As a reflective musician I spend a good deal of my time analysing what has gone on and thinking about what to do next. I am currently writing a book about my practice as a social musician and on this page will share some of that writing.
Below are a number of articles.
Today’s The Day
A Creative Gift-Giving Group
Today’s The Day is the community band for Bristol Beacon. It has been going since autumn 2025 and is thriving. I lead the band and am supported by a wonderful group of dynamic and reflective music leaders.
At one of the launch sessions a participant suggested the name ‘Today’s The Day’ and it has more than stuck. It has become our guiding ethos. Today’s The Day is in the present. It is not aspiring to something else and nor is it looking backwards to the past. It is a band that lives for the moment. If you can come along and attend today, then you are member of Today’s The Day. We have a regular core of members, who come from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and experiences.
Two elements which are intertwined have come to define who Today’s The Day are and what they do. Perhaps it could be said that we are a uniquely creative gift-giving group.
Improvising and Composing
Most community music groups and choirs focus on rehearsing existing material and readying it for performances. This process can be thought of as re-creative. The polar opposite of this is a group who improvise and compose music each time they meet. This process can be considered creative. Of course this is not a clear-cut divide and as soon as something that has just been made up is repeated it is already ‘re-creative’ and often in bands that play existing material there is wide scope for ‘creativity’ in interpretation, but in terms of Today’s The Day we have clearly positioned ourself on the side of creative music-making, mainly in instant composition and improvisation. We spend relatively little time on rehearsing material.
What does this mean in practice, how did we get here and what are the benefits of being a creative band?
We usually warm up with a selection of vocal, bodily and instrumental exercises, much of which is improvisatory. An exercise that Anna – one of the leaders – instigated entitled – ‘Start with a hum and we’ll see what will come’ has gradually become a key moment for the group in which our listening and creative sharing usually develops into something that has both emotional intelligence and quirky spontaneity and shared riffing at its heart. Members of the band realise that they have a range of options including: mainly follow and respond to others, be quiet and find a careful space into which to present their sound, or dynamically lead from within the group. As we usually have this exercise towards the start of the session it does mean that the energies are ignited as to ideas of creativity and an acceptance that there are manifold ways to express musical expression and develop musical (and social) relationships.
We also usually have an instrumental improvisation towards the beginning. This is often led by someone starting to play, and then gradually the rest of the group join in and we see what happens. Over the course of our first year the group has come a long way in terms of listening to each other, responding creatively and leaving space. Sometimes this warm-up is followed by another improvisation but with someone conducting without any clearly defined rules, but bringing people in and out and maybe controlling dynamics or tempo.
The joy and appreciation that we get from these exercises is very different (not better, just different) from the experiences of playing prepared pieces of music together, and the band as it exists has veered towards this method of playing for a number of reasons.
We have discovered that one member of the group does not like to be recorded when playing with Today’s The Day. On trying to find out why, it appears to be because he fears getting it wrong and does not want to be embarrassed. This is a common response for those who have been brought up in the tradition of learning existing music where there is an expected way to play it, and the other way is ‘wrong.’ So for this person creating spontaneous music is clearly liberating and they seem to revel particularly in ‘Start with a hum and we’ll see what will come’.
Other members of the group also really enjoy bringing their musicality to the group in a completely free way. A woman who plays a number of instruments initially played the Lyra with us, but then found a different outlet for that instrument, and so now comes with a range of different instruments including flutes and spoons and explained that it is a chance for her to develop many aspects of her musicking in a supportive way. She wants to be able to explore what she can do and make her own choices rather than be told to play something explicit. Similarly a man who plays electric guitar, is often articulate about what he gets from the band, but always seems most excited and energised by being in a spontaneous group experience and reflected at the end of a recent concert that ‘we are just getting better and better’. I suspect that other members of the group who have fewer technical musical skills and experience find that they can contribute in an equal way to the music. Finally, one other group member has really revelled in being in Today’s The Day. He has never previously played an instrument, and possibly does not have the capacity or interest to learn one in a traditional way (I may well be wrong here!) but he regularly conducts us, comes up with many ideas and plays percussion and our group can cater for him in a very positive way which would be certainly very different were he to join a re-creative band.
The benefits of being a creative improvising and composing group are many, but perhaps the following list will suffice:
- We can cope with extremes of technical ability and the performer who has years of experience can play together with the novice performer in a successful way
- We get better by learning how to listen to each other.
- We share ideas equally between those who are musically experienced and those who are not
- It doesn’t matter who turns up each time and there is no imperative to be at every rehearsal.
Gift-Giving
At one session in the spring a previously regular member of the group arrived, but could not get out of his car as his electric battery for his wheelchair was not charged. His assistant came into the hall to tell us he couldn’t be with us that day, and we were all saddened. We had just finished singing a song and someone suggested we sing it again, record it and someone take it out to the car to play it for Ian. We did this and it was appreciated.
This generous idea of making some music especifically for an individual has become our metier for the past few months and we have made a selection of musical gifts which we are recording as we go and putting on a website.
