Saxophones, Skoogs and Soundbeam
8 - 12 August 2011
hcmf// recently organised a successful and varied week of participatory workshops for young people with disabilities at Castle Hill School in Newsome, Huddersfield, funded by Kirklees Council's Holiday Activity Programme.
The week began with sax and percussion musicians The Pasaos Duo who used a combination of performance and interactive musical activities to develop participants' musical skills. The highlight for most of the group was having the chance to explore a variety of instruments including various types of saxophones and percussion, some of which they had never encountered before.
On the second day participants were taken on an exciting journey exploring music and sounds from around the world through the use of music technology. Robert Jaggar, Castle Hill School's Music Co-ordinator, used interactive technology that ensured even participants with the most complex needs could contribute to the group music making activities. Participants enjoyed performing and recording the composition they created which was later given to them on CD. You can listen to an excerpt of this by clicking on the sound file to the right of this article.
Accessible Arts and Media delivered the third day of workshops and their signing and signing activities proved to be both incredibly fun and educational. The group learnt to sing and sign a range of songs across the musical spectrum and hugely enjoyed games that incorporated instruments, dancing and even a parachute!
Music technology was also central to the workshops delivered by duo Two Jazz. Participants used cutting edge multi-coloured interactive instruments called Skoogs in order to create imaginary soundscapes and to explore percussive music from around the world. The most popular aspect of the workshops was the process of using a colour based graphical score to compose an original piece using the Skoogs.
The final day of workshops continued with the hands-on approach that had engaged young people throughout the week. The Astrum Guitar Duo incorporated musical games to fire the imagination and adapted guitars to allow all participants to be able to learn and play simple songs. The satisfaction gained from independently playing guitar was evident throughout the group and this proved to be the perfect conclusion to what was a unique, fun and engaging week for all involved.
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