Black Voices
Geographical/Cultural Region: The Caribbean
Artistic Areas: Pure singing, incorporating diverse styles from Gospel to spirituals, jazz and blues. The singing styles on offer range from the Caribbean to styles, traditions and patterns from West, East, South Africa and North Africa.
Workshop and performances: Afro-Caribbean Singing Workshop
Available for:
KS 2 - 4
Youth and Community groups
INSET
One-off Workshops'
Residencies
Training Events
The Artists' Biog (pdf resource) Since 1987, Black Voices has forged its own dynamic way of distilling and re-presenting black music from a Caribbean, black British perspective. Grounded in the church, the group presents a cappella, both sacred and secular. From Gospel to spirituals, Caribbean to African, jazz and blues, Black Voices is firmly rooted in music that energises and uplifts, challenges and educates.
Quotes "Absolutely fantastic - the children cried as Carol and Celia left - and so did we!"
Ashford Park Primary School, Surrey
History of workshop
These workshops are firmly rooted in music that energises and uplifts, challenges and educates. Each style has its own historical background - for example:
Spirituals are based on biblical characters and were formed through oppression in slave times. The songs were also a means of communication between slaves that was not understood by the slave masters
Gospel music refers to African-American Protestant vocal music that celebrates Christianity in emotive and often dramatic ways
Blues have been originally traced to Native American Indians. However, its popular understanding relates to its link to slavery and the melancholy call and response (with a guitar responding to the voice) of the American Deep South, By the 1890s the blues were sung in many of the rural areas of the South. And by 1910, the word 'blues' as applied to the musical tradition was in fairly common.
Content Catchy, enchanting and fun songs, incorporating a diversity of styles (see above), introduced in the oral tradition. There are no pens, paper or overheads used in this workshop - participants copy the words and keys that are introduced by the workshop leader(s).
A background to each song's role, style and development is given according to the participants' age. A singing workshop requires group work and a team effort - it is great fun, plus there is movement and actions to accompany the lyrics and the potential links to the National Curriculum are far-reaching Direct links can be made to the National Curriculum: repertoires include convenience food and healthy foods (science) and Martin Luther King (RE) to name but two.
Please contact us directly if you have specific curriculum links that you would like to discuss.
Ages/abilities
KS2 and above
INSET
Conferences
Training and teambuilding exercises
Numbers One class size per workshop - maximum of three workshops per day
Time needed
Minimum 60 minutes. The artists can often work with one class all day, and lead to a special end-of-day school performance which parents can be invited along to. Space needed
School hall, or other large, cleared space, with chairs set in a circle for each participant.
It is important that the space used for the workshops is free from interruptions (people passing through a school hall or coming in and out of a classroom hinders the progress of a vocal workshop).
It is important for the teacher to participate in the workshop; it sends a message to the pupils about people constantly learning and developing and also gives the children the confidence to sing their socks off!
School/class preparation for artist's visit
Look at maps of Africa and the Caribbean and discuss how and why music has travelled
Why do we sing? When we are happy, sad, for fun? Is it different for different people in the UK or in different parts of the world?
Talk about what function songs have. Do they have religious links or do they happen in the community for fun?
What do lyrics mean? Look at some pop songs, hymns or Christmas carols - they tell stories
Look at the different styles of music today and where the roots might have come from (for example, discuss Eminem or Michael Jackson)
Write your own songs - do they have messages for people?
