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

HODGE HILL ROCKS!

Daz at Norton Hall

Let's gloss over the fact that I haven't posted for a while. Things are a little crazy as we come to the end of our Youth Music project. We're planning a final performance, details of which will be dripped out over a period of several days like when they announced the new Justin Timberlake album.

Our music leader Daz has been delivering sessions at Norton Hall on guitar. He's been teaching chords and exercises to help develop our young musicians into rocking lead and rhythms guitarists. We've also been learning TV themes, playing musical games and talking about what it means to be a musician.

Here are some pictures from the sessions at Norton.
 

Guitar club Christmas performance

The Norton Hall guitar club Christmas performance took place in Heartlands Hospital on Tuesday 18th December and I know that lots of patients and hospital staff were cheered up by seeing and hearing the Guitar Club's lovely performance. All that practising paid off! Thanks to Daniel Sweeney from Birmingham Music Service and well done Umme, Wisaal, Michael, Ra'marn and Stephanie.

Quantize: The EP

May I introduce our debut EP, "QUANTIZE."

All tracks recorded at The Pump, Kitts Green
Tracks engineered & mixed by James "Vice" Kennaby for Street Soul Productions
Thanks to Curtis Clacey, Ben "Alto" Smith and Eudina Jarrett for session support
Graphic design by Vice
Photography by Imke Daugs

Music4HH features in Bordesley Green newsletter

Esther, our project manager sent this article to the Bordesley Green Detached Project newsletter about our project.

Quantize Live at the Vibe!

 On 17th December we were welcomed to the Vibe to launch our CD and perform some of the tracks live. We were joined by Ben the amazing sax player and some talented young musicians from the Vibe. Even though there were some technical hitches and some problems with timings, we had a great evening of music, from hip hop to rock, indie, jazz and metal. It was great to see so much support from the local community, family, council workers and young people coming to cheer on our music-makers.

The young people that we have been working with over the past few months put a lot into this performance - it was the first time a lot of them had performed in public. This whole project has been about learning new skills and working together with new people to create some music - and this performance was a celebration of that. I can't believe the change I've seen in some of our young men - going from hardly knowing anything about music to writing and confidently performing in just a few months; it's an amazing achievement!

In moody black&white because the camera's busted and made everything purple. Also it looks cool.

As well as the young musicians, a lot of people have worked really hard to make this project happen. Our music leader James has been a brilliant creative producer, working round the clock at times to make this CD and performance happen. Esther is a dedicated project leader who can bring out the best in anyone. Thanks also to our youth workers: John, Zainab, Tanvir and AG. The staff and young people at the Vibe were supportive and welcoming to us, and thanks to them for hosting the performance. Finally thanks to our guest musicians and workers who've helped over the course of the project. Now it sounds like I'm accepting an Oscar. Enjoy the video of a few highlights of the performance!

Live at the Vibe!

We're celebrating the launch of a CD of original music written and recorded by young people of Hodge Hill with a live performance on Monday 17th December at the Vibe in Birmingham. We're so excited to see the result of months of hard work from the guys and our music producer James Kennaby. Please come along to support!

West African xylophone music

This is a piece of music composed by two young people on the ward at Heartlands Hospital. I've been doing some sessions on West African instruments and after they learnt some Ugandan xylophone music they made up their own tune!

PHOTOSHOOT!

Guys, this is so exciting. Our photos have arrived from professional photographer Imke Daugs. They are amazing. View more at our facebook page: facebook.com/music4hh

 

DJ workshops start today!

Our next set of music sessions start today, DJing with MOYMA (http://www.moyma.co.uk). He'll be coming into Heartlands 3.30-4.30pm, to work with the children on Paediatrics and from James Brindley School. Then 5-6pm will be at Naseby Centre, 6.30-7.30pm Hutton Hall, both in Alum Rock. Sessions are for under-18s and are free. This should be a really fun set of workshops, I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing something new!

DJing workshops coming soon!

From Monday 20th February, young people in the Hodge Hill area will have the chance to get involved in a series of DJing workshops, run by DJ Moyma (www.moyma.co.uk). DJing was nominated as the style most people would like to try out, so they are starting at Hutton Hall and Naseby Centre from 5pm on Monday evenings.

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!

Talk to us!

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Tell us what you think! Ask us things! Share your photos and comments! What music would you like to try out later in the project? Do you like African drumming? Why? What's happening on X Factor? What's your favourite band?

TELL US!

Thundercats are go!

The Arts Department at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust was awarded a grant from Youth Music to carry out a huge music project with children and young people in Heartlands Hospital and the Hodge Hill community. The project will run from October 2011 - March 2013 and will include hundreds of young people from the area. We're excited to start! Next week workshops will begin at the James Brindley School and on the children's ward at Heartlands, and at youth groups in Hodge Hill. We have an amazing, energetic professional African drumming teacher who will carry out the first series of workshops. Coming up later in the project are DJing, songwriting and rapping workshops, performances, events at Heartlands Hospital and the chance for our young people to achieve an Arts Award. Hooray!