Sheila Joynes's Musical Diary

It's Incredibow!

2009-07-08T16:21:00.002+01:00

Well, yes, it is - even if it is a stupid name!

I first saw one of these at a Chandos rehearsal. The lady who owned it was delighted with it and I was interested because I have arthritis in my thumbs and it weighs half what my normal bow weighs.

So I found this place, Dance of Delight, on the net, contacted them and they agreed to order one for me to try. They offer a full refund if you decide to return it within 60 days.

The day after I acquired this bow, I emailed them to say "Cash the cheque, there's no way I'm sending this back!"

It is light - it's made from carbon fibre. It's comfortable to hold, the sound is very clear, my hand aches less, my shoulder aches less and when I played a selection of four bows to my family, they all preferred the sound this one made. The tension is always the same - great for kids who never remember to undo their bows when they've finished playing! And at a quarter of the cost of a reasonable bottom-end-of-the-market cello bow, it's a great option for those on a tight budget.

I didn't expect to like playing with a bow not made from wood and horse-hair. I've been converted. Yes, I might well use a conventional bow as well and will certainly carry one with me, but as far as I can see, this will be my bow of choice.

I wonder when they'll start making double basses out of carbon fibre so that I can carry it myself...

Jack and Jill Update 2

2009-07-06T16:43:00.003+01:00

"It is an infringement of Copyright to copy by hand or on blackboard, to print or duplicate, by any process whatever or to make lantern slides of any portion of Words or Music of this Copyright Song without written permission of the Publishers. Legal action will be taken against offenders."

I have it! It arrived this morning by pdf.

I managed to track down the publishers, who still exist in Sydney, got their permission by email, sent that to the Australian Library and, for the princely sum of $13.95, they sent me a copy.

Unfortunately, as you see above, fascinating in itself, it is very much bound up in copyright law, so I have now removed the words from the February 11th blog.

So - my heartfelt thanks to Carol in Liverpool for picking it up and pointing me in the right direction, J. Albert & son, the publishers, for granting permission, The Australian National Library for tracking it down and sending it to me and, most of all, thanks to the wonderful Internet, without which none of this would have been possible.

PS - I haven't told my mother yet - a surprise to come!

On the Straight and Narrow

2009-06-28T20:17:00.004+01:00

I'm not a violinist. Though I did pass Grade 5 in 1968, it took me another three years to reach grade 6 in 1971, a month after I started cello lessons. One year later I passed Grade 6 cello and, realising that doing both was not an option, there was no contest which to abandon.
So teaching violin, which I do at New College Worcester is hard for me. I have three violin pupils there, two had already started learning with the previous teacher, and a 6th form student who started learning only a few months ago. Demonstrating how to use the bow is very difficult with students who are unable to see what I am doing or watch themselves in a mirror. There has to be a certain amount of grabbing their elbows and physically pulling them into the right positions, though in this age of political correctness, a necessarily limited amount.

Just after I started teaching there, I talked to Stephen and one of my colleagues about the problem of keeping the bow at 90 degrees to the strings - I wanted a means of holding the bow in position while the pupil was playing and between us we came up with an ingenious concoction made of two chopsticks stuck to a chopstick rest, shaped to the belly of the violin and attached to the violin by devious means of a smearing of blu-tack. Young pupil K.C. was delighted with his "snake fangs" and they could be positioned either at the bridge or at the end of the fingerboard to stop the bow from sliding up or down.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a device properly thought out, designed, planned and manufactured for the job. It isn't made from chopsticks - and it simultaneously stops the bow sliding up on to the bridge OR down on to the fingerboard. The college ordered two for me and this week they arrived.

The BOWZO was a huge success with both of my blind lads - K.C. asked if this was cheating and an enormous smile spread on C.S.G's face instantly. "I don't mind the neighbours hearing me practising now!" he said. I know how he feels - even I sound quite good!

I wrote to the people who make the Bowzo and asked if they make one for cello too as my partially sighted cellist has the same problem. They rang me back straight away to talk about it and have been in touch several times since. They hadn't realised what a help to partially sighted and blind students this would be and are delighted to be able to help us. The college has now put them in touch with the music advisor at RNIB. Who knows where this may lead...

