WRITE SONGS
CREATE BEATS
LEARN MUSIC
EXPRESS
YOURSELF
THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC
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THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC ✦
WHO ARE WE?
WHAT DO WE DO?
PROJECT EXPRESSION is a music mentoring service that offers a multitude of outlets for music lovers to build skills, write original songs and use music as a tool for self-expression and identity building.
We offer services like learning a new instrument (guitar, bass, drums, piano, ukelele), vocal lessons, and mentoring with starting a band. We also offer lessons in electronic music production (making your own beats), lyric writing, performance skills, DJ lessons and basically anything the student wants to pursue! In the past, this has even looked like helping students to develop an artist brand, photoshoots, marketing & website building, booking their first gig and releasing their original music to the world.
PROJECT EXPRESSION is the combination of teachers Bec Price and Hannah Smillie, both with many years of experience teaching music and working therapeutically with young people. The aim of Project Expression is to be a unique service that does not prioritise advancement of levels in music; the focus is never solely on the student to get better at the instrument or software they are learning- though this will always occur in the background. Instead, the focus is for students to fall in love with the process of making and learning music, finding new ways to express their emotions and tell their stories. Bec has studied the therapeutic benefits of music both psychologically and biologically, and the research evidence supporting the healing power of music on all types of individuals is the foundation of the program Bec and Hannah have developed.
Project Expression is a service that not only supports people to become songwriters/ musicians/ artists, but is a holistic support for anyone on a journey of healing and recovery that has an interest in music, with the priority of improving mental health, confidence and overall wellbeing.
IT ALL BEGINS WITH AN IDEA
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IT ALL BEGINS WITH AN IDEA ✦
MEET YOUR TEACHERS
Bec Price is a Musician, DJ, Electronic Music Producer, qualified Social Worker, Mental Health Advocate and Youth Mentor, with a passion for youth justice, mental health, women’s rights and promoting First Nations people’s self-determination and cultural safety. Bec has experienced first hand the power of creativity and expressive therapy in all forms of social services. With training in music, art and play therapy techniques, she is skilled at intertwining therapeutic tools into the process of song-writing and creating music.
Bec has an undergraduate degree in Performing Arts from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Western Australia, and has achieved multiple commendations for both her work as an artist and in the community service space. Her most recent acknowledgments in the community sector include presenting at the WA Association for Mental Health [WAAMH] 2022 conference, and selected to speak on the Youth Panel for the Western Australia Council of Social Services [WACOSS] 2023 conference. For music, she was awarded WAM’s Best Live Electronic Act 2021, and Best Electronic Song 2022 for PROJECT BEXX. Other notable achievements include being selected for Perth Festival 2024 as the lead facilitator in their Music Production program ‘Plugged In’, and a facilitator for the 2024 WA New Noise program, running music production workshops at schools across the state. Bec is also the Operations and Programme Coordinator for the WA’s GirlsRock! Program; an initiative that runs across the USA, Australia and New Zealand engaging young people in week long camps exploring music, mental health and identity.
Bec is a multi-disciplinary powerhouse, combining her social and youth work training with her advanced skills in music making, to create a uniquely powerful and healing service for any individual from any background who has an interest in music.
Hannah Smillie is a Musician, Artist, Teacher and Youth Mentor with a passion for working with children, neuro-divergent advocacy, mental health and the importance of self-expression. Hannah has been heavily involved in the WA music industry for over 10 years, with a multitude of musical legacies and contributions to projects across many different areas of the industry. She is affluent in almost every instrument, teaching students guitar, bass, drums, ukelele, voice and more. Hannah has been teaching music to youth for the last 11 years, working in permanent teaching positions in local schools, managing operations and programs at numerous music schools in both Bunbury and Perth, and teaching privately. She is highly skilled at working with children to develop their musical abilities, and is passionate about a therapeutic approach to working with children. Her framework of practice is based heavily on empowering her students to lead each session with what they want to work on that day, and prioritises creating a safe, supportive and nurturing space for young people to explore their passions.
Hannah’s tireless work and advanced musical ability has led to her pioneering rock band programs at several schools, resulting in her student rock bands winning multiple performing arts awards over the last 4 years. Hannah is also the Lead Mentor for WA’s GirlsRock! Program, and has been assisting facilitation of the camps for the last 4 years in Perth Metro, recently taking the initiative regionally with a camp in Kalgoorlie in 2022 and Geraldton in 2023.
Hannah is also heavily involved in the WA live and original music industry, as a multi-instrumentalist member of musical projects such as The Psychotic Reactions, SWEAT and The Sleep Police. Hannah is passionate about supporting local live music and contributing to the music community, and this hard work is identifiable in the 10,000+ of streams on her musical projects across Spotify, WAM Song of the Year nominations, and innumerable affirmations from all the musicians who have worked with or alongside Hannah in creative projects.
THE POWER OF EXPRESSION
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THE POWER OF EXPRESSION ✦
WHAT DOES A SESSION LOOK LIKE?
SESSION LENGTHS:
1 hour / 1.5 hours / 2 hours
WHERE:
Individual sessions are generally taught out of the Project Expression music studio in Bayswater, but we also have a mobile studio setup so can take the lesson to the individual. Project Expression is also able to tour the mobile studio out in to the community, offering workshops at community centres, libraries and schools.
WHAT WE WILL COVER:
Each session is catered to the individual and what they want to learn and achieve. Some examples of things covered in lessons are: electronic music production, songwriting and lyrics, learning an instrument, being in a band & techniques for performing live. We also work on developing foundational skills in a fun and safe environment that can be transferrable to many aspects of life such as breathing and relaxation techniques, stage presence and confidence activities, with an overall improvement in comfortability and pride of oneself & their creative abilities.
The overarching goal of the program is for the individual to gain confidence and skills in whatever medium of music they are pursuing, as well as providing a therapeutic foundation using music as a medium for building self-esteem, communication skills, problem solving and emotional regulation.
MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE
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MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE ✦
