Hot Jam run music education projects, predominantly focused on rock / pop / jazz and other contemporary styles. Our main aim is to educate and enthuse young people (aged 4 - 25) to take part in a wide variety of musical activities. We aim to inspire young people to take up an instrument, sing, write their own songs and music, or just to appreciate music and the wider creative arts.
We help participants examine their own culture, linking this to their wider geographical area and its heritage and environment.
Music is all about teamwork. We actively promote the importance of working together, addressing social skills, problem solving and creativity. These are vital attributes for all. We feel that young people need to focus on these areas to give them important skills for life and for their own well being and contentment.
Hot Jam has been funded by parental contributions, grant funding (from Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm CIC.) and RCT county borough council arts services.
We have visited a number of schools, (primary, secondary and special needs,) putting on interactive workshops. Our live band demonstrate a wide variety of styles and gave participants specific parts and activities for each song. We introduce and demonstrate our instruments (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and voice.) and some pupils have the opportunity to perform an improvised blues with the band also.
We run short term (usually half a day a week for four weeks.) song writing sessions with a group of children (usually 15 – 30) where participants write their own lyrics to a specific theme and set it to music. We record band parts with our own band and produce a CD and video of the whole project.
We have also ran three-day courses with older musicians. These focused on song writing, performance and teamwork skills. At the end of the three days there was a showcase gig in a professional venue where the bands performed a small set each, with their own original songs as the highlight.