Jack and Jill Update

2009-06-28T18:32:00.002+01:00

I have now had an email from the Australian Library to say that the music is still in copyright and I need permission from the publishers before they can send me a copy! Fortunately, J. Albert & sons of Sydney seems to still be in business 67 years after it was published - so I have now written to them for help.

The email is still wonderful but red tape, I could do without!

The Wonders of the Internet

2009-06-02T21:22:00.003+01:00

If you haven't read the next article, I suggest you might want to do that before reading this one!

This morning (Tuesday 2nd June) I had an email from a lady called Carol from Liverpool, who had found my website during HER search for this wonderful lullabye. Her mother used to sing it to Carol's children, though she remembers the words slightly differently.

An hour later, she sent another email - she had found that the Australian National Library had it listed and would supply copies.

WOW!

Needless to say it is now on order!

The writers were Bernard Barry and Noel Jackson and the copyright date was 1942. I had tried Googling for this song but had put the first line in my search. Now I discover that if you put the "Jack and Jill" line it comes up with a link to Australia!

So thank you Carol, for finding my blog, thank you Carol for finding the link, and thank you Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the means by which all this could happen!

Now knowing who owns the words and music, of course if there is any objection, I will remove them from this site... but I rather hope that if this is noticed, the author will be tickled pink to know how much they are still loved by at least 8 people in the world that I know of!

Lullabies

2009-02-11T13:46:00.004Z

Do people still sing lullabies to their babies?

When I was young (yep, that's me and my Mum in 1956) my mother sang to me - the lullabye which is still with me is a hauntingly beautiful litlle song. She heard it on the radio and it made such an impression on her that she never forgot it. I've never met anyone outside our family who has heard it and I've searched the internet for it, in vain.

So if anybody out there knows who wrote this, please let me know. Obviously it is not really mine to publish but I feel it should be preserved for posterity. So here are the words. If this story finds out for me the original writer, of course, I'll remove this or give whatever credit is required.

"When mother said
(snipped for copyright reasons - please see article above)
But now I think it's time to say goodnight!"

My memory is that the last word was always whispered and followed with a gentle kiss. I must remember to tell her that! She is 84 now.

You may know that, although born in England, my childhood was spent in Scotland and when I had my two girls, most of the lullabies I knew were ones I learned in the music classroom at school. (Yes, children used to sing in school in those days!) Dream Angus was a favourite which Helen made me record for her to take with her when she left home! (sniff - so sweet!), I was troubled to find that the only English Lullaby I could think of was Rock-a-Bye Baby - which I find horrific. "Down will come baby, cradle and all" - I wouldn't sing that to next door's cat!!

Maybe we should have a Lullabye-writing competition to engender a revival of English bed-time melodies.

Elgar Asylum Music

2009-02-04T22:10:00.005Z

In the dim and distant days of 1992, when the PC was yet to become the popular established, all-singing, all-dancing necessity that it now seems to be, I had an Atari equipped with Notator, a music software package which was brilliant. I much preferred it to Sibelius and would use it now if I could. I was a wiz on it - well ahead of my contemporary musicians - producing printed music at home.

At that time a small band called "the Little Orchestra of Worcester" existed; a few violins, a couple of violas, two cellos, one bass and the occasional invited wind player to allow us to do a bit of Mozart. It was a friendly group led by the maker of my cello, L.Karl Hepplewhite and conducted by lawyer, John Haden.

The Chairman, fellow cellist, Jim Bennett, was curator at Elgar's Birthplace in Broadheath. Through him we were invited to perform at Powick Asylum, where Elgar conducted the staff band for a few years from 1877, for the conference of the Association of Psychiatrists. Jim asked me to use my wizardry to arrange a couple of Elgar's original Polkas, Quadrilles etc for our orchestra to play. It all seemed very appropriate and was even reported on by John Warburton on BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester at the time!

Afterwards, Jim suggested that, as these works by the young Elgar only existed in the form of the part-books, I might like to put them together as a full score for the first time ever. So began a huge undertaking, working from his original hand-written parts mainly at his desk in the Birthplace or in Jim's "Rose Cottage", next door,
but occasionally taking the books home to work on, matching up discrepancies, producing full scores of L'Assomoir, Nelly, Maud, La Blonde, La Blumine, Die Junge Kokette etc etc.

