“Nobody ever leaves a musical experience feeling worse off for it.” That’s what Susie Webb told me just before last week’s jazz and blues community orchestra session began at Panteg House.
Eighty minutes later, I walked out with a spring in my step – probably from all the foot‑tapping. It was a real treat to sit up close and watch a group of people create music together. And the best part? You don’t need to bring an instrument to take part (I can’t even clap in time). Just grab a drink from the bar, pull up a seat at the back of the room and relax.
The new group is led by Susie and her husband Craig, both specialist musicians and educators.
Susie said: “This is our third session this evening. It’s been great.
“Everybody’s been very welcoming. It’s nice to see new people coming to Panteg House and using it because obviously it’s a brilliant hub for the community, so we’ve got people coming in from further afield, which is fabulous.
“It’s a community event, no audition required, so people are just welcome to come along and have a look or are welcome to come along and play.
‘Beneficial for everybody’
“The reason we set it up is music is obviously very beneficial for everybody. Scientifically, it’s proven to lower cortisol, the hormone in the body, so it lowers your stress levels.
“We particularly wanted to kind of target people that might feel a little bit isolated in the community. They might not necessarily have an opportunity to play in a band, won’t necessarily be a professional musician.
“Playing as a collective, scientists have proven that with regards to choirs say for instance, after they’ve been singing for a while, all of the heartbeats kind of come in sync together. Nobody ever leaves a musical experience feeling worse off for it.
‘Warm-ups’
“We start off with a couple of warm-ups, so Craig orally teaches people via the various instruments that they’re doing because we’ve got instruments in different keys. He will work them through particular scales, so we have a very easy warm-up.
“We also do an improvisation section. Everybody gets a chance to kind of have a little bit of a blow themselves and kind of have the feeling and sense of feeling that they’re creating as well as just playing parts.
“We then look through the different parts of the different songs that we’re doing and then at the very end of the session, the last 15 minutes, we’re calling it the ‘Last 15’, actually goes live on Singergise Radio as well, so everyone gets to play on the radio.”
The session is every Wednesday- arrive at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Panteg House, Greenhill Road, Griffithstown, NP4 5BE.