Tots Tunes midsummer online classes - June 23rd & 25th

For the last week of June I will be running online Tots Tunes classes for one more week on both, Tuesday and Thursday- 10am (zoom links below).
 It has been a joy to start the day seeing smiling regulars dancing and singing.  I hope that whether you have a babe in arms or toddlers/pre-schoolers full of energy, the online classes give you space to sing some beautiful songs for yourself, dance with your littles and just relax and have a listen as the music zooms into your homes.

"We all 3 love Tots Tunes. It has been our highlight during lockdown"  kind words from a wonderful family of regulars

Still continuing with the suggested donation, please pay what you can at this moment in time (do get in touch if you would like to use a different payment method from Paypal).

click on dates below to join

Tuesday June 23rd

Thursday June 25th

approx 30min class 
(suggested donation £5 or class/£8 discount rate for joining 2 in a week)

See you there.

Tara x

Vox Voices online weekly workshops - Women Sing Tuesday evenings

Vox Voices has always been a space for women to gather, a space to sing and also to breathe, move and connect. A welcome weekly retreat for many of the regulars. When lockdown began I had no idea if it would be possible to keep the spirit of the workshops alive via an online platform. Or even if I could keep the regular group connected.

Vox Voices has now become something new, it is still a space to connect with a collective of women who want to continue to sing for their own well-being and also simply to learn a range of a cappella world folk songs. It is admittedly very different from feeling the vibrations of collective sound in a room however the pure act of singing has been proven to do us no end of good physically and emotionally, something we all need right now. It is very different from the lived experience yet there is still something special about these online workshops.

The positive side to this virtual world is that we have expanded from a local community to an internationally one and it is growing. As is the current ethos of Vox Voices the group remains a size that allows everyone to get to know each other, have a chat, stretch, breathe, sing and have some fun.

We have been singing part songs from Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe alongside British folk tunes and some close harmony jazz songs.

All workshops are run through Zoom and as many of you may know there is no platform yet created that allows group sound to happen simultaneously. However, I have my loop pedal on the go so as we learn, the vocal parts are layered up and zoomed live into your living room to sing along with.

Come and join, tell friends around the world! No prior singing experience required and now you need not even feel self conscious as we can’t hear each other when we sing anyway :-)

Email if you want to know more before trying it out.

Hope to see you there,

Tara x

Vox Voices - Women Sing

4 week course

Tuesday evenings - 2nd to 23rd June

Join from 8.30pm for a chat

8.45pm singing starts

1 hour workshop - 4 weeks

Suggested donation £8 (or pay in a block for all 4 weeks £30)

With guest leader Preetha Narayanan joining for 2 weeks to lead some short breathing meditations and chanting

Read more about Vox Voices

Tots Tunes online June - the morning shake up!

Have you recently had a baby and would like some new songs to sing at home?

Do you have a lively toddler or pre-school child you’d love to sing and dance with?

Grab your shakers and come and join Tots Tunes online!

Tots Tunes is about connections and learning some great songs from global folk to original numbers written specially for the classes (no wheels on the bus to be heard!).

Now online - Weekly Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Sundays - these classes are about bringing some joyful music into your homes all led by founder Tara Franks with her cello, djembe drum and vocal loop pedal. Packed with rounds, part songs and dance moves - come and join a 30 minute class to start your day. Tots Tunes is as much for the adults enjoyment as the little ones. Classes are all run through ZOOM to keep a sense of collective joy and interaction.

Online Tots Tunes goers say…

“so wonderful! thank you. Made our day”

“Thank you so much for tots tunes virtual sessions!! We are really enjoying them! … your creativity is really inspirational”

“so brilliant!  Glad you are still putting your music, and joy, out into the world”



All classes start at 10am (30 mins - £5 per household)

Join your chosen class by clicking on the link of the date you want to join (if you don’t have paypal, please get in touch for another means of payment)

Tuesday 2nd June

Thursday 4th June

Tuesday 9th June

Thursday 11th June

Tuesday 16th June

Thursday 18th June

Tuesday June 23rd

Thursday June 25th

Read more about Tots Tunes in real life

A Family Household Sing (Vox Voices style) - Saturday 30th May 10am

Connect with your family household in a new way and join a creative activity all together.