Elgar himself was paid one shilling and sixpence for every arrangement of a popular song he did, and six shillings for each orignal composition. I was paid a nominal sum for my work, was told it would be published with due reference to my hard work and had to sign away any rights to my copyright in the edition in exchange. I would have done it for the love of Elgar anyway - it was a privilege and honour to be able to handle books written by the great man himself and sit at his desk to do it. Strange to relate that all the time I was working on this music, I was absolutely frozen - even in high summer and even in my own home!

A few weeks ago I had an email inviting me to play at a concert to mark the first performance of the new Complete Edition of Elgar's Asylum Music. I've just looked it up and find that it was published in August 2008 -
The Elgar Society Edition

I hope the editor concerned, Andrew Lyle, was informed that my scores already existed. I hope he used them and maybe gave me some credit for all my hard work in his editorial. Or did he, like me, have to start from scratch with the part-books spread about him, with no knowledge that somebody else had beaten him to it by 17 years?

Braille

2009-01-31T10:43:00.002Z

As I may have mentioned, since September I have been teaching at New College Worcester , which is a residential school for blind and partially sighted children. I have one cello pupil, three violinists and a lot of pianists ranging from absolute beginners to Grade 8 level. Some of the students have some sight and can read print if it's large enough, some learn by repetition, one or two can read music Braille.

This week I had MY first lesson in Braille. It's fascinating and very complicated!
I need to learn to read Braille text before I can branch out and learn Music Braille (pictured here), through which I hope to be able to help the students to read for themselves, rather than having to rely on a teacher feeding the music to them.

Teaching these young people has made a huge impact on me in so many ways. My whole attitude to teaching has become more tolerant and patient. I have always tried to teach each individual according to his or her abilities but this experience has underlined the fact that we don't all learn in the same way, let alone at the same rate. I am amazed at the capacity they have for memorising as they learn, and the joy and satisfaction for me of being a part of their "support team" makes up for the exhaustion at the end of a long day with them!

Tingle Bells

2008-12-18T07:39:00.003Z

A friend asked in her blog what makes you feel that the Christmas tingle has begun.

Christmas starts for me when I stop rehearsing Christmas Carols and start to perform them - basically carol services and concerts for my schools. This year has been tricky because I've had a really bad chest infection and couldn't sing along.

My Female Voices choir at Prince Henry's really suffered - they coped valiantly, but normally I sing whatever part needs help as we go along and another member of staff sings 2nd soprano - she lost her voice too! Bless them, the girls responded by turning out in huge numbers and singing their socks off. This was my first term in charge - we performed Reger's "The Virgin's Slumber Song" - 3 part SSA version - and Elgar "The Snow" with two ever-so-talented 6th form violinists, Sam Carroll and Judith Richardson, playing the obbligato parts.

Today I should be rehearsing with my string quartet at New College, Worcester (college for blind and partially sighted) ready for their end of term concert tomorrow but I'm just not well enough to go and wouldn't want to risk giving them my germs.

What else makes me feel Christmassy?

Decent costume drama on the telly, Dickens or suchlike. Little Dorrit did quite nicely for me this year, though I have been watching it tucked up on the settee at four in the morning between coughing fits!

Buying Radio Times - I never bother the rest of the year!

Knowing that there will be post EVERY day and lots of it. I send far too many cards (I always use one of my own photos and have them printed - this is the pic this year) but for many of the people on my list it's the only contact I still have with them. If I were to cut down, it would be the people I see frequently I would chop off the list, not the ones from the dim and distant past.

Presents - in the weeks before Christmas I buy presents with particular people in mind. Then I put them in one place - on the bed in the spare room, this year. Christmas arrives for me the day I sort them out, probably change some of them around, and do the wrapping and labelling.

We are planning to spend some time filming the Level/Grade 4 theory modules over the Christmas holiday - if and when I get my voice back!! We have just bought a new widescreen, high definition camcorder for the job and the initial "footage" has been stunning. (Can you have "footage" when it saves to a hard drive??) Have a look at the Christmas message we shot outside Worcester Cathedral - you can get there from my home page.

