Bands Brighton Area'S New Developing Stars

Form a Band! Write the music! Design the merchandise! Make a video! Play a gig! A creative multimedia band camp for ages 7-12. Course dates: July 29-August 2, August 5-9, and August 12-16. 8. 30am-4pm daily. £150 per child, discounts available for groups.

If you have ever wanted to know what it’s like to be in a band, or simply to make a lot of very joyful music, art and multimedia creations in a fun filled and energetic environment then WE WANT YOU! You don’t need to have experience or a huge personality to be part of our gang; all you need is enthusiasm, a love of music and a sense of fun!

This completely unique course will give you the opportunity to experience forming a band, designing album artwork, making music videos, performing and recording. . . in a nutshell, everything a real band does all the time!
Our CRB-checked staff consists of professional sound engineers, film-makers and a fully qualified primary school teacher. We come fully equipped with bags of experience and enthusiasm, not to mention some really exciting instruments, recording equipment, and art and media resources!

We are looking for anyone with a passion for learning about how music works, and who want a week of challenge, fun and achievement.

Most of all, we want to give children a taste of the joy, camaraderie and deep fulfilment that we ourselves have experienced playing music and being in bands throughout our lives. Most of all we want them to realise that they can do it too!

Where and when?!
The course takes place in our bright, professionally equipped Playgroup premises, The Blind Tiger Club in central Brighton which provides everything your young aspiring musician needs in order to develop and flourish.

Monday to Friday from 8. 30am to 4pm but we can arrange childcare for working parents who need an earlier start and /or a later pick-up.

All participants are fully supervised at all times with our unrivalled tutor to child ratios of no more than 8: 1.

Children will need to bring their own packed lunch, but an afternoon snack and drinks will be provided.

Our Ethos
We believe music can be an incredibly positive influence, giving children an outlet for emotions, thoughts and creativity. We hope to foster your child’s ability to share their talents and love of music with others in a meaningful and productive way. Our aim is to show them an engaging collaborative pastime, which they will hopefully continue to enjoy throughout their teens and beyond!
As well as deepening their knowledge of how musical ensembles operate on a professional level, our program will expand a range of transferable social and personal skills:
• Creative development and problem solving
• Self-confidence
• Self-discipline
• Teamwork & Cooperation
• Group creative process development
• Leadership
• Communication
• Enhanced listening and analysis
• Tolerance
• Empathy
Throughout the course of the week, the group will be guided through activities which will boost all of the above.
While we believe that the skills obtained through the exploration and development of the work are of great value to young people, we recognise that the opportunity to demonstrate what has been learned, through performance, is also hugely significant. In this light, our end-of-week performance is an important element allowing your child to share their new knowledge with you in a safe and supportive atmosphere. All students are given equal opportunity for stage time and we embrace diversity in terms of personality, ability and experience.

Our Approach
We are committed to a structured well balanced programme of activities that develop skills in a positive and safe environment and then allows for these new skills to be put into practise in a meaningful way.
Drawing on our professional and educative expertise we have developed a programme that will push children to explore many different areas of musical creation whilst always keeping in mind the satisfaction that can come from creating a solid product.

We deliberately keep our groups small so that the level of support and quality of the teaching your child receives remains of the highest quality. Our child to tutor ratios of, at most, 8 to 1 remains one of the best available.

The Nuts And Bolts – What do we actually do! ?
The core of our course focuses on three main aspects of musical production, for which the children will be split into three groups.

1. Music Making and Performance
• Each group will work together, being guided through a collaborative creative process to come up with a musical piece. If children can play instruments they will be encouraged to use these skills, though all will be involved in the creation and performance, whether musicians or not.
• They will be guided through the design and rehearsal of a performance, using the stage and equipment in our professional working venue. A range of approaches to arrangement and instrumentation will be explored here, with a basic version of the song being recorded to accompany the video.
• Each piece will be performed on Friday afternoon, along with the presentation of the artwork and video (see below). The performances will be recorded, forming part of the finished CD. The recordings will be professionally mixed (roughly a two-week turnaround) and each child will receive a copy in the post when the mix is complete.

2. Band Artwork
• Children will look at what makes a successful band identity; they will invent a logo for their band, and design the cover for their CD.
• Each group will design and make t- shirts for their band to wear at their performance.
• Finally they will design and make a banner or backdrop for their performance on Friday

3. Music video /visuals
• The group will produce a video or visualisation to accompany their song. These will be professionally finished and edited and presented on Friday.


There will also be times each day when the children participate together in a large group. Sessions include
• Group singing, where the children will develop their sense of rhythm and harmony
• A daily section covering the basic science of sound, including some exciting experiments
• Warm-up & team building games every morning, and a post-lunch disco to encourage that all-important personal expression, and to shake off some inhibition!

Oh, and one more thing!

As our amazing course is affiliated with the events company Playgroup Brighton, the children on all our courses have been given the incredible opportunity to perform live on the main stage of the Playgroup festival! This kind of festival experience is something most people can only dream of! And you’ll get it here!