Band holiday programme: April

written by Marcella Adisurya

I can never anticipate what will happen during the band holiday programmes. No two groups are ever the same and its so much fun supporting them over 2-3 days, working on what it takes to be in a band.

I have had the pleasure of running the Grafton program with Adam and the Albany program with Moses in the term 1 holidays.

Sometimes the kids will come into the program with friends but often they will come alone. It is an amazing opportunity for kids to meet other musicians their age. At the end of every holiday program I can say with certainty that kids come out of it with new friends. 

Being in a band can be a completely new experience for some kids. They learn how to collaborate with other musicians, learn to listen to each other, and their role in the band. 

We structure the program like this:

DAY 1:

At the start of every band program we always do a little Q&A with the kids. Typical questions such as what type of music do you like, what do you enjoy playing, are there any songs you want to learn, and the most important one: what instrument do you play?

Depending on the number of kids that sign up, we would split the kids up into two different bands based on their instruments and what type of music they like to play. 

They then pick a couple of songs in their respective bands and we would pick two to start learning. 

On the first day, the kids learn how to read chord charts and to define what a verse, chorus, bridge, and outro is. They then practice with the song by refining their individual parts then coming back together to rehearse with the whole band. 

DAY 2-3:

The second and third day is performance prep. This is when everyone comes back after practicing their parts at home and nailing the song in the last couple of rehearsals. They come up with a band name (or if they don’t come up with one, the teachers will come up with one so bad that the kids are forced to make a decision), practice introducing the band, and rehearse as if they were on stage. 

We go over stage presence, how to introduce your band, come up with a setlist (being mindful of how they want to end their set), and practice getting on and off the stage quickly.

They then put on an amazing performance for their families and end the programme on a high!

It’s amazing to see what they achieve in just a couple of days, and super awesome when they try out new instruments (and even perform on a new instrument!). This progrwe had Guitarists playing the Bass and Drummers giving singing a go! At the end of the holiday program, some kids want to stay as a band and they continue to play together at the academy on a weekly basis.

The band program at EMA is a great way for young musicians to connect and they have heaps of performance opportunities throughout the term!

All of our holiday band program performances are recorded and uploaded onto our YouTube channel.

Learn more about our Band Programme or Holiday Programmes today!