By Noelle Williamson
Firstly, an invitation for any child aged seven or over who loves watching and listening to Tutti! Community Concert Band and always wishes they could have a go. They can!
Bramley Youth Brass starts again this Tuesday, September 8, 3.30pm-5pm at Trinity Church on Upper Town Street.
Secondly, an offer for every parent whose child gets wrapped up in live music; or always says Music is their favourite lesson; or has an ear for a tune and a tendency to sing around the house; or keeps asking for a musical instrument.
At Bramley Youth Brass, that child can sit in on band practice, try instruments out until they find the one that feels right, turn up and play every Tuesday after school, and borrow an instrument to practise with at home. Also, to quote Joelle Braithwaite, musician, teacher and leader of Bramley Youth Brass (and Prima adult beginners’ band): “It costs the kids nothing to be in the band. They get the instrument for free. There is no cost obligation at all.”
Joelle spoke to WLD earlier this year about Bramley Youth Brass.
WLD: So, what do you want to tell West Leeds Dispatch readers about the band?
JB: “I want people to engage with it. To sign their kids up to come and play. They get a free instrument. They get free tuition. They get an hour and a half free of their kid on a Tuesday! And it is an opportunity. None of the primary schools [teach these instruments].”
WLD: It sounds amazing… but they say kids don’t appreciate what they don’t have to pay for.
JB: “No, with the band, it’s the opposite. These kids are committed. They love it. They are there every week. Sometimes, we’ll play a piece, and you know they feel they’ve done it right because they are buzzing.
“I’m trying to instil a team atmosphere, and the side benefits of being in this band, or in any band. We create music together where everyone’s part is important. Like, one Tuesday, a kid played something on the tuba, and the other kids spontaneously applauded him because they thought it sounded so good. We encourage and support each other. We are collaborative. We celebrate our achievements. You get all that stuff in a sports team in some ways, but it’s different here.
“They’ve played at Bramley Memorial on Remembrance Sunday, and at other community events. The buzz they get! That personal sense of achievement is what I do it for.”
WLD: You said that it is an opportunity. What did you mean?
JB: “Music is becoming elitist in this country. Who are in our orchestras? Who are the ones getting music lessons? People who can pay.”
WLD: Hasn’t that always been the case?
JB: “Well, no, there was a time in the 70s and 80s where kids could get free music lessons in schools. Now, well, just look at BBC Young Musician of the Year. Last year, two pianists both played Rach(maninov) 2 in the final. Both of them from elite backgrounds, private schools like Chetham’s School of Music over in Manchester.
“Where are kids from Bramley getting into the National Youth Orchestra that plays at the Proms every year? How many kids of colour are getting into the National Youth Orchestra – that plays at the Proms every year? Last year, there was one kid on trumpet who was black, and some Asian children – 18-year-olds – playing strings. That’s it.
“A lot of kids lack access to extracurricular stuff. If I can raise these kids up with a skill. If I can give them a gift of music, and that sets them ahead – if that gets them higher grades because it’s good for your brain – if it brings them into a better bunch of opportunities – there is something deep in me that wants, with whatever I have got, to see the world improve.”
Opinion – Noelle’s view
A cursory review of what our primary schools offer actually makes encouraging reading. According to the websites of 36 mainstream West Leeds primary schools, leedslocaloffer.org.uk › mainstream-primary many have invested in music curriculum programmes, that introduce pupils to singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, composing and improvising. These schools have also bought or hired class-sets of instruments from Artforms, ‘the music and arts service for Leeds’, at costs which they must not pass on to pupils.
Many primary schools in West Leeds have an after-school choir or a ukulele club. At a couple, Rocksteady teach extra-curricular electric guitar, drums, keyboards and singing.
In short, all primary school children in West Leeds have music lessons and most are taught to play the ukulele. As an affordable introduction to making music, the humble uke is a brilliant choice for schools: good for singers and budding songwriters, and popular in the world outside the classroom.
At secondary school, pupils can progress to learning keyboards, guitar and percussion, and how to use digital audio workstations for composing and production.
Evidently, from primary to secondary school, children who want to focus on mainstream popular music are well-served.
Equally, Joelle has a point, because when it comes to brass, woodwind and strings – the instruments at the core of unamplified western orchestral and traditional music, it looks like only one primary school in West Leeds offers clarinet or cornet lessons (in Year 4) or after-school strings, woodwind and brass lessons.
Fortunately, at Bramley Youth Brass, kids can get their hands on a tenor horn, a tuba or a trombone. They get first-class teaching. They play side-by-side with other kids and teenagers, and a few older players who come to help out. Parents who have been in bands for years play alongside sons and daughters who are starting out. Brian, who’s retired now, but still plays with the West Yorkshire Police Band, makes up half of the BYB Euphonium Section! All musicians together, making music that they love. As Joelle says, it is an opportunity.
Bramley Youth Brass runs Tuesday afternoons from 3.30pm to 5pm at Trinity.
To register interest, please email hannah.cribbin@salvationarmy.org.uk.
Artforms at Horsforth Music Centre offers a crammed Saturday programme, very reasonable rates for classes and instrument hire, and when the time comes to buy an instrument, they won’t charge VAT.)
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Great article, about a great commitment from Joelle. Music is such a rewarding opportunity that many can only listen to. Spreading the news about fantastic initiatives, like this, and sharing the bigger picture, makes a great feature on the WLD. Well done Noelle.