In this month's Spotlight, discover Oi Musica, a vibrant music organisation and specialising in street band music, outdoor performance and inclusive music practice, and how they grew their pilot project in East Edinburgh into a thriving street band.
Brass Blast: building a practice that centres young people, creativity and fun!
Brass Blast Summer Show 2023. Image by Vicki Watson.
Towards the end of 2016, Oi Musica started an 8-month pilot project that aimed to broaden participation in music in our local area. Aware that disproportionately low numbers of disadvantaged young people were taking up instruments in our community, and indeed right across Edinburgh, we wanted to test non-formal and inclusive approaches to instrumental teaching and group music making.
Fast forward to 2024, and Brass Blast is an exciting, youth-driven street band welcoming 80 young people every week.
Players range in age from 9 to 18 and, across 3 after school groups, we work with complete beginners right through to those preparing to study music at further / higher education level. Young people choose all musical material and co-design the programme; we offer year-round peer-learning and volunteering opportunities and have a cohort of emerging young band leaders; our Youth Committee brings creative ideas to the project team and supports the coordination of gigs and events.
Brass Blast Big Beach Busk 2023. Image by J Davey.
Currently Brass Blast has 24 trumpet and 16 trombone players, 18 samba drummers, 5 clarinettists and a saxophone or two (we’re looking for more!). And this month, 16 brand new P5s are trying out trombone and trumpet before deciding which one to play.
For a child trying an instrument for the first time, Brass Blast is all about rhythm. We don’t talk about note names, we don’t worry too much about pitch, we get cracking with exploring the rhythmic possibilities that one or 2 notes offer, and delve into the fun that can be had working as a group; passing notes around the circle, learning rhythmic phrases, playing along to a drum groove and learning to listen to each other. Ensemble skills are developed from the moment an instrument arrives in a player’s hands.
Non-formal music making is at the heart of everything Oi Musica does, and Brass Blast has developed in line with this.
Everything is taught by ear, played from memory and performed with a sense of connection to the others in the group. Whilst this approach is fantastic for engaging young people who have had no previous musical experience, it is also challenging and interesting for those who have.
"I have written original music and learned performance skills as a result of Brass Blast. The team of people who I’ve been so lucky to learn from are dedicated to including and celebrating as many different young people as possible and they have inspired me to do this too." Molly, trombonist, young band leader
It is key to Brass Blast’s success at engaging a wide spectrum of backgrounds and experience levels - from young people getting private lessons to those who’ve never had an opportunity, or perhaps didn’t get on so well with formal music education. Regardless of their experience with music so far, there is challenge and reward in trying new things, learning to play with others or to learning aurally for the first time.
Back in 2016, we were unsure how Brass Blast might interact with formal music provision in the area - there’s no doubt that the idea of teaching brass non-formally raised some eyebrows. However, one of the best outcomes - and one that we couldn’t predict beforehand - is that the majority of our players go on to secure brass lessons at school.
Brass Blast Big Beach Busk 2023. Image by J Davey.
They do this because they’ve been inspired, have found an instrument they love, or have built a little confidence in themselves and their potential as music makers. Crucially, they are able to because they can use their Brass Blast instrument.
The partnership we have developed with the Instrumental Music Service is a win-win for everyone - the provision of instruments enabling local schools to take on more instrumentalists and build up their ensembles, an increase in varied music opportunities for young people, and Brass Blast working with players who are also learning formal music skills, music theory and written notation. Additionally, the proportion of young people from the city’s most deprived postcodes taking up school instrumental lessons has increased - something that we’re proud of and remain committed to as we look ahead.
All these factors make Brass Blast a unique community of music makers. 50% of places are provided for free (currently 40 players), and these are carefully targeted, working with a range of partners including Brunstane Primary and Castlebrae High - where over 80% of learners at both schools live in the top 20% most deprived postcodes in Scotland. These are the young people with fewest opportunities, who stand to gain the most from accessing the benefits of music making.
The other 50% of Brass Blast players pay to attend, because their families can afford to contribute. This means the project is not 100% reliant on funding - a crucial factor in Brass Blast’s survival through challenging economic times.
Brass Blast Big Beach Busk 2023. Image by J Davey.
The benefits the project provides young people are many and varied - from opening up opportunities they would otherwise never have had, through to the cognitive, academic, social, emotional and wellbeing benefits of music making - no doubt well-known to readers of this newsletter.
What is perhaps more interesting is the way that Brass Blast has evolved in partnership with and driven by the ideas of young people. Built on the core belief that every human has creative capacities and musicality to offer, no matter their level of confidence or musical knowledge, our programme has evolved in exciting ways.
Over the last 18 months, young people have been developing techniques for creating group improvisations that involve the musical ideas of every player, and provide band-leading opportunities for anyone interested in having a go. This is exciting to watch, as players are freed up from ideas of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and are visibly present in the music, responsive to the group and alert to the atmosphere in the room. It’s hard to describe the feeling of seeing 30 teenagers totally focused, 100% supporting each other, listening openly and in control of their own creativity. It’s a joy!