So here's wishing you a very Happy Christmas with lots of tingle factor and a healthy 2009 - CHEERS!!

Endangered Species?

2008-10-30T22:02:00.003Z

Maybe not, so long as their are people like this around!

This is 14 year-old Lois, one of my Double Bass pupils - an absolutely delightful young lady. She hopes to have a career in music, possibly as a teacher. She already plays in the County Youth Orchestra and the County Jazz Band as well as supporting everything musical at school.

At the moment she has an instrument hired from the County Music Service but she's aware that when she leaves school, she will need to have her own instrument and it needs to be one good enough to last her through at least until she is earning a wage - so, for the last year or more, she has been quietly fund-raising to buy her own double bass.

A few weeks ago I asked her how much she had raised so far.

"Nearly £2000."
"Wow, how on earth have you done that?"
"Making cakes"

That's a lot of cakes!

Tonight, she put on a Pudding Evening which Stephen and I thoroughly enjoyed. We were treated to SEVEN different desserts, beautifully prepared and presented and served in the dining room of her Grandparents' house. Little sister helped serving drinks, Mum helped in the kitchen (and provided the ingredients!) and little brother, aged 2, kept us all entertained!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

I take my hat off to this family. Lois has so much enthusiasm and determination and is backed up not only by her entire family, but the whole of her village who keep finding more ideas for her and ways to support her efforts.

Congratulations, Lois!

Mint Chocolate Truffles

Two items of news

2008-10-25T09:03:00.003+01:00

The first is about our dear friend, Judith Taylor, fellow blogger of "Not Dead Yet" who this week has been named as a Runner-Up in the Digital Unite Silver Surfer Awards.
We spent a happy day with her in Portcullis House in London this week where she received a certificate and met her MP, Peter Lilley.

The second piece of news is that I have finally decided to put some effort into a cause which has bugged me for years...children not having time to be children because they have hours of homework to do every night of the week.

In my view, if a child, or a teenager, is working hard in school from 9am till 4pm - that's enough! They should go home, relax, play the piano, go to sports training, visit granny, join Guides or Scouts, belong to a Youth Club - or (Heaven forbid!) sit in front of the telly or computer for a bit! Kids these days are SO stressed and it starts at a ridiculously young age.

So I have started a PETITION TO No.10 - if you click this link, it will take you to the page where you can sign it. Please do! And spread the word.

I think I've arrived!!

2008-10-04T12:07:00.002+01:00

Yesterday in Evesham school... lunchtime - long-haired, dyed blonde
lad with guitar in hand looking for a room to "practise" in.
"You can use mine - I'm about to take choir practice so I don't need
it for 40 minutes."
"Cool, miss".

End of lunchtime - out of my room (about 8ft by 10ft and with full
drumkit in it) come three other equally colourful lads carrying amps,
drumsticks etc and one young girl, name of Paris, plum-coloured hair,
several chunky belts and chains (non uniform "jeans for genes" day) -
you get the picture.

I chatted with them for a bit

then Paris said "This is my piano teacher - she's awesome!"

Lad behind her - "Yeah - she's a Dude!"

Praise indeed!

Goodbye Gab and Rab ....Hello Naomi

2008-08-26T18:07:00.003+01:00

August 08

I put my lovely harp up for sale recently. Much as I loved Gabriel, I hadn't played him since Christmas and felt it was a waste to have such a wonderful instrument sitting there doing nothing.

I remember the occasion which made me want to learn. I was probably around 6 years old, sitting with my sister in front of a tiny black and white television waiting for "Andy Pandy" or "Bill and Ben" to come on "Watch with Mother". (What a silly title - "Mother's One Chance Each Day For Ten Minutes' Peace", more likely! Suffice to say, my mother was in the kitchen at the time!)

In those dim and distant days, some of you may remember the odd occasion when there would be a break in the broadcast and a sign would come up saying "Normal Service will be Resumed as Soon as Possible" and an alternative short film, usually of some potter 'throwing' a vase, would be shown. This happened that day and the music played with it was a revelation to me. I LOVED it. I remember running out to my mother saying, "Mummy, what's this instrument, I want to learn to play it!"

