The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) will from next month, July, start a training programme for musicians and some other players in the music industry. This forms part of the Union’s plans to help create a sustainable and a more vibrant music industry.
In line with that, some parts of the Union’s headquarters in Accra are currently undergoing refurbishment to provide space for the training programme which is expected to run for a very long time.
In an exclusive interview with BEATWAVES last Thursday, Mrs. Diana Hopson, President of MUSIGA, said “the Union’s aim is to train its members and any other persons who so wish to learn music,” adding that “currently, there is too much ignorant people in the industry who are denting the reputation of the industry”.
According to her, the training programme which takes effect from early July would seek to take musicians and potential musicians through the rudiments of writing good lyrics, playing of instruments and handling the business side of music as well as the social life of an artiste with regard to the artiste’s character.
MUSIGA’s plans now, she revealed, were to combine such areas as education, administrative structure, job creation, national and international protocols to help improve the lives of musicians.
She disclosed further that from time to time, the Union would be organizing leadership training programmes for its members, one of which she indicated would be held from 24 to 26 June, prior to the special training programme.
Last Thursday, a section of the leadership of the Union was taken through performance techniques training by an American, Dr. James Johnson, who is an enthnomomusicologist and specialist in African/American Music.
Dr. Johnson, who was Prof. Kwabena Nketia’s graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, founded the African-American Music institute 27 years ago with his wife.
He said on Thursday that the institute was a community project to get children off the street; he encouraged the musicians’ union to help use music to transform the lives children on the streets of Ghana.
At the programme were big names like Kwabena Kwabena, Bibi Brew, Chizzy Wailer, Aka Blay, and KK Kabobo among others, who used the opportunity to share their music experience with everybody present.
