Music To Our Ears

We recently sat down for a chat with Teagan, one of the founding members of the Girls’ Jazz Band, to find out about what it was like starting a new band at Bloxham, and how she is balancing her musical commitments with her GCSE work.

What made you decide to start Girls’ Jazz Band?

I was already in the normal Jazz Band which is, on the whole, quite male dominated. My friend Molly and I had been talking about how good it would be to get more girls in the school involved in Jazz Band. I play the trumpet and Molly plays trombone. We talked to Mr Ramm about our thoughts, and he agreed and asked what we thought about starting a Girls’ Jazz Band. We thought that would be really cool and then we looked for people who might like to join so we’d have a large variety of instruments, and it grew from there.

How supportive was the music department when you raised this idea? What was the process like for creating a new band?

Mr Ramm was super supportive. He was really on board with it and helped us with everything. It actually came about quite quickly from the idea to the emails going out and the suggestion that we could perform in a concert. It’s different to any of the other bands because it’s not pre-decided that we’re going to do this, this and this. When there’s a concert coming up and a chance for us to play, we can put something together fairly quickly. It’s quite laid back and relaxed.

What would be your advice to any of your peers who are thinking about doing something similar either in music or in other subjects?

I would definitely recommend it! Just go to a teacher within that area with the idea and they’ll be very helpful because everyone is really lovely! Everyone was very supportive of me and got on board right away.

What do you enjoy most about music at Bloxham?

I love that there’s always things to do. I also love that, because I’m in quite a lot of groups, I get to know people in other year groups who I wouldn’t have crossed paths with otherwise. It’s so nice to have those extra relationships with people who are interested in the same thing as you. It’s a lovely community.

How are you finding keeping up with your music whilst also tackling your GCSE work?

It can definitely be challenging but playing is an escape for me, as well as being very useful for GCSE Music. You’re doing something productive when you’re practising, but it doesn’t feel like work. It’s different to sitting down and doing revision because it’s practical. I haven’t decided yet whether to do Music for A Level but even if I stop the subject, I’ll keep doing all the groups because music is important to me.

Thank you so much Teagan for chatting with us. We look forward to hearing you perform with the Girls’ Jazz Band at many more events in the future.

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