The East African Creative Music Campus started in 2016 in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. We work with the Jazzamba School of Music in Ethiopia, the Bayimba Academy of Music in Uganda, the Action Music Academy in Tanzania, the Ballanta Academy of Music in Sierra Leone and the Orupaap Cultural Foundation in South Sudan. In November 2019 we won a new two year Erasmus plus Grant from the European Union co-funded by the Goethe-Institut in Addis Ethiopia.
In the new grant we would like to specifically target female participants in the next training campuses and will take 3 participants from each country. The training campuses which will be held in 2020 and 2021.
However even males are welcome to apply.
Deadline for these applications will be 31st January 2020 and applicants will be notified via email about the interview dates.
The Global Music Academy in Berlin has been working since 2010 to develop a new innovative curriculum using modern teaching methodologies designed for use in Music Academies/Schools in Africa. The curriculum is focused on African music as it is played in the countries we work in. The curriculum is designed to provide professional training for young aspiring musicians and music teachers.
We specifically designed the system using the European Credit Transfer system as the structural basis using modules, module descriptions, credit points and learning outcomes so that the music schools and academies we work with can develop their own curriculum and fit this into their own accreditation systems.
Here is a brief outline of the program we will be teaching:
For more detailed information please go to www.global-music-campus.net
This core curriculum deals with core musical skills that are important for any musician who wants to work internationally but it is also important as it provides the basis for the musicians to analyze and understand their own music. It consists of the following modules:
- Body Percussion: This course trains rhythmic awareness and rhythmic independence and micro timing using clapping, reciting syllables and stepping with the feet. It is very popular in Africa and is very African in its approach. It is a group course and extremely participative. Once it is mastered it can be taught to children or adults very easily.
- Rhythmic Reading and Writing: This is also a group course and teaches you to read and write rhythms quickly using a modern methodology. It goes hand in hand with Body Percussion.
- Melodic Reading: This course goes hand in hand with rhythmic reading and Main Instrument and you learn to read in groups on your own instrument. The drummers use the keyboard to do this.
- Harmony: This course uses the harmony of Africa and the African Diaspora and we teach it using a modal concepts. We do not teach western harmony at all, just harmony as a tool to use in your own music
- Ear Training: This course goes hand in hand with the Harmony course and develops your ability to hear the chords and write down what you hear.
- Keyboard Harmony: This course teaches the participants to apply the harmony to the keyboard. It is very practical and you will learn how to play the different chords in progressions and practice voice leading.
- Main Instrument: We have developed a 2 year curriculum for Guitar, Bass, Piano/Keyboards, Drums, Percussion, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone and Voice. A lot of the musicians we have encountered in our work in Africa often play very well but have huge gaps in their technique. The instrument curriculum addresses these problems. We have made a lot of videos of the different exercises to help you practice on your own.
- Ensemble Training: We have developed what we call the African Real Book which is a collection of music from all the countries we work in so that the participants can practice as bands reading the charts in the Real Book. It keeps growing as we keep adding songs to it. The music is mostly from the so-called “Afro-Fusion” and “Afro-Jazz” area. We are looking forward to adding Sudanese songs to it.
How to apply
If you are a musician and you are interested in taking part in the Campus please fill out the application form online.
Application Form for the Bayimba Academy Music Teacher Interviews →
You will be invited for an interview.
Please bring your instrument with you.
Please note that the East African Creative Music Campus is an ongoing project. We will train the same group of participants every year for the next 2 years in the second stage of the project. In between the yearly campuses you will be expected to practice your instrument and work on all aspects of the curriculum to prepare for the next Campus so all the participants will have to show a long term commitment to the project. By participating in the campus you will also be expected to pass your knowledge on by teaching in the Academy.
More information about the program can also be found on the website: www.global-music-campus.net
