Learning Outcome 1

INFORMATION PACK
The History of, its Importance, and My Contribution to Music in the Community

What is Music in the Community?
Music has been an integral part of the community for many cultures around the world for thousands of years. The definition of the term covers any musical activity or performance which is beneficial to the local community, such as a free, or cheap workshop which anyone is welcome to join and take part in, group music lead by an expert, a free gig, or an organised battle of the bands - for local young bands to take part in and get to play to an audience. Music can bring communities together by allowing people who might not otherwise have spoken to each other to work together. It can also introduce people to music who may never have known they had a passion for it.



Some people taking part in an African drumming workshop.

Other Forms of Music in the Community
Of course there is much more to music in the community than workshops! Are you in a band? You could hold a free gig! This benefits both you and the community, as it is self-promotion! Do you have a lot of knowledge in the area of music recording or production? One way of contributing to the community would be to offer a free clinic or demonstration on how to start out recording, such as the basic equipment you will need in order to do it. Many professional musicians offer free clinics at local music shops, often to endorse and collaborate with a company. This benefits all three parties involved - the artist, the company, and most importantly the local community.

Community Music in My Area
One of the biggest community music events in my area is the Henley Youth Festival. This takes place every year in March. It offers many opportunities such as workshops, performance evenings in Henley's local theatre - The Kenton Theatre, a gig night an open performance stage in the middle of the town centre and many more. Anyone can enter to peform on the various nights. The nights consist of Dancer, Music, Thursday Stage, Friday Stage, Festival Stage and Singer. The nights are normally devided into two halfs one for under twelves and one for under eighteens. An added bonus of the festival is that for each evening there are four judges who have a lot of knowledge in the area, such as music or dance. At the end of each night the performers come on stage and are presented with feedback and constructive criticism on their performances. Some selected acts also get through to perform on the Gala Night, a night with a selection of the best performances from each of the other nights. Winners of other Henley Youth Festival competitions, such as film and photography are also announced on the Gala Night. This event is great for the community. It brings the arts together, gives ametuers the opportunity to perform on a proper theatre stage with professional lighting and sound and just generally has a feel good factor.

My other pick for local community music is a bar in Henley called Magoos. http://www.magooshenley.co.uk/ It is a small local bar, who have an "Open stage. All acts considered" policy. This has regular music nights including local bands, open mic nights, artists and more. This place has a friendly vibe which welcomes players of any level to give music performing a shot.

My Contribution
I have contributed and taken part in my local community music in various ways over the past couple of years. Firstly, there was the Henley College musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which I played drums in. This was non-profit and simply for the community. This was a great success, selling out on most of the nights and was a great opportunity for me to meet new people, improve my sight reading skills and give me great experience in playing shows which will likely come in very handy in my drumming future.

I have also taken part in the Henley Youth Festival almost every year since quite a young age, drumming both in bands and as a large drum ensemble led by my teacher featuring a selection of his students who started learning with him at Trinity Primary School in Henley. We were called the Trinity Drummers, as although we had all since left Trinity, we all originally started there. We would perform Latin and Brazilian style drum ensembles featuring all sorts of drums and percussion, focussing on grooves, dynamics and audience participation, along with themes and improvised solos.

I have also performed at the festival with multiple bands over the years, especially at the Gig Night event. At this years Henley Youth Festival, I played with two bands. Firstly I played with The Monarchs, performing our own two songs, and also with our recently formed band Reverie. The Monarchs have since split up as our singer wanted to go solo. Both bands peformed at the Henley Youth Festival main stage at the Kenton Theatre, and also at Gig Night - a separate event by the youth festival at the Henley Youth Centre.

Here is a video of me playing drums for Reverie at Gig Night.

I also did unpaid work experience for the Henley Youth Festival at the Kenton Theatre doing music technology (live sound) and general technical and sound organisation. This meant setting up microphones and moving them on and off stage and micing up each act correctly in front of a live audience. This again was a great experience, and thanks to not only us, but all the other volunteers across the event, it is able to successfully run each year.

I recently helped organise and play at a new festival in Henley called Music On The Meadows - an event in memory of George Harrison of The Beatles. I showed my support by going to a photo shoot for the local paper as one of the people playing in the event, and then helped to advertise the event by distributing flyers around the Henley College, sticking them up and giving them to people who may be interested.

Here is a video of me performing solo on the drums. This was a mostly improvised 'Jam' to a song by Michael Jackson.

I have done various other things too, such as taking part in the German jazz exchange workshops a few times - helping out by offering accommodation for another German boy my age. This is another event which uses the people to make it work and keep the costs down, whilst offering great jazz tutoring from professional jazz musicians.

I am also planning on leading a drum workshop soon which I will post on this blog too!

How Can You Get Involved?
One way to find out about local community music events in your area is to check your local paper in the entertainment section. It is likely that there will be information on such events as above. Once you get to know someone who is more involved in these events, you can begin to find out about all sorts of other things happening locally such as workshops and local festivals and events.