Solfa for ABRSM Aural Tests 4B, 5B

Aural tests at Grades 4 and 5 of ABRSM Grade Exams require that the pupil sing from score. Although at both these grades the notes will be in free time, singing at sight, even without the added complication of rhythm, is a skill that takes time to develop. Time is very much at a premium in instrumental lessons, so this test is often poorly-prepared. No doubt, the examining board hopes to encourage sight-singing from the earliest grades, even though it is not required in Grade 1-3 exams. However, if pupils come to the Grade 4 exam without previous experience, Test 4B is problematic.

A crash course in basic solfa can certainly help pupils, but the pitch-range required at Grade 4 does not correlate with the starting points of the more common solfa-for-beginners resources in this country. These start with the falling minor third, “so-mi”, next adding “la”, a tone up from “so”. Next comes “do-re-mi”, before adding the lower “ti” and “la” required by the Grade 4 test. This sequence is a developmental one, based on the singing of young children in British and North American cultures. Establishments which focus on solfa training for young children usually work on the premise that the youngsters will master the basics before they begin instrumental instruction.

The youngster preparing to take Grade 4 without a foundation in solfa-singing needs a different approach. Some years ago, I published several printed and pdf resources for beginner instrumentalists, encouraging them to sing, as well as play, the first five notes of a major scale Another resource “An Introduction to Solfa for Instrumentalists, Part 1” covered a major scale and the tonic chord. These were more suited to support self-help by the instrumentalist but they did not cover the precise requirements of the Grade 4 and Grade 5 aural tests. The need for instrumentalists to master these has now been made more pressing by the introduction of more advanced sight-singing tests at Grades 6-8, so I have prepared two resources tailor-made to the exam requirements. They can be found on the Resources for Instrumental Teachers page of www.fullpitcher.co.uk. The Grade 5 resource follows on from the material covered at Grade 4.

Piano: Absolute Beginners Can Improvise!

To some extent, improvisation is a state of mind. A lot of people feel they could never do it because they have a model in mind that is unattainable. When piano teachers adopt a creative approach to tuition, though, the pupil feels free to explore the simple resources to which they are exposed in the early days of tuition and it is more likely that they will continue to experiment when left to their own devices.

The latest addition to improvisation-based resources on www.fullpitcher.co.uk is an article suggesting simple improvisatory activities for absolute beginners. The important word here is ‘simple’ because, in truth, great music is essentially simple and the same resources can be used by players at different levels of ability and experience, with very different results.

The article quotes the Dalcroze teacher, Laura Campbell, whose book “Sketching at the Keyboard” won the ‘Music Teacher’ Magazine Music Education Award in 1983. That publication and its  follow-up, “Sketches for Improvisation” is full of examples of famous composers building their works from the same simple ideas suggested to the readers. These courses have been followed by ” child piano pupils, amateur adult piano pupils, professional music students and class teachers”. Highly recommended!

So, what I am saying is: don’t dismiss the ideas suggested at the following link because they are accessible to absolute beginners. There are things we can all learn by focusing on the basic building blocks of music from time to time.  :>)

See: Improvisation for Beginner Pianists.

Chalumeau Clarinets and Wider Opportunities

Most clarinet teachers will probably be aware that the clarinet was invented by one, Johann Christian Denner, in or about the year 1700, Denner having got the idea from examining examples of a simple single-reed instrument called a chalumeau. What they may not know is that there is an English company, based in Yorkshire, manufacturing a chalumeau today.

Hanson Music are manufacturing their chalumeau expressly for the Wider Opportunities scheme, through which whole classes are introduced to instrumental music-making. The Hanson Chalumeau project aims to:

1.Promote music making at an early stage and to equip pupils with sound foundations for future music making.

2.Provide an instrument which sounds good, is easy to play, is affordable and kid proof!

The chalumeau on which Denner started work was a single-reed instrument with a compass of nine notes, from the F below Middle C to the G above. It is believed , though, that these simple instruments were available in several keys. The Hanson Chalumeau has a similar range. but  in the key of C. There are no keys to press and the fingering is simple, so pupils can focus on learning the basics and making a beautiful sound, on an instrument that has a long tradition.

Being in the key of C, the Chalumeau combines easily with other instruments in the junior classroom: there are none of the complications of providing for a transposing instrument. It’s a great way to get a true clarinet sound in the junior ensemble without the ‘aggro’ – no broken springs, bent keys, sore thumbs or transposition perplexities! It may also prove attractive to disabled musicians unable to cope with the weight or complexity of the modern clarinet.

See: Hanson Music Chalumeau Project

New Accessible Instrument for Young Music-makers

This year was the first time since it began that I have not attended BETT, the UK’s big educational technology exhibition. I’ve been disappointed with it in recent years and thought, “I doubt I’ll miss anything”. Then, recently, I was sent information about an exciting new musical instrument, intended to enable any child to play music, which made it’s debut at the exhibition:

‘Skoog’ is a squashy cube. Technology within its soft tactile surface is linked to a computer. This converts the way Skoog is touched into musