Almost a year ago, myself and the other Note Weavers were reflecting on our recent events, considering content/engagement and contemplating future events. We decided to connect with AMP (formerly NYMAZ) also based in the North of England, to share our thoughts, discuss ways to engage our audiences and ideas for collaboration. Both organisations had been running lots of online events and had seen engagement for those events steadily dropping. Whilst online events still have purpose and are valuable, we felt we wanted to add in some ‘in-person’ events as well. The outcome…an Early Years Music Conference!
Further discussions around our work and feedback from previous events helped us decide that the conference would focus on the theme of inclusion in the early years. Location? We went for somewhere we knew was accessible and (roughly) in the middle of our two areas…the beautiful Skipton Town Hall. Date? 1st March 2024. Speakers? Lots of discussions and suggestions of who our potential speakers might be. Unintentionally, the majority of our speakers were from the North…not a deliberate choice but highlights just how much is going on up here.
Although we were confident in our concept and line-up, for the event to be a success we would need delegates! To ensure we were being inclusive and accessible, we offered a range of ticketing prices – free tickets, Early Bird discounts, bursaries- we wanted anyone who would like to come to be able to come. Watching the number of tickets sold steadily increase and then be three tickets shy of selling out was amazing. We had a conference!
Fast forward to the day and what an amazing day it was. I personally, always get so much out of listening to others talk about their practice, the resources they use/how they use them and the ways in which they work. This day was no different. There is a lot of inspiring work going on, our conference only just touched the surface and we packed in as much as we possibly could. The talks really highlighted that there is so much to consider in working inclusively and ensuring equal access to all, that even if we think we are working inclusively there is always so much more we can do and more we can consider.
There was a real buzz around the whole day. It was great to re-connect with people that I had only seen on zoom for the past 4 years, as well as making new connections. From the general hubbub, it appeared it was the same for everyone else too. A sense of relief that the day went off without a hitch and a hope that everyone got as much (if not more) out of the day as I did.
Working as consultants on the musical retelling of the Gingerbread Man with the BBC Philharmonic for CBeebies in 2021 was an absolute delight for Zoe, Vic and Sally-Anne. Writing the educational resources for a programme which proved to be very popular was a real privilege and so when Jennifer Redmond of the BBC Philharmonic approached us again in July 2022 asking us to be involved in a much bigger project of ten stories we were over the moon – and so began our Musical Storyland journey!
Musical Storyland is unique in that it is the first time an orchestra has been commissioned to make a series of films for network television. The music is specially composed and introduces children (from 3-7) to the instruments of the orchestra and also instruments from around the world. The programmes feature live action and animation, are narrated by presenters Nihal Arthanayake, Jan Blake, Sean Chandler and Molly Rainford and are accompanied by brand new teaching resources written by Note Weavers and as well as being aired this week on CBeebies they are also now available on the BBC Teach website: KS1 Music: Musical Storyland – BBC Teach
The Premise of the Series
Jennifer Redmond explains more about the point and purpose of Musical Storyland: ‘Musical Storyland is a place where children’s favourite fairy-tales and traditional folktales are retold and re-imagined with the magical, musical touch of musicians from the BBC Philharmonic, inspiring a love of music and singing, and a fascination in musical instruments in the children who will watch it.
Each episode features a fairy-tale or a traditional folktale from the UK, Europe, W. Africa, India, Jamaica, E. Asia and has specially composed music which reflects the musical tradition of the story.
The BBC Philharmonic musicians are integral to the story telling and use their instruments in traditional and unexpected ways to help tell the stories and inspire curiosity in the instruments.
The ensembles of Western Classical orchestral instruments are enhanced with additional musicians from various traditions to ensure a breadth of authentic diversity in styles and representation on screen.’
The Early Stages
Towards the end of 2022 Vic, Zoe and Sally-Anne were involved in discussions around story selection for the series. The BBC shared their list of European tales and stories from other cultures which were being considered and we spoke to childminders and teachers for their thoughts too.The titles were eventually whittled down to the final ten stories – five of which make up the series being aired now with the remaining five being scheduled to be shown in Spring 2024.
In February we travelled to the BBC Philharmonic’s home at MediaCity in Salford to meet Jennifer Redmond (BBC Philharmonic and Producer), Sam Roberts (Sustain Video and Producer) and composer Daniel Whibley – for discussions and workshopping around a number of the selected stories which included considerations for the scores, the main themes and elements in each tale, as well as identifying opportunities for both musical and non-musical learning within each programme. We met again a few weeks later to work on the remaining stories. To be part of the conversation, adding our thoughts, planning resources and getting an insight into the sheer amount of work that would go into creating and producing these stories was incredible.
