It was good to return to deliver another afternoon of music at Minstead Trust in Portsmouth, working with a group of people of all abilities. Everyone joined in playing percussion instruments, and some in the group led parts of the session too. They enjoyed moving to different types of music, and it was great to see everyone joining in with lots of enthusiasm.
David setting up the equipment for the session.
To find out more about Minstead Trust, and their services in the Portsmouth and the New Forest area, use the contact details below.
David and Jim have been facilitating music workshops to enable a group of VI and non-VI students to achieve the Arts Council England Bronze Arts Award.
David and Jim singing with the group
With additional support from the teaching staff, the students were able to complete their work using iPads, laptops, Braille Notes, pens and paper, and music equipment. The students were able to achieve the following objectives:
Participating in an Art form: The students wrote the lyrics and composed the music for a song, which was recorded by a fellow group member. This was then put on to a CD, for their evidence folders. David and Jim supported this.
One of the students, and David recording the group singing “Scoot Doggy Dog”.
Attending a music event: The School hosted a charity event, which some of the group attended. David and Jim also hosted a short event for the group in the VI Unit of the School.
Inspirational person, duo, or group/band: Group members chose someone to write, draw or talk about, who inspires them through the art of music.
Pass on a particular Arts Skill: This included demonstrating keyboard, guitar, drumming, and music technology skills to the group, and to Jim and David.
Some of the group singing and playing percussion instruments, during the session.
This project has been documented by the facilitators, through weekly written evaluations, staff at the school, through feedback, discussions, photo/video evidence, and quotes. The students, through their participation on the project, written quotes, question feedback sheets, and their evidence folders, and photo/ video captured.
To find out more about SoCo Music Project visit one of the links below.
We had another fun afternoon of music at Minstead Trust in Portsmouth, working with a group of people with all different abilities. Everyone joined in playing percussion instruments, and some in the group led parts of the session too. There was a real buzz of energy in the room, and everyone was in a festive mood at the end.
A participant playing tambourine along to the music.
To find out more about Minstead Trust, and their services in the Portsmouth and the New Forest area, use the contact details below.
David and Jim went to Southampton Sight to run a music workshop for a group of visually impaired young people. It was a group with quite a wide age range.
Some of the group playing the percussion instruments, and singing their song “My Friend Chic”.
After a sing-along warm up, the group decided to compose a song about a teddy bear called Chic. Mind mapping their ideas onto paper gave the group the opportunity to think about and discuss what Chic might be like, what he would like to eat, things he liked to do, etc.
They wrote their own lyrics to the song using the ideas from the mind map. The song was called “My friend Chic”, and was inspired by a participant’s teddy bear.
They randomly chose some chords, which Jim used to create a tune on the acoustic guitar.
Using percussion instruments to play along with Jim, the group sang the lyrics they had written. The group also performed the song at the end of the session to friends, family, and staff members.
Everyone had an enjoyable time, according to the feedback received.
Chic the Teddy Bear
To find out more about SoCo Music Project, visit the links below:
We had another fun afternoon of music at Minstead Trust in Portsmouth, working with a group of people with all different abilities. Everyone joined in playing percussion instruments, and once again, there was lots of noise, energy, and enjoyment within the room.
Participants playing percussion instruments along to the music.
Here are more members of the group playing percussion instruments.
To find out more about Minstead Trust, and their services in the Portsmouth and the New Forest area, use the contact details below.
David of Global Music Visions C.I.C., Richard, a volunteer from the Portsmouth Central Library, and the Conan Doyle Collection officers met in the Charles Dickens Centre, Lake Road, Portsmouth. We were there to record Richard describing the contents of the handling boxes, for people who are blind and visually impaired. This information will also be available online through the Exhibition website.
David and Richard working in the studio.
To find out more about The Conan Doyle Exhibition visit their website:
We had a fun music afternoon at Minstead Trust in Portsmouth, working with a group of people with all different abilities. They were able to request songs to listen to, play percussion instruments, sing, and clap along to their chosen pieces of music. They also enjoyed playing along to music we at Global Music Visions C.I.C. have composed. There was lots of noise, energy, and enjoyment within the group, and we look forward to returning soon.
David working on the laptop during the session.
To find out more about Minstead Trust, and their services in the Portsmouth and the New Forest area, use the contact details below.
David of Global Music Visions C.I.C. and the Conan Doyle Collection officers met in the Charles Dickens Centre, Lake Road, Portsmouth.
Richard reading scrips in the studio.
We were there to record another session of audio description, narrated by Richard a volunteer from the Portsmouth Central Library.
These describe images in detail contained within sixteen panels from the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection. The information on each panel will be read out using a pen friend, or other hand held device.
This will enable sighted and visually impaired persons to have equal access to the artifacts within this portable exhibition.
For the last 14 months Global Music Visions C.I.C. has been working with SoCo Music Project, as part of the Sonic Explorers Project, funded by Youth Music. We have been working with visually impaired pupils from different year groups at Toynbee School, in Chandler’s Ford. These weekly after school sessions have encouraged the pupils to express themselves through music, build friendships and have fun.
Group picture for the CD cover.
Activities have included working as a group, and as individuals to write lyrics and compose music, record and edit their work using a combination of computer music software and real instruments. One of the songs was composed and recorded when they visited Hightown Studio for the day. All had great fun.
Members of the group working together recording one of their songs.
The project culminated in the production of an 11-track album on CD, which was a mixture of both group and individual songs. They were each presented with a copy of the CD to take away at the final session. It was our way as a team to say thank you to everyone who had taken part on this project, and the hard work that had been undertaken by all who attended.
A member of the group composing and recording his track.
Bringing together pupils from different year groups with different abilities has enabled the development of social skills within the group, and increased individual self-confidence. It has been great being able to see these students develop positively throughout this project. Thank you for making us feel so welcome, and for your lovely gifts.
Image of Richard wearing headphones, reading the script into a microphone, in the recording studio.
Global Music Visions C.I.C. and the Conan Doyle Collection officers met in the Charles Dickens Centre, Lake Road, Portsmouth. We were there to record another session of audio description, narrated by Richard a volunteer from the Portsmouth Central Library. These describe images in detail contained within sixteen panels from the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection. The information on each panel will be read out using a pen friend, or other hand held device. This will enable sighted and visually impaired persons to have equal access to the artifacts within this portable exhibition.
Image of David using the computer to record the scripts, for the audio description.
We create digital music workshops with the visually impaired consultancy, for blind, visually impaired and disabled people of all ages.