Many, many years later the opportunity to learn came up. I think I was about 40 at the time. The ambition was to make it my Eighth Grade Eight - and I did eventually reach the stage of working on Grade 7 pieces.

When I bought Gabriel, I threw a Harp-Warming Party for friends etc to meet him and one of the guests brought me a present of a CD of some harp music. On it was the piece I had heard as a child. Instant recognition!!

Hasselmans "La Source" - it's beautiful!! I still love it and I would still love to play it - I did buy the music and try - but if I'm honest, my arms are too short and my bust is too big for harp-playing! I am not very tall and, having had several lots of major surgery, not strong enough to manhandle it on my own. Then there's the problem with my right shoulder, which was also operated on, signalling the end of my harp progress. I carried on for a few years but never managed to climb back to the standard I used to be at.

While I was in France, a lady came to meet Gabriel and fell in love. Jean has been learning for 9 months and has got to Grade 4 already. She's a similar age to me and teaches piano privately. I think they will be very happy together!

So, now I don't need a car capable of having a harp in the back and the money from the sale has allowed me to consider a change. So meet "Naomi"
- she's only two weeks old but I'm very pleased with her. She's not big enough for a harp but she does have a roomy boot with a flat-bed which will allow me to push Billy the Double Bass up on his trolley and roll him in on without needing any help.

July Trip

2008-06-26T21:58:00.002+01:00

It's that time of year - school trips!

Last year was Paris with Pershore High School, the year before, Holland, also with PHS.

This year it's the turn of PHHS - no, not a typing error! Prince Henry's High School which is in Evesham. I have been teaching cello and bass there for many years. Last year a new Head of Music, Phill Bullas, was appointed and he has increased my hours there to include piano and theory classes and accompanying the choir. He has generated such enthusiasm in a short space of time and has planned a tour of Southern France in July. I will be accompanying the choir and playing double bass in Avignon, Arles, Pont du Gard etc. I'm hoping, probably foolishly, for cool weather. The last time I was in the South of France I lasted two days before the heat rash, upset stomach and problems coping with bright sunlight drove us further north.

This term has been manic - I have a day off planned on July 6th
- the first since May! Chandos Symphony Orchestra performed Verdi Requiem very successfully in Symphony Hall at the start of June. Weekly rehearsals and a concert with PHHS, auditions for County Youth Orchestra, pupils' normal lessons and Associated Board Exams, Stephen's 60th birthday party... that's his daughter, Claire, watching him open the champagne.

When I get back from France we have a week's holiday booked. I have been (in my spare time!) researching Stephen's family history and found that many of them came from Hastings and Rye. So I have booked B&B in a 16th century farmhouse in between the two and we plan to go searching for register offices, graves, and addresses where we know they lived in that area. I can hardly wait!

Meanwhile, Grade 3 theory modules are now all out there ready for purchase and I have the Grade 4 planning in mind. It's a busy life!

Spring Thoughts

2008-04-23T21:54:00.005+01:00

It's been a while since I last updated my diary. I wasn't well over the Easter holiday, which was all over the place because Worcestershire schools were on holiday over Easter but Gloucestershire ones waited until those had gone back and THEN they broke up!

We have now completed making all the Level 3 videos and are just in the process of editing the bits and pieces necessary for the last one of the four to go on sale.

It was a good thing we did the filming before Easter. On Good Friday I sang with the Holgate Ensemble, conducted by David Barclay, in Stainer's Crucifixion in St Michael's Church, Tenbury Wells. It was freezing cold in there - no heating inside the church, snowing outside and windy both inside and out! In the middle of the last hymn, I started to cough and finished up having an asthma attack - which went on to become a bad chest infection and, as is usual with me in those circumstances, I lost my voice for about three weeks!

The week after Easter we went to London to see the Tutankhamun Exhibition, which was very interesting. We also visited the wonderful GLOBE THEATRE, worthy of a mention as I am writing this on 23rd April (the Bard's Birthday!)

and

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL where I found myself getting very upset. It costs £10 to get in to the building. There were two of us. If we had gone to Westminster Abbey as well, that would have been a total of £40. I am a member of the Church of England. I don't mind supporting .... but £40?? What annoyed me most was that they actually had the tills INSIDE the church. John 2:13-17 and Matthew 21:12, 13 came to mind. A den of thieves indeed. I was apalled. I'm sure if I had said I just wanted to pray, they'd have let me into some little quiet corner for the purpose and to salve their consciences. That would not have been enough.

