CTB Workshops
WORKSHOPS WITH THE CHARMING TRANSPORT BAND
THE BAND
Oren Marshall, the director of The Charming Transport Band has assembled a group of some of the most inspiring musicians from the UK, Nigeria and Ghana. They play music that defies categorisation, a blend of Afro-beat, Jazz, Traditional Ghanaian, Jewish and freely-improvised music. When you hear them an aspect of their inimitable sound will resonate with you. What one person recognizes in their music will be different to the next person: TCTB take their hall-mark musical language into their work in schools with children of all ages, professional and non-professional musicians.
FIX A DATE FOR ‘A PLAY’ in your school or college!
The Workshop
Participants are given the opportunity to learn new and develop existing skills under the guidance and support of highly skilled and experienced professionals.
TCTB are into long term relationships – by working slowly and steadily over a period of time, relationships can be built between both the band and participants and also the participants and the process on offer – making a genuine long term impact on the lives of the participants. The aim is not necessarily to make anyone a professional musician, though that may well happen, but to ensure that music and music-making forms a core part of their lives.
Workshop Themes (themes and content can be varied to suit. They can also be adapted for one-off events or more long-term projects, as required):
Band Playing
CONTENT
1. Warm up: Using movements from African Dance. Lead by African Dance expert.
2. A short performance by TCTB including a tune that can be learnt by participants.
3. Exploration of the rhythm of the tune, using African drums: Lead by Master Drummer
4. Learning and rehearsing of piece, incorporating any other instruments played by participants: lead by director with individual sections by other band members as the particular group of participant dictates.
5. Culmination presentation where everyone gets a chance to improvise a short solo within the framework of the piece.
Where do our instruments come from and how do we play them?
CONTENT
1. Introductory performance by TCTB
2. The stories of our instruments, eg: The drum – In which country does it originate? How is it made? The journey from the felling of a tree to the carver´s chisel, from the rearing of an animal to its´skin being tied to the wooden body is illustrated. Tuba – Where does metal come from? How brass is made, stretched, bent, beaten and polished is shown; and so forth with the other instruments in the band.
3. How is it played? How we use the natural movements of our hands to make the drum “talk”. How we use our breath to generate a sound on a brass or woodwind instrument. How a string vibrates; and so forth with the other instruments. Everybody has a go.
FORM
The workshops are given overall guidance and shape by the band director Oren Marshall. During each section of the workshop programme those band members not leading will work with sections of the participants and individuals to give specific support, guidance and specific musical instruction according to the needs that are present within the group. The size of the band enables participants who have little or no musical experience or who present challenging behaviour to be given appropriate and creative support where necessary, both on an individual basis and within the group.
OUTCOMES
Gives participants the experience of personal expression within the context of the whole group.
The band models a form of cultural encounter between African and European Musical traditions and can thus integrate various routes of learning from the oral traditions of Africa to the theoretical training of the European conservertoire.
Creating music demonstrates the process of taking an idea, experimenting with it, exploring it and forming it into something that can be presented and shared whether polished or not.
Attention, focus, discipline, listening, memorisation and patience are all skills that are exercised in this environment.
Specific musical skills will be added to existing ones, and/or new ones developed.
The experience of African Dance and Drumming may be experienced for the first time: how to encounter something out of the comfort zone of the participants.
Experience team co-operation in a creative context, rather than the more common sports context. Learn the difference between competition between teams and competition within oneself.
Developing intuition and the sense of when it feels right and when it feels wrong.
Build confidence.
Experience dance as an exercise form, an activity that develops a relaxed, de-stressed and healthy body.
Apart from obvious health benefits to dance, participants learn to recognise and recreate movements through copying. Participants develop confidence in their own personal dance style.
Music and dance are a social, communal and spiritual activities that will develop life skills that readily translate to other aspects of life.
LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM
Music inter-relates with a wide number of other subjects in the curriculum at all key stage levels.
Art and Design, Citizenship, Personal, Social and Health Education, English, ICT, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Comparative Religious Studies (Band members come from Muslim, Jewish and Christian backgrounds.)
Importance of Creativity: The workshop environment involves all the key elements that embody the development of the creative functions of the participants: exploring ideas, questioning, making connections and experiencing relationships, challenging the process, using reflective criticism to achieve an outcome or take action.
PRACTICALS
• No issues with sound pollution.
• Musical Instruments covered: percussion, brass, woodwind, keyboards, African drums, guitars.
• Drums can be supplied.
WORKSHOP REQUIREMENTS
• Large airy room, preferably with natural light. Large enough for the seats to be laid out for instrument/drumming and set aside for other activities such as African Dance.
• Seats for all participants.
• Sufficient sockets and cables for any electronic instruments.
• Access to several smaller rooms/areas where sections of the group can work for short periods of time.
• Easy access to bathroom facilities.
• Easy access to water and hot drinks.
COSTS
Please call +447811956344 to discuss this and/or any other matter relating to The Charming Transport Band.