A few days ago, I attended the December meeting of my local chapter meeting of ASTD. The feature of the evening was a group known as Face the Music.
Like their brochure says, they are a “totally unique offering, an interactive musical edutainment.” They feature a band called Face the Music Blues Band and they play some really nice jazz selections. But what they do is get people working in teams to create a blues song that laments some sort of complaint, gripe, or angst from their job.
Templates are provided to help the budding songwriters and the band members serve as coaches in the writing process. I was amazed that in a short period of time, my group wrote a song, rehearsed it and was ready to perform. And perform we did in front of the group. Truly there is strength in numbers because it was my first time as a adult singing in front of a group of peers. And it was fun.
Here’s a sample of what we wrote:
The Out of Time Blues
Wake up real early and I’m already running late,
They’re at the finish line and I’m still at the gate,
Ain’t got no time, but got lots to do,
Nighttime’s coming and project’s almost due.
I found this to be a clever and fun way to get people to enjoy working together. We had many laughs coming up with rhymes and talking about what issues of the day would best work in the song.
Very clever concept this gang Face the Music has. And a most interesting way to spend an evening.
Filed under: December 2007, Work Place Issues
