Music Sensory Workshops. With Singer Songwriter Brandon McDonnell. Specialising in young people with autism

Hi, I'm Brandon! And I'm a Singer/Songwriter/Music Producer whose mission is to make the wonderful world of music accessible to everyone.

About me and what I do.
I’m an active artist in the music industry, writing for myself and others, most notably within dance music in Europe with my most successful release being ‘Think Twice’ with FDVM currently at 12.8 million streams on Spotify. Music has been an important part of my life being my career, but first and foremost it’s been my release from everyday life.

Since I completed my Bachelors Degree at BIMM Brighton in 2017, I have been working at an SEN School in Buckinghamshire as their in-house 1-1 music workshop leader, with children of a large range of abilities and ages (Year 7 to Sixth Form). My sessions are student led and very heavily inspired by music therapy, aiming for my students to express themselves and take part in different musical activities in a safe welcoming space. Some are listed below.

Listening - I play my acoustic guitar and sing, playing calming songs.

Jamming - With the addition of a keyboard and some gentle direction, we have a improvised jam. This can be done acoustically, or along to pre-made backing tracks done by myself.

Songwriting/Music Production - With the use of my portable studio, we can create original songs from scratch on garageband. Encouraging my students to try lyric writing, record in parts themselves, direct me with the parts that I play in for them, and to experiment with different moods and textures. This where we see a lot of fulfilment because it allows oneself to get down in art form their thoughts and feelings.

Learning to sing/play guitar - I teach my students the basics of both guitar and singing at beginner and intermediate level.

As I say, these are just some possibilities of what we can do in a session. Do not hesitate to get in touch, and I'm more than happy to see how I can help.

Qualifications:
BA Hons Degree In Songwriting
Masters Degree in Popular Music in Practice