Our Youth Music Groups recently got the opportunity to learn from award-winning composer Ben Lunn.
Ben, the winner of two Scottish Music Awards, had a brilliant week working alongside the Groups to compose music themed around revolutions and rebellions.
He began each session by playing songs linked with the theme, focusing mainly on old protest songs like Black Legged Miner before letting them unleash their creativity.
The sessions took place at Fowler Street and Westoe Crown Community Hub. Here’s a breakdown of how the week went:
ExpressionAble Group: 12/12/22
After familiarising themselves with old protest songs, the Group enjoyed a brainstorming session in which they chose words and phrases that aligned with rebellions, like anger, justice, fairness etc.
When asked what people of today might want to revolt against, the Group agreed on increasing energy prices. Using this and the words they had previously come up with, the Group began writing lyrics to Rage Against The Washing Machine – a song about the rising gas and electricity prices.
The Group later picked out chords for the verse and chorus to complete the song.
Under-18s Group: 12/12/22
After listening to old revolution songs, our Under-18s Group decided that their piece should reflect the emotions of a rebellion.
As the Group doesn’t have a singer, Ben steered the Group towards creating an instrumental piece.
They decided that the piece should be aggressive whilst also sad and melancholy. The Group achieved this very well within the 3-hour session.
AchievAble Group: 13/12/22
Ben’s session with our AutismAble AchievAble Group began with listening to nursery rhymes linked with themes of rebellion, such as Jack and Jill.
The Group then rewrote the lyrics of their chosen nursery rhyme to match the theme.
Once they perfected their lyrics, they performed each poem as an ensemble.
Over-18s Group: 14/12/22
Like our ExpressionAble Group, our over-18s Group brainstormed words and phrases aligned with rebellions.
This time, words such as unity, love and togetherness came up.
For the remainder of the session, the Group wrote and picked out chords for the verse and chorus of their song: Time to Change.
Pop Recs Group: 14/12/22
Our Pop Recs Group worked with Ben to compose a fully improvised piece based on their chosen emotions: anger, aggression and chaos – they achieved this in just two hours!
With funding from Youth Music, we provide free hands-on music tuition to young people aged 14-25. The sessions give learners experience in creating, recording and producing their own music. To find out more, including how you can get involved, please click here.