Media City Feb ’22
Resources and Plans
After our workshopping meetings we then went away to plan and make notes around the stories. Our next involvement came when we were sent audio files and scripts where we gave feedback and ultimately began an enormous excel spreadsheet of ideas for lesson plans and educational resources! For Sally-Anne and Vic the Summer of 2023 was mainly spent listening to the audiofiles and discussing, planning and designing the resources. We felt that rather than write them for a specific ‘age’ we would write them as foundation, extension and advanced activities with all children starting on the foundation level and moving on only when ready to the extension and advanced activities.
While we were busy on this the BBC team were even busier with the business of recording the films!
Following submission of our plans we then had feedback meetings and spent September and October making tweaks and amends and in early November we visited MediaCity once again, this time to record some short supporting films for our musical activities, these are now available on Note Weavers website Musical Storyland – Note Weavers
Preview and Broadcast!
Finally on 18th November we went to watch the preview screening in the BBC Philharmonic studio with all the presenters, musicians, cast and crew. It was so exciting to see the programmes now brought so vividly to life – thank you to Jennifer and all at the BBC, it has been an absolute joy to be a part of the journey of these beautiful stories and we are thrilled that they, and our educational resources, will now be shared with everyone on CBeebies and BBC Teach.
Sally-Anne says: ‘Working on Musical Storyland has been fabulous. From the story selection process to filming supporting resources it has been a unique experience and I feel privileged to have been able to work with Jennifer and to be involved in workshops with Sam Roberts and Daniel Whibley – great to see a composer at work! Congratulations to all involved, I can’t wait to use the stories in my settings.’
Vic says: ‘Having the opportunity to be involved with Musical Storyland has been an amazing experience. It has been a pleasure to work with Jennifer, Sam and Daniel to help shape the stories and music, to take into consideration children’s musical learning, as well as the possibilities for wider learning. Even though it has been a lot of hard work, it has been enjoyable from start to finish and fantastic to see the finished programmes.’
Zoe says: ‘It has been a pleasure to be part of this partnership, so skillfully facilitated by Jennifer Redmond. The BBC Philharmonic are to be commended for their recognition of the need to include early years expertise in the team from the very beginning of the project to ensure that the music, songs and associated resources are appropriate for young children and provide support for teachers in the classroom.’
by Sally-Anne Brown, Photo courtesy of Nettlespie Photography at Lancaster Music Festival
Last weekend (12th-15th October) it was Lancaster Music Festival – where for 3 days music completely takes over the city centre of Lancaster. It is EVERYWHERE – on the streets, shops, cafes, bars, the canal, in one case on a roof! It is not about ‘big’ bands it is local musicians, musicians from around the world, workshops, pop-up busk stops – outreach music in schools and the local hospital and so much more. Almost all of it is free.
As I walked round the city centre I was struck by the huge variety of music I was encountering – from an Irish set in the Craic Inn where the singer snapped one of his strings mid song and an audience member handed him their own guitar, to a participatory kazoo orchestra, a Chinese drumming session and then Galician dancing in the market square.
I spoke to one of the – incredibly busy – organisers Lucy Reynolds and asked her what she feels is special about music:
‘I think people connect with each other through music. It takes people out of themselves and into a larger shared space that I think we all have memory of from when we used to play music and sing together much more freely. Lancaster Music Festival gives people a space to do this as it’s a bit informal so everyone feels welcome. There’s little divide between musicians and audience – This is a conscious move by LMF and fits with the festival’s joyous, shared space, collective ethos. Being 97% free helps as well!’
I went on to ask what drove Lucy in her role as organiser: ‘I like the organisation as it’s experimental and progressive. The board runs on passion for new ideas rather than profit . LMF has always been about the city itself and the music within and we have rejected the idea of headliners or expensive ticketed gigs. This makes it trickier to organise but is so much more fun to be involved with. We couldn’t do it without the kindness and support of so many partners and supporters. It’s all about the feel good factor – Almost a musical harvest festival!’
An absolute highlight for me was More Music’s young people’s stage in the Market Square on Friday evening, where young people were given not only the opportunity to perform but were also stage crew and involved in the stage tech. Again, on Sunday More Music’s ‘Girls Can’ stage gave young women and non-binary performers the chance to perform as well as participate in an inspirational discussion event with punk band Loose Articles.
