Adopt a Music Creator blog: Visualisation and harmonisation

Hayley Hodges of Voices of Exmoor talks about her group's creative workshop with their AaMC collaborator Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones.

The atmosphere was filled with nervous anticipation as we arrived on Saturday 9th April to take part in a creative workshop with our music creator, Hannah. 

We had to use our brains right from the word go, as even the warm-up involved singing and movement – at the same time! We learnt how to use visualisation to help with breath control and we became more relaxed as we began to sing and harmonise with each other.

Hannah explained how she had taken inspiration from the ideas collected from our first meeting a few weeks ago and she had already created the first few lines of a piece of music. We set to work learning it, phrase by phrase, and soon realised that we were singing something that had never been sung by anyone else ever before.

Following a short break, we rearranged ourselves into a circle. Hannah read a passage from 'The Story of a Red Deer' by John William Fortescue, and we were asked to make sounds for the different aspects of nature being described in the text, such as the wind, the grass and heather, the birds and the peat stream. Hannah recorded the results and explained how we would be returning to it further on in the process.

Members of the group brainstorm ideas on the different aspects of Exmoor

Tables had been set up around the hall, each containing a different stimulus, such as images, text, questions and musical instruments, each designed to get us thinking about different aspects of Exmoor. We were then given time to move around and respond to each one.

By the end, each piece of paper was filled with ideas and Hannah had already found some phrases that we were able to sing to the melody that we learnt at the beginning of the workshop.

Here's what member Maria Lloyd had to say about the workshop:

'I didn’t know what to expect with the workshop we had last Saturday and I think like a few of us, I was quite apprehensive. But oh my goodness what a great session it was and as a very new member of Voices of Exmoor, it was a brilliant opportunity for me to get to know the other choir members better.

Hannah and Lynne are so nice and they instantly make you feel relaxed. To watch how our session unfolded and how we actually helped Hannah put words to the music she had already written for us following our first meeting was incredible. 

It was just brilliant and I loved it.'

And here's what member Linda Ruthven-Tyers enjoyed about the workshop:

'This event turned out to be a wholly entertaining day. We were in the safe creative hands of Hannah and Lynn and all those present joined in the activities with vigour and a sense of fun.

We concluded our workshop with a few lyrics added to the music we had learnt at the start of the day, which left the feeling that we had all played a part, even if ever so tiny, in the beginnings of our composition.'

The whole session was enjoyable and very productive. As a choir, we really feel that we are a part of the creative process and that our ideas are being encouraged and listened to. We are looking forward to finding out what will happen next!

Find out more about Voices of Exmoor on their website, and follow Hannah on Facebook / Instagram.

The Adopt a Music Creator project matches vocal and instrumental leisure-time music groups with some of the UK’s most promising music creators to collaborate on creating a new piece of music. The project leads to a premiere performance and possible broadcast. If you’re a music group or music creator and you’d like to take part, find out more.