I wanted to see what Wren had done for the Glory of God. I wanted to have a look at the organ. I wanted to see where my late friend Bishop Kenneth Woollcombe used to work and preach. I would even happily have paid a fee to be allowed to take photographs - none permitted.

Our heritage. Our heroes' graves. God's house.

Should we be forced to pay? I don't believe we should.

We did!

Then I sat in the nave and cried.

Anyway - back to music, which is what I should be writing about!

I've just had a happy week playing for the wonderful Great Witley Operatics Society in Trial by Jury and The Sorceror.

Next month, CHANDOS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA starts rehearsals for Verdi Requiem, to be staged at SYMPHONY HALL, Birmingham on Sunday 8th June.

There are a lot of notes in the cello part - better go and do some more practice!

January brings the snow...and the rain...

2008-01-21T14:35:00.001Z

January - Back to routine after the Christmas holidays and "The Bug" - nasty one, that!!

Dates are piling up in my diary - well, they would have been! But my diary is contained in my Palm Tungsten E2, which revolutionised my life when Stephen bought it for me two years ago. In recent months it had begun to have a high pitched scream (not the best thing when you are trying to teach music!) and over the holiday it gave up the ghost altogether.

Now I had a problem. It was all backed up on my computer, but I no longer had a dairy to take with me around the schools.

You see it isn't just a diary and an MP3 player. Under each person's name, address date of birth etc, there is a space for making a note. I always use this to write down everything I have covered in each lesson. This clever little device also has "Documents to Go" which allows me to use Excel spreadsheets and Word documents - so I have my registers and timetables for each school handy at all times too.

Needless to say I was going to be pretty lost without it!

Stephen to the rescue! His Palm Treo mobile phone also does all of the above AND is a camera. It is his pride and joy - he used to work for the people who invented Bluetooth and he just loves gadgets and gismos.

But he was prepared to make the umltimate sacrifice and lend it to me until I could get a replacement. Well, of course, I have been bitten by the Treo bug and have ordered one of my own - in RED er... "cranberry" officially! ...as opposed to Blackberry I suppose!

This means I won't have to carry a separate phone, camera and electronic diary! Wonderful stuff. I like gadgets and gismos too!

Dates for YOUR diary!!

Saturday January 26th all day at Malvern College is the
Chandos Young Musician Competition. This link takes you to the timetable for the day.

Sunday January 27th Chandos String Workshop. Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Variations on Dives and Lazarus.

For my next trick...

2007-12-02T21:40:00.000Z

As well as having music theory lessons for sale on the internet, we now have some sheet music for sale from my shop!

"The Old Sea Dog" - a piece I wrote (for my boyfriend at the time) when I was about 18, incorporates lots of sea-shanty type melodies with original material.

It was published in 1996 in "Bass is Best!" book 2 without my permission and without my knowledge. For the last few years it has been on the Associated Board syllabus for Grade 3, presumably helping sales of the book along nicely but I haven't ever had a penny from the publishers.

So now you can buy it direct from my shop instead for a fraction of the price - legally!

Also available is an arrangement of Albinoni's Adagio for piano solo. This was arranged for one of my pupils, who, although he would have difficulty coping with the simplest of pieces, given something which captured his interest, would gobble it up in a couple of lessons. He learned Beethoven Moonlight Sonata first movement from memory, yet would have had difficulty passing Grade 1! This was the next piece I gave him after the Beethoven.

To find these in my shop, click here

For Sale

2007-11-15T17:19:00.000Z

A couple of smaller size cellos have come up for sale in the past few weeks. If you are interested in them, please send me an email from this website. See the "for sale" page click here

1/2 size cello, Korean, very good condition and good tone, with bow and soft case,

£350

3/4 size cello Stentor student model, good condition, with bow and soft case

£280

Level Three Begins

2007-11-09T21:02:00.000Z

If you have been waiting for the next in my series of Theory videos, many apologies for the delay.