The over-riding feeling from the whole weekend though was joy. Bags of it. The city was thronging, couples, young people, families with young children, older people and there was something there for all of them. Music is an astonishing art form (I feel so privileged to work with it) – it has an immediacy and can connect people on so many levels. There were many, many take away moments from the festival – but one that stays with me is of a young boy, around 3 years old – rushing up to the front of a stage where Spanish guitar music was being performed, he was bobbing and waving and was quickly joined by his grandma and another lady spotted them and went over to dance too. Their enjoyment spread round those standing nearby and we were all smiling and clapping along, completely connected in a shared experience through music – with no barriers.
I don’t know of any other art form that can reach everyone in quite the same way and it is absolutely vital that music (and music education) is nurtured so that future generations can know that same joy that festival goers did at the weekend.
For this blog I wanted to reflect on beginnings and endings of projects. I’ve just come to the end of delivering a music project working with children and young people with additional needs and their families. I’ve been delivering the project on a monthly basis for nearly 2 years. We’ve had a core group of families that have turned up month in and month out and we’ve had new families join from far and wide. I have felt sad that families had to travel such a long way to access sessions that really should be available to them in their local community. But selfishly, I’ve been able to meet and musically interact with all the wonderful people that have attended because they have been prepared to travel to my sessions. I can honestly say that it’s been an absolute joy to be involved with. The partner organisation that have hosted and organised this sessions have been brilliant. I’ve had the opportunity to really get to know the children, young people and carers. It’s been a privilege observing everyone involved grow and form friendships with each other on so many different levels. For my part, I have gained much understanding and insight from the project. Containing the group dynamic has been central to the work. Some sessions have just flowed, and the young people have really led me in the direction they wanted to go. Other times (especially with the younger ones) it’s been tricky to keep everyone contained in the music. Each session has been so unique and special. But the funding, at least for now, has run out and until someone has the time and space to write a successful funding application we will have to wait and hold the space…
Onto the new beginnings. We at Note Weavers have recently found out that we’ve been successful with a funding application to work with 4 Museum and Library services across the region. ‘It’s exciting but also a busy time as we start thinking about coordinating partner organisations, booking venues, timetabling sessions, availability of practitioners to deliver and finance matters. I’m sure I’ve only mentioned a small proportion of what needs looking at! These are all new experiences for me as a practitioner. I’ve always been the one who was been the deliverer rather that overseen the delivery. However, it’s a challenge that I’m more than up for, especially with our amazing team of directors and associate directors here at Note Weavers. Change is good and there are going to be lots of new and exciting changes ahead of us here at Note Weavers.
Hi, I’m Georgina and I’m one of the Note Weavers directors. I’m a music therapist and an early years music practitioner. I’ve worked for a long time in SEN/D settings, but just recently I’ve completed an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being at Edge Hill University. I’d enrolled on the course because I’d started working on a well-being project with young people, and I wanted to update my knowledge. This blog is about my musings over how music connects with parent-infant relationships and parent and infant mental health and well-being.
I’ve always had an interest in parent-infant relationships and how musical activity can support families in the first few years. I found the psychology module on my MSc that looked at child development fascinating. It made sense to me that supporting families during the critical 1001 days 1001 Days – Parent-Infant Foundation (parentinfantfoundation.org.uk) could help parents and their infants develop strong, loving and responsive relationships. Working in a preventive way to support both parental and infant mental health and well-being.
I wanted to know more about parent-infant relationships and parent-infant mental health, so I contacted my local Home-Start Charity Home – Home-Start Trafford Salford and Wigan (hsts.org.uk). I’ve been a volunteer with the charity since 2019. The charity supports families who are struggling for many reasons. I offer practical and emotional support to families; often listening to and empathising with parents and playing with the children.
As a result of my volunteering and newfound knowledge from my MSc, Note Weavers is working on an Awards for All funded project with Home-Start. I am developing an e-learning module to share ideas with other volunteers about using music with families to support play and engagement.
The research study for my MSc explored service providers (music leaders, charity volunteers and charity parent-infant mental health support coordinators) views on the effectiveness of music for supporting parent-infant relationships. Without giving too much away, I found out that there needed to be a discussion around what music means in the context of parent-infant relationships. Secondly, I discovered that the terminology surrounding parent-infant relationships can be confusing and difficult to understand. Finally, I learnt about musical and non-musical approaches that practitioners considered useful for supporting the parent-infant relationship.
