The Magic of Music

Sounding Board has been a wonderful opportunity for our staff, associate artists and young people to learn about telling stories through music. Music has always been a big part of our theatre devising process but since January we have been putting music in the spotlight, creating original songs in a fun and collaborative way with our youth theatre groups and Ensemble Young Company. 

In 2023, we were awarded Youth Music Trail Blazer funding to help us incorporate music making into our co-creation practice, projects and because our young people, told us they wanted to do more music related stuff at Mortal Fools.  

Across 2024, Calum Howard has been working with us as a guest artist, helping to demystify the music-making process, using his broad experience as a Composer, Producer and Live Musician to create an open and experimental space for our members to learn new skills and explore their ideas. He’s been working directly with our young people via various workshops, and ran several CPD sessions, with our practitioners, sharing practice.  

Our Theatre Practitioners and young people have approached this new challenge with enthusiasm, working together to grow their musical knowledge and skills and taking full advantage of Calum's expertise. 

This has been a particularly exciting project for our Practitioner and Coordinator Scott Wilson, who has previously taken an active role in creating music to enhance our performances. As a keen musician himself he understands how music can help people find community and express their feelings.  

Read on to hear more from Calum Howard and Scott Wilson: 

Calum devising in an Ensemble Young Company session. Photo Credit: Von Fox

 Why do you think it's important for young people to have access to music-making?

Calum: Music is a magic potion that boosts mood, increases emotional intelligence, bonds groups, instils confidence and determination, helps us endure challenges and adversity and improves memory while aiding self-expression and personal growth.

The word ‘music’ doesn’t come close to summing up the magic that happens when humans get together to play with patterns of sound, pitch and rhythm!

Scott:  I love using music when working with young people as you can see different pieces spark their imagination in ways that images, writing or questions don't. I'm sure everyone has experienced hearing a song that evokes a memory, or a piece of music that brightens up their day. Seeing our young people getting to create their own music has been an excellent experience. 

Scott (standing) facilitating a youth theatre session for the Sounding Board project. Photo Credit: Von Fox

How have the different groups you’ve worked with approached the theme?

Scott: Some have been focusing on creating underscoring for their theatre pieces with digital and live instruments, some have been writing and composing songs and music videos, and others are using music to help them create new characters and stories. You can be so creative in how you bring it into your work!
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Calum: Not only has each group chosen to use music differently - but all of the young people were instrumental in creating the music itself. We recorded ourselves singing, wrote chord progressions, and basslines, experimented with arrangements, and used group decision-making to come to a result we were all happy with. 

Calum: Not only has each group chosen to use music differently - but all of the young people were instrumental in creating the music itself. We recorded ourselves singing, wrote chord progressions, and basslines, experimented with arrangements, and used group decision-making to come to a result we were all happy with. 

How has this project helped to develop our Youth theatre members' skills?

Scott: It's been great to see members who have never played an instrument before and those with more experience working together to learn from each other and develop their skills playing musical instruments. 
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Our youth theatre members have always impressed us with their imagination and writing skills and getting to work on lyric writing has pushed them to play with meaning, rhyme and rhythm. 

Youth Theatre performance from Sounding Board project. Photo Credit: Von Fox

How do you think music has enhanced our members' ability to express themselves creatively?

Scott: Sometimes it's hard to express how you're feeling through words, but we've seen members being able to find a piece of music that just fits a scene or character. As the audience watching the piece, you don't have to be told how to feel, but the music can help guide you. 
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I've also loved seeing our members being able to take the lead on telling our practitioners what they need for their pieces. I've seen their confidence grow whilst working on Sounding Board!

What’s been your favourite part of the project so far?

Calum: By far it’s seeing the growth in confidence that comes with recording the young people. When I put a microphone in the middle of the room and tell them that, by the end of the session, they will be queuing up to sing their favourite lines into the microphone, there is usually some apprehension! But with group encouragement and hype it’s rare to see anyone opting out!
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The realisation that there is no ‘correct' way of singing - you can shout, scream, whisper, croon, express yourself however you feel in the moment, and you can be as silly as you want, knowing the group is going to celebrate whatever you do. We have seen some lovely moments where the shyer participants found their niche, to the delight of the rest of the group! 

Youth Theatre filming session for Sounding Board project. Photo Credit: Von Fox

Has anything surprised you in the process?
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Calum: There is no shortage of surprises working with young people! After many attempts, there was one group who were still reluctant to sing as a group.

We were starting to think it wasn’t for them, but once we split them off into pairs and small groups, they amazed us by suddenly telling me to start the track, and then they sang their hearts out! It was such a massive win. It takes courage to sing through your inhibitions. 

Scott: There have been a few times when I've been hesitant about whether teaching a group a piece of music will work.

But every time I've been blown away by how they’ve embraced it and I've seen young people picking up instruments for the first time in their life and by the end of the session, they've come up with a melody to play or have made something as part of a group. It's proven to me that young people are so much more capable than we realise!! 

Do you have any advice for practitioners who want to introduce music-making to a group in an accessible and fun way?

Calum: Use what you know and use what THEY know. It’s a collaboration. Don’t be prescriptive or top-down, they spend their whole lives being told what to do! Allow creative freedom and embrace wildness! Always emphasise that everyone has something musical in them, however small it seems. Learn new musical skills yourself! The best teachers are always learning too! 

How has the project helped develop your skills as a Musical Facilitator?

Scott: It's allowed me to explore "actor-musician" theatre making, in which the cast plays the music throughout the show.

This is the kind of work I love watching and have always wanted to create. Getting to work on this project has allowed me to learn and develop the complex skills that are needed to direct both theatre and music at the same time! I'm so glad we've been able to run this project and I'm excited to keep developing my skills.

How has the project helped develop your skills as a Youth Theatre Practitioner?
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Calum: We have used CPD days to share games, creative activities, ideas and feedback among the team, which have left me with a treasure trove of tools to use in my practitioner work. I have so many new ideas about how to tell stories with music and the enthusiasm of the creative team and young people alike has been a constant inspiration. 
 
Thank you to Calum and Scott! This has been a fantastic collaboration which has given our youth theatre members the confidence to explore different modes of self-expression. 

Youth Theatre performance from Sounding Board project. Photo Credit: Von Fox

Sounding Board Digital

Sounding Board Digital is a collection of short films and music videos created during this project, filled with bold, thought-provoking lyrics, catchy tunes and creative soundscapes! 

These films are perfect for young people, parents, carers, families, youth workers and teachers. We will also release a resource pack filled with fun creative activities to help you explore the themes of the films with your young people.  

​We will be releasing the films early November, and you can enjoy them online, for free.  
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Keep an eye on our socials or join our mailing list to find out when the videos get released.  

Click here to join our mailing list

Click here to find out more about sounding board digital

​As a team, we are so impressed with our youth theatre members who have put so much passion and hard work into these, and we just know you will love them! 

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​Youth Music Trailblazer fund

​We couldn’t have made these films without funding from the Youth Music Trailblazer fund. It has enabled us to support children and young people facing barriers to make music through working with Mortal Fools.

Youth Music is a national charity funded thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England, players of People's Postcode Lottery, and support from partners, fundraisers, and donors.

Youth Music believe that every young person should have the chance to change their life through music. Their research shows that many can’t because of who they are, where they’re from, or what they’re going through.

Their insights, influence, and investment into grassroots organisations and young people themselves mean that more 0–25 year-olds can make, learn, and earn in music.

You can find out more about Youth Music here: Youth Music Home Page | Youth Music

Young people playing guitar and using a laptop to create music live, from youth Theatre performance for Sounding Board project. Photo Credit: Von Fox