The Family Household Sing is now up and running!

Come and join for an intergenerational sing together. Each online workshop we will learn 3 songs (with a bit of body percussion thrown in now and again too) - We will learn all the harmony parts so you can go away singing together.

Tara will lead using her loop pedal so all the harmonies will come straight into your homes to sing along with.

Songs include rounds, part songs and folk tunes from around the globe from Tanzania to New Orleans - suitable for families with older children who love to sing.

It is a great way to start your day!

JOIN

SATURDAY 30th MAY 10am - 50min workshop

£8/£10 per household

Zoom in May - More Tots Tunes & Vox Voices

Here's the next update of what you can join in with online in the next few weeks, either with your little ones (TT Sundays are back), an evening sing for yourself or gathering your households together to create and play some kitchen percussion. There is something for all ages.

Even when lockdown Zoom enthusiasm may be waning, I hope that making some noise...sound (! ) with your households and with others, Big & small, has brought some much needed joy, connection and respite. Thanks for your continued lovely feedback and donations helping to keep this all alive.

If you are new to joining the mailing list, all classes and workshops are run through Zoom and there is a suggested donation for each one. As an update to safety policy, I would like to request everyone turn on their videos and say hi when you arrive in a class (totally understand if you feel self conscious  dancing in front of a screen - TT friends particularly -  do feel free after to hide after!)

Tots Tunes for parents & littles ones (from babies to toddlers)
Start your day with a shake, stomp and sing - original tunes, rounds and world folk songs all accompanied by cello, and djembe 
10am
30mins class
(suggested donation £3/£5)

Click on the date you want to join for the zoom link

Tuesday 12th May
Thursday 14th May
Sunday 17th May

Tuesday 19th
Thursday 21st

Tuesday 26th
Thursday 28th
Sunday 31st

Vox Voices - Female Vocal Workshops
Open to new singers alongside the regular crew.
Breathe, stretch, move and learn some a cappella songs together. Although we can't all hear each other there is still a sense of togetherness and I have my Loop pedal on the go now so you can sing along with all the harmonies zooming into your homes!

Click here to join…
Tuesdays evenings (12th, 19th, 26th)
8.45 pm 
(join from 8.30pm for a chat) 
approx 1 hour session - suggestion donation £8/£5

Bank holiday weekend - more to come for families/households with older kids watch this space…

What's on(line) this week - Sing your way into May

Lovely to see many of you, Big & small, online last week.  As we move into May I will be running more online classes and workshops for all ages; Tots Tunes for parents with little ones to start your day, an evening women's sing with Vox Voices and a new addition to the online collection - Big & small Kitchen Drum Club launching this May bank holiday for families at home with older kids.

One thing I have learnt from this strange situation (not being a massive fan of online activity usually) is that now at least the SoundsCreative community can expand out of the local neighbourhood and across the world!  It has been so nice re-connecting with old faces who have moved out of London and even the UK,  who can now join workshops and classes again.
Something new has now evolved and I hope whenever we can be together in person again I will be able to keep some of this going. Admittedly it is a very different thing as we can't actually all hear each other sing & play, however some people have said they love this as they feel far less self conscious joining in :-) 
So with this in mind, please share the newsletter with friends far and wide so they can join in from where ever they are.

If you are joining an online class or workshop for the first time they are all accessed through Zoom (I'm sure most people have found themselves zooming a lot in recent weeks!).  There is a suggested donation for each workshop, you can use the PayPal link below and/or email if you would prefer to use a different method (please pay whatever you feel you can at this unusual moment in time).  Then...click the link on the date of the activity you want to join to enter the class/workshop.

I have been playing around with the set up this week - loop pedal, piano and more - to be aired this week all with the help of a very patient in-house sound tech (the bonus of having a sound engineer partner)!

Hope you are all staying sane.
See you online or in real life very soon,

Tara x