As the country descended into full Lockdown due to Covid-19 in April 2020, Note Weavers were embarking on our first Shared Sounds Early Years Music sessions with local families in Blackburn. Our partner ‘The Bureau Centre for the Arts’ had been awarded funding from The National Foundation of Youth Music. The aims of Shared Sounds: to develop an early years music programme at the Bureau; to support families to engage with their pre-school children through musical activity; to develop the experience of music leaders and early years practitioners to embed quality music activities in their programmes. Musical instruments were bought, music bags lovingly sewn and filled with interesting combinations of pictures, props and percussion instruments, but now we couldn’t actually meet any of the families, or run our planned core and satellite groups, connecting with our community with songs, craft, conversation and food. With a collective urgency to get something happening, we changed tack regarding delivery, and went online! This was the most obvious solution worldwide following lockdown restrictions, and was the saving grace of many a situation. We used Facebook live for our delivery, streaming weekly, and attracted a decent following. From a non-tech-savvy person, this was a massive learning curve, and a daunting aspect, but one I tried to embrace with a positive attitude, as did the similarly non-tech-savvy others involved in the project! In fact it was obvious immediately that there were actually multiple benefits to our new situation and method of delivery, which we’d have never explored or realised if our project had run to the original plan.
The reach of the project was suddenly hugely increased, potentially worldwide, quite an expansion from our planned delivery in Blackburn, Lancashire, where the project is based. Also the twelve 30min sessions now preserved online on our various partner organisations YouTube channels are suddenly a valuable resource which we can share, support training, engage in a layered approach with our families, and spread the word to other organisations. Families can watch sessions multiple times, and we can signpost to the videos as a supporting aspect to our actual face to face sessions. We are now going to connect our related craft activities to these videos, supporting and extending the engagement and connection within families using the songs and themes of Shared Sounds.
As part of the Shared Sounds project, I had received a funded place on the Certificate of Music Education in Early Childhood level 4, based at CREC (Centre for Research in Early Childhood) and validated by Trinity College, London. This has been a valuable point of connection and sharing regarding working in early years music, and being part of such a community during this time of change and restrictions, I have felt supported and reassured by both the other course members and the tutors/mentors. Conversation and ideas for alternative ways to work have enabled a sense of positivity and confidence in the unknown world we’ve found ourselves in, and course requirements have been fluid and flexible, reassuring us all that we can do this, we can weather the storm!
With Covid-19 restrictions now starting to ease a little, we are actually hoping to run some real live sessions very soon, with 4 families at a time, socially distanced and the rest. We are also going to jump on Zoom and connect with our local groups in this newly learnt way, introducing them to the Shared Sounds videos and suggesting to other organisations how to use this resource integrated into their own Zoom sessions.
The music bags, each set of 12 containing a selection of instruments, props and pictures along with suggested songs and activities, (all now with supporting examples on the Facebook videos!) are finally being allocated to the groups accessing our face to face and Zoom delivery, and also offered to local organisations who want to connect to our work even if remotely, as now our actual face to face numbers have to be more limited than originally planned.
We put such a lot of our belief and passion into the planning of the Shared Sounds project that when the world around us changed, we knew we had no choice but to adapt. We embraced the new landscape in which we had to work with enthusiasm and energy, finding hidden gems and bonus features on our way. Although it is with relief that we are now about to meet our first actual real group of families, give them their sets of bags, and engage personally with them, the navigation through Covid-19 landscape has certainly educated and honed us, and the project has grown stronger during the experience.
“Hi Sorrel, I’ve just watched your zigzag zebra music session with (my toddler), having spotted it on Facebook.It’s really lovely, and he absolutely loved it – he wanted to watch it again instead of having lunch (and he’s a big fan of lunch!) He was half way through watching it for a third time when I dragged him away… Thanks very much!”
“(granddaughter) and I watched last week’s show and we loved it – (granddaughter) is joining in a lot more.For some reason she’s been reluctant to try the words – shy? But she’s humming along very tunefully and loving doing the actions.We’ve got a bottle bee in the making.What’s the theme today? Keep up the good work”…
“As for (granddaughter’s) singing – she’ll no doubt come up with the songs in her own time – she’s always singing! And we repeat the songs again and again and so she gets more confident – she’ll repeat after you Hickety Tickety Bumble Bee… each week she’s trying more – the changing actions are fun for her and changes of rhythm and dynamics.”
Spinning Threads 