The good news is that we have now started filming the next set of modules - Level 3 Module 1 is now finished and being edited. There will be three more modules for Level 3 and we hope to get on with those very soon.

Moving house has certainly been an interruption - but it has also been a blessing in that it has given us the opportunity to make the videos in my music room. So it's a change of scene for all of us!

CHANDOS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

This weekend Chandos provides an evening of English music. Walton Portsmouth Point - exciting and boisterous, not to mention very tricky rhythmically; Britten Violin Concerto and Elgar's First Symphony.

For a snippet of our rehearsal, see here;

CHANDOS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL

Sunday 11th November 7.45pm in Malvern's Forum Theatre.

Oh wad some power the Giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!

2007-09-21T21:07:00.000+01:00

Sometimes the kids I teach just take the wind out of my sails.

I was working with a young girl last week who had just started at the school. It was her first lesson with me, she didn't know her way round the school or where she should be next and she spent most of the lesson saying negative things like "I'm not very good at this" or "I won't be able to play that".

At the end of her lesson, one of my older pupils came in. I turned to her and asked her to reassure the little one that I am not in the habit of eating my pupils.

"No" she said, "you...just...well...you sort of... fluff them up!"

Wow!!

New Term Begins

2007-09-04T17:12:00.000+01:00

It's September.

Putting the puzzle of which school, when, for how long, together, is always like trying to do a jigsaw without a picture to go by and then finding you have either too few, or too many, pieces!

This year - it's too many! Several of my schools want me for more time than last year (or want me to change day - or haven't got a room for me on the day I CAN get there!) AND I have a waiting list for private teaching. In some ways it's a nice position to be in (especially having just moved and taken on a bigger mortgage!) but it can also be a bit frustrating.

This coming weekend Sunday September 9th at 7.45pm This is an unusual time for CHANDOS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA to have a concert. The more usual May one was postponed till now so that our resident conductor, Michael Lloyd could be with us.

The programme - Elgar Overture "In the South", Rachmaninov 3rd Symphony and a querky piece for Marimba and orchestra by Keiko ABE, which is spectacular to watch as well as to listen to. The soloist, Chandos Young Musician of the year 2006, Yin-Shan Hsieh (known to us as Eva) is so tiny that it's hard to believe the amount of sound she can produce from the instrument. There are moments of violent aggression and yet moments of extreme beauty and total control of a pianissimo sound.

It should be an interesting variety of music on offer!

Settling In

2007-08-07T10:19:00.000+01:00

It's been a while - sorry! We eventually moved house on 21st June. We had no internet until nearly the end of July so I'm still trying to catch up!

First of all, these were the ABRSM exam results for the summer term. Congratulations to;

David Pollard Theory 2 Merit

David Pollard Piano 1 Merit
Louisa Davis Cello 1 Pass
Andrew Hemming Piano 2 Distinction
Amy Surman Piano 2 Pass
Robert Ellis D.Bass 3 Distinction
Catherine Parkinson Singing 4 Pass

My new house is making a huge difference to my life and my teaching. I no longer have to worry about noise disturbing neighbours so I have been able to play whenever I like, as loud as I want, for as long as I feel like it. Pupils can make as much noise (nice or nasty!) as they can manage... and all my instruments, hi-fi and CDs are in one place. Billy the Bass no longer hides in a wardrobe, Rufus the Cello has come out from under the stairs, Mickey Keyboard isn't in the loft in a box and Gabriel the harp isn't lurking in the kitchen!!

What's more, my huge collection of sheet music (catalogued, labelled and boxed in instrument order) is easily accessible in my study, also on the ground floor. Stephen redecorated the room and put up strong shelving to support the weight of it all.

The next task, now that we have the house and garden fairly organised, is to get back to making those theory modules. I have begun planning out the Grade 3 modules and we hope to get those out there for you within a couple of weeks, speedily followed by Grade 4 and 5.

It has been a year now since we made our first sale. Since then we have had customers in UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Poland and Brazil!!

But we haven't made a fortune, so if you are one of our customers, please don't be tempted to copy our videos and pass them on. Tell your musical friends what good value they are and encourage them to buy their own!

It's never too late to start...