Musical gift-giving is by no means unique, but it usually refers to buying a musical instrument or music book for someone. There are a few examples of composers/musicians referring to musical gifts (Bach wrote his ‘Musical Offering’ for instance and many other composers dedicate their works to specific individuals), but not very many. There are also examples of music being created as gifts for god or gods, hymns and bhajans for instance. But the musical gifts that Today’s The Day have been making are often to make people feel better, or as celebrations. Music – perhaps – as medicine.
We have made some of these pieces as the full group, but generally we have found that working in two or three smaller groups of 4-6 people is the best for this. In the small groups we ask if someone has a particular person they would like to make a musical gift for. We agree on this person. We then find something out about them – not very much perhaps, but one example was that we made a piece of music for Claire the friendly face on reception at our building. All we knew about her was that she was very smiley and welcoming and that she liked stand-up comedy. This inspired a little piece that we played just the once and recorded it! Sometimes we work on the pieces in separate groups and rooms, and then share them and record them together when we are all back in one space.
Everyone seems to agree that this approach to making creative new music fits with Today’s The Day really well, and each session ends with folks leaving in a state of having not only achieved something musical together, but also having achieved something beneficial and transformational, through making a little musical gift, that we know (from direct experience) has had an impact on that person. One week one of the leaders was absent ill. We made her a piece and as soon as she received a recording she said it made her feel better.
We are all excited to see where this will lead.
To hear some of these musical gifts go to
And for more info about the band go here!
https://bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/todays-the-day-community-band-rehearsals-2/
Creative Music-making in Care Homes.
By Hugh Nankivell
I am Hugh Nankivell – a social musician and composer based in Bristol. In the last decade I have spent a lot of time working and playing with older people in care homes and hospitals, with a focus on those living with dementia. I am committed to exploring the relief and magic that music can bring in these settings.
For the last two years I have been leading training, and offering support, for players from BBC National Orchestra of Wales in developing their practice as musicians in care homes. These musicians are highly skilled instrumentalists who often have a wide repertoire and work in various combinations of players. Historically their practice has primarily been as performers of existing music, playing from sheet music on music stands.
We are developing a framework to look at how musicians can engage more with the residents through developing creative approaches in addition to the playing of existing repertoire. As a result, eight activities have emerged, all of which can be used to encourage direct connections between players and residents. These activities require some players to re-evaluate their existing approach, and for new skills to be developed. We have made a film exploring these through working in a care home in Pontypool called Regency House.
We are not expecting that all eight activities will be used in every session, but are encouraging players to have them as a checklist when preparing for sessions.
They are:
- Greeting
- Playing
- Moving
- Listening
- Composing
- Conducting
- Singing
- Parting
(Only Greeting and Parting need to be 1st and last – the others might come in any order!)
The following are some notes for players regarding these activities.
- Greeting – make sure you say hello to everyone – even if this takes time. Learn their names and give them a chance to answer, even if they are slow at responding.
- Singing – singing is probably the main way in which most of the group will be able to join in with you. Perhaps do some warming up of the voice before singing, and look at the residents as you sing with them. Prepare a selection of songs. Ask them to suggest a song or a tune they like? You don’t have to worry about not knowing it as you could perhaps learn it for next time or ask them to sing it to you.
- Listening – they are going to be listening to you, but make sure you also listen to them. People always appreciate knowing that they are being listened to. Can you do some specific listening games with them – e.g. by asking ‘does anyone know what that tune was?’ – or ‘here is the opening of a well known song/tune – do you know what it is?’ – or even a little musical quiz? In that way there is real listening going on. Ask the group to give themselves a band name. (At Regency House, the band became The Regency Regals.)
- Conducting – this is a really good way to give some agency to those who may not have much anymore, and especially post-verbal people. As soon as you start to play you may notice some folks starting to conduct. Give them a baton, and then at some point invite them to actually conduct you rather than just to conduct ‘as an accompaniment’. Allow the person with the baton to control the speed and the flow as you improvise and really pay attention to that person.
- Playing – Take instruments along for residents to play. It is important to think about what instruments you are using and when you give them out. Small percussive egg-shakers are often good for starting with before moving onto others (small drums, glockenspiels etc). Playing just generally in time with the music may be better than trying to have particular percussion parts. Have the instruments ready to hand to give out, so that process does not take too long. Also remember that play is the word to describe what we do as musicians.
- Moving – Can you do a specific song/tune with movements? Can you prepare a physical warm-up tune with movements? When you see movement – respond to it and encourage it. Perhaps one of you could dance with a resident!
- Composing Can you compose a new song with the group? Or ask them to call out some notes and you improvise a tune around these notes. In this way you can develop a new repertoire for the group that is entirely unique. (I am aware that as a composer this is a skill I am comfortable with and many players much less so, but these skills of encouraging group composition can be learned.)
- Parting – make sure you have a goodbye tune that you perhaps play each time. Say goodbye to everyone in turn, see if you can remember their names.
I often remind players that music stands can become like walls. When they are removed and music is played by memory or improvised then the connections between players and residents can suddenly open up. I also encourage them to be prepared to change their plan when necessary, and to think of themselves as fellow human being enjoying the experience of playing music with others, rather than someone for whom music is a job.
Thanks very much to all the players at BBCNow and also Bea Carey Education Producer.