Listen Up!

Listen Up! is a music-making workshop for 10 to 16-year-olds, running at the Oxford Centre for Music from Wednesday 28 October to Friday 30 October. It's three full days of getting stuck into making music, with each session running from 10.00am to 4.00pm. The whole thing is put on by Oxford Contemporary Music, so it's aimed at young people who'd rather be doing something with music than just listening to it.

The draw here is the people leading the sessions. It's not just a few tutors; they've brought in professional beatbox, electro, pop and rock musicians to run the workshop. That's a fair bit of ground to cover in one place, and it means the days aren't just about one style. You'll have beatboxing alongside electro, pop and rock, so if you're into one and not the others, there's still plenty to get your teeth into. It's a chance to work with people who actually make a living from this stuff, rather than just talking about it.

Because it's a workshop, the focus is on the doing. You're not sitting in a classroom; you're making music. The age range is 10 to 16, so it's designed for a mix of younger and older teens working together. If you've got a kid in that bracket who's always messing about with a keyboard or a guitar, or who's just obsessed with beats, this is exactly the kind of thing they'll get on with.

It's held at the Oxford Centre for Music, also known as the Barton Centre for Music, on Bayswater Road in Barton, Oxford OX3 9FF. The sessions run 10.00am to 4.00pm on Wednesday 28, Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October, and it's free to take part.