2007-04-15T22:07:00.000+01:00

My ABRSM exam results came in last week. Congratulations to; -

Amy Surman Grade 2 Theory Merit
Harry Hibell Grade 6 Cello Merit
Jill Crozier Grade 5 Cello Pass

All of the above are special people.

Amy is 11 and working for Grade 5 cello and Grade 2 piano. She is a real star. She gets involved in anything musical suggested to her and loves it all. We went to the BENSLOW TRUST recently to hire a really nice full-size cello for her.

Harry also has a Benslow Trust cello. He is now in the 6th form at the Royal Grammar in Worcester and is working very hard in all respects. He nearly gave me heart failure over this exam but in the end he EVEN passed his scales! Well done, Harry!

And Jill - well, she took up the cello in her fifties and was determined to get her Grade 5 before she reached 60. She did it too!! I can't tell you how pleased I am for her and how thrilled she is at this achievement.

It's such a huge pleasure for me to teach people who obviously enjoy their music so much and for whom it is such an enriching experience in their lives no matter what their ages.

All Change!

2007-04-04T14:13:00.000+01:00

Someone once said "A week is a long time in politics" - it is in househunting too!

The Drakes Broughton house fell through.

I'm moving to Worcester!! It's a detached house so never again shall I upset neighbours with my music nor shall I have to put up with drum and bass through the bedroom wall. AND the new house is within walking distance of my parents, who are now in their 80s.

So... if you are here looking for the next level theory videos, which we were supposed to be making over the Easter Holiday, I'm afraid we haven't done them yet - too busy with the bubble wrap packing all the breakables. We'll probably move around mid-May so if I don't get things done over the Easter Holiday, I shall be back at work and not have time to do anything!

We DO intend to get cracking with the next level of videos as soon as possible and maybe to complete levels 1 to 5 by the end of the summer. Thank you for your patience.

Miracles Do Happen

2007-03-25T06:44:00.000+01:00

Re-reading the previous post, yes, I have been a bit down!

BUT!

Yesterday I found a new home to move to in Drakes Broughton. I lived in that village for 16 years before I moved to Pershore, so I know I can live there comfortably. Although I would have preferred to stay in Pershore itself, the prices of anything from which I could run my teaching practice, were just too high for me.

The new house is a semi-detached whereas as this one is mid-terraced. The lounge, which I will use as my teaching room, is on the outside (no, NOT in the garden!) with an integral garage providing a buffer for sound between me and my neighbours.

The story of finding this house is an interesting one!

When we viewed a house in Drakes Broughton last Friday we
also saw that another, same basic design, was up for sale a few doors
down the road. We went to the estate agents mentioned on the board, who
swore they knew nothing about it!

The woman I spoke to assured me she was the administrator and if they
had a house in Drakes Broughton for sale then SHE would know about it. However, she
sent a minion round to look, who found their board but with the
Worcester Branch number on it. He phoned here rather apologetically
leaving a message to say he would look into it and send me details of the house.

A week passed and nothing came.

On Friday 23rd March, we went into the agents' again and I spoke to the same lady.
She still knew nothing about it! So she made a couple of calls to the
Worcester office and to the person who deals with rentals in case
there was some mistake. Still they knew nothing about it!

She suggested we should go and knock on the door of the house and ask
them! I said I would knock on the door of the house and tell them to
change estate agent - she replied "It's not good, is it?"

So we went round there. Nobody in but we put a note through the door asking them to ring us. A neighbour told us the owner was already furious with the agents for not getting her advert in the paper or the details of the house ready. Lisa, the owner, rang me at about 6pm and I told her what the agent had said to us. We arranged for us to view next day.

It was beautiful!

Then we went back this afternoon with daughter, Marianne in tow. She approved. I offered Lisa her price and she looked as if she was about to cry - so I burst into tears instead!

And we had a cuddle and we agreed. And it's lovely!!

So do we think Lisa should have to pay the agents' fee? No, we don't but I
bet she will end up having to because we saw their board outside. No
justice. If you live in this area and are thinking of selling - don't have a red "for sale" sign put outside your house, would be my advice! In fact, try selling on the internet first!

I thought tonight I would sleep better...but I was up writing this diary entry at 4.45am!!

Merrie England rehearsal today - hope I can keep my eyes open!