SFOM POP&ROCK WORKSHOP IN AOSTA

SFOM Pop&Rock Workshop is a workshop designed to internal and external students of different levels who want to learn in an informal but productive environment.

It’s promoted by SFOM- Scuola di Formazione e Orientamento Musicale della Valle D’Aosta, and it happens during the school year. At the end, there is the production of a music show based on a specific subject.

Students from the school, and external students of any level who desire to grow either as musicians and as human beings in an informal but productive environment.

• Production of a music show based on a specific subject (for example the subject of the school year 2019-20 was the music of the movie ‘The Commitments’) to be played for the SFOM Music Festival ‘Cambio Musica’ and for any other occasion;
• Give the opportunity to the students involved to live the experience of making music together with their peers. This happens regardless of the level of competence of each, putting themselves to the test in a collective context where the sense of collaboration, solidarity, empathy and a fair level of competition prevail;
• Create a solid relationship with the community through the constant realization of good musical projects, involving members of the community itself and that to this are offered, in the form of shows, at the end of each  school year;
• Teach students a methodology for managing a band of their own that means selecting repertoire, preparing material, studying parts at home to get prepared at rehearsals, managing rehearsals efficiently, improving the stage presence on stage, being able to face basic technical aspects;
• Create a virtuous mechanism of spontaneous birth of new musical groups of young people, which are created as a result of the didactic experience and in the wake of the stimuli offered by this.

• Sense of responsibility;
• Respect;
• Empathy;
• Communication;
• Teamwork;
• Initiative;
• Problem solving;
• Organisation;
• Dedication;
• Creativity;
• Reliability;
• Listening (playing together presupposes a deep listening ability of the other members of the group);
• Patience (results come with hard work);
• Relaxation (physical and mental relaxation are both very important to playing and performing);
• Concentration and focus (the less the musician is concentrated, the more he’ll make mistakes);
• Time feel (a band needs to develop a common sense of time to make a good performance);
• Ear training.

A teacher is the principal director and head of the laboratory. At the same time all the instruments teacher of the students involved, collaborate in the preparation of the musical parts during the lectures with their students.

The lab is structured as follows: 

• At the first meeting students introduce themselves and get to know each other;
• The teacher describes in detail to the students the working methods and rules of behavior;
• The team proceed to listening to the repertoire and begin to discuss aspects related to sound, arrangement, instrumentation, etc;
• The group decides the first song from which to begin, listen and together describe the structure of the song;
• The singing teacher will be asked to establish the right tonality for the singers;
• From that moment on, the students will learn by ear their instrumental part with the help of their teacher. Possibly no musical parts will be provided to the students, because one of the specific objectives of this workshop is to develop in them the musical ear;
• Then at each new meeting, the group, coordinated by the teacher, will work on the construction of the song addressing one section at a time, starting first from the rhythm section and then adding the voices. Each section is rehearsed repeatedly until it works, then they move to the next section;
• If there is a wind section or bows, they will be summoned for separate section rehearsals and then progressively inserted into full-body rehearsals;
• From time to time, the instrument teachers will participate in the rehearsals to personally verify the performance of the students, to play alongside them, and to give advice and adjustments to the parts;
• During the school year, the participation of the band in essays or musical occasions outside the school is promoted, to begin to test the song ready, as break-in before the concerts at the end of the year.

This workshop lasts a school year- about seven months from November until May.

SFOM – Scuola di Formazione e Orientamento Musicale della Valle D’Aosta.

2005

The groups of the Pop&Rock Sfom workshop participated in:

• Aosta (Italy) music festival Sfom ‘Cambiomusica’ from 2005 to 2019;
• Aosta (Italy) musical review Sfom ‘Giovani in musica’ 2006;
• Aosta (Italy) project ‘La scuola suona’ 2010, 2011, 2012;
• Aosta (Italy) event ‘SfomPride’ 2012;
• Albertsville (France) ‘Féte de la musique’ 2011;
• Aosta (Italy) festival ‘Aosta Classica’ 2015.

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