Melody Making

It's Thursday 23rd October and I'm sitting in the IT suite at Astral Youth Centre as we come to an end of a day's melody making. This is the first time we've tried not only turning some of the phrases we've collected from older and younger participants into rhythms, but also into melodies. Children and young people have been getting used to repeating excerpts taken from interviews, and turning them into rhythms, either by clapping them or by playing them on percussion instruments. We've heard the words "nineteen-thirty-one", and "two children, two daughters" turned into catchy grooves, but today we've gone one step further.

During Bobbie's session at Chivenor Primary School, four groups of children, each joined by a resident of Chivenor House, interpreted phrases melodically, and performed them to each other. We even tried combining the four melodies that we came up with, layering them one over the other, which showed the potential for what may follow.

This evening, as I sit writing this, Chris is leading a small group that has mapped a small exerpt taken from a conversation amongst young people at the youth club, onto notes, and is now recording an improvisation that uses the resulting melody.

We still have quite a way to with combining these techniques but I think we're showing the potential of the concept.

More soon!

Dave