijexa (from Brazil.) Bashir did a great job of introducing the tunes, and he and Nafees started the show with a dramatic duet on djembe and dun dun.

Next up, the Hutton Hall group played 2 traditional West African rhythms - Yankidi and Macrew - as well as a piece they had composed themselves, "5 Daily Foods." (So called because the patterns which they composed were based on the what they had for lunch...."fish and chips and water...") These boys have worked really hard and were really committed to their band - and they are turning into very talented musicians!

All of the performers received a certificate for Excellent Achievement in Performance of African Drumming and Sarah got a giant bunch of flowers! We all really appreciate all the hard work and time she has put in to teach these young people.

After the performance, there were refreshments and a competition to guess how many sweets in the jar. All money raised from this, and the entry fee and any other donations, are to be given to the Children's Ward here at Heartlands. (The boys' idea!)


All in all, this was a really lovely evening, I had fun joining in, and I'm really proud of all the performers. Hope to see everyone again for DJing workshops which start on the 20th :)

Kids United group from Hutton Hall performing at the showcase

African drumming at Heartlands Hospital

Sarah comes into Heartlands Hospital every week to carry out workshops on the Children's Ward. They must be a challenge, as we never know who's going to be there - sometimes there are a real mix of ages, from babies to teenagers! But Sarah always delivers a great, fun workshop, which the children, parents and staff always benefit from.

Kids United present: an African drumming celebration!

Our African drumming sessions are drawing to a close! Thanks to the brilliant Sarah Westwood from Drum Voice (www.drumvoice.co.uk) has been brilliant, and has given lots of children in Heartlands and across Hodge Hill the chance to experience some really different and exciting music. To celebrate the hard work of Sarah and the young people, we are having a performance showcase of African drumming, presented by Kids United: Naseby Centre, Birmingham, Monday 6th February at 6pm. Come along to see what the guys have been up to for the past few months and to try it out for yourself if you like!

 Drumming at Hutton Hall (Mondays 5-6pm) - Ismail and Ishaque concentrating hard with Sarah!

Userseb having fun playing the djembe at Heartlands Hospital last week - before we started the Crazy Christmas Carol sing-a-long!

Update (well overdue!)

Our sessions at Heartlands Hospital, Hutton Hall and Naseby Centre are still going on and are going great! Sarah manages to make everyone smile at her sessions on the ward, including different activities for all ages, and taking away a bit of the stress and upset of a hospital stay. She brings her collection of fun and unusual drums, and everybody gets the chance to learn some exciting African rhythms as well as making up their own rhythms, learning about call and response, singing some songs, and generally having fun making a lot of noise! It's really lovely to see the difference it makes in some of the poorly kids and their families.

I had a go at a session myself a couple of weeks ago when Sarah was ill. I took some Ghanaian instruments - drums, shakers and a xylophone - to the Children's Ward and had a lovely time with some of the patients and students from the James Brindley School. We learnt a bit about Ghanaian music and dancing, had a go on all the different instruments, and made up some of our own rhythms and tunes on the xylophone. I had a great time and would love to do it again. The guys from JBS were particularly helpful and friendly, and I always enjoy working with them.

The African drumming club at Hutton Hall has come along really well, with a core group of committed and enthusiastic young drummers. The boys are learning loads, and I am always impressed when I see what Sarah is up to there! They've also had a lot of fun coming up with a name for their group...which will be unveiled in time for their first performance next year. The boys at Hutton work really hard during the sessions and it's really nice to see how they are improving from week to week. They're all very talented and great at learning new things - and have many skills apart from music too! (Last week I was treated to an impromptu magic show!)

Naseby Centre attracts more people each week, it seems! Sarah is great at including new drummers and there's always a fun and informal atmosphere at the sessions. The sessions are at the end of a long day, but Sarah never seems to run out of energy! Some of the boys are getting on really well, really good at remembering patterns and information about the music. As well as having a good drumming session at Naseby each week, it's always a giggle...mainly because of Carlito - which he assures us is his real name :-)

I always look forward to my day of African drumming in Hodge Hill: the three sessions are always really different and always really interesting and fun. I'm learning a lot about effective music leading and teaching complicated African rhythms to beginners. I'm very grateful that Sarah lets me observe all these sessions - and join in too.

This is Mackenzie with Mom and Dad, having a go at African drumming at Heartlands Hospital last week, on the Children's Ward.

We've now had 2 brilliant weeks of African drumming sessions with Sarah Westwood from Drumvoice. Our sessions are different every time with lots of new faces each week! We are learning some African rhythms and trying improvisation too! It's a lot of fun and the sessions go really quickly :)

First day of African drumming!

Last week we had a brilliant few sessions of African drumming, they were loads of fun! First we had a session at Heartlands Hospital, where we got a good group going - made up of patients, parents and NHS staff. Then we went on to Hutton Hall, where there was a very small but very select group - hopefully we'll have a couple more people this week! Then on to Naseby Centre where we had the biggest and LOUDEST group yet! What a fun day. African drumming is brilliant, I'm learning lots and Sarah's a great music leader! Photos to follow!

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Music project starts today!

Our brilliant project starts TODAY with some African drumming at Heartlands Hospital, Hutton Hall and Naseby Centre - for young people only! Sarah Westwood from Drumvoice (www.drumvoice.co.uk) will be running the sessions.