Children in Middlestown School have recently been enjoying the opportunity to participate in a new venture as part of the national 'Endangered Species' project. The aim of the scheme is to promote interest in young people learning to play instruments which are nationally less popular than others. In Middlestown, this has taken the form of 'Rhythm and 'Bone', where the children have been learning to play the trombone whilst also joining together to form a Samba Band with trombones.
Lee Muncaster, the teacher who has been directing the band explains, "This project has been a really exciting way of introducing children to this fantastic instrument and as far as I know, teaching children to play brass instruments in this way is a first. All the children involved in the project have been given brand new trombones to learn on and have also been learning to play the various Samba percussion instruments. When we join together as a band, we play along with pre-recorded backing tracks and the result is noisy but great fun!"
"Samba originates from Latin America where it is most often seen at the street carnivals. Although it traditionally only features untuned percussion instruments, the energy and excitement of the rhythms is ideal for introducing young players to music and adding trombones to the mix seems to complement the style."
The band have already performed in front of their school and they are hoping to dazzle their families and friends in their first public performance at the end of this term. And the opening piece? - 'Hot Cross Bones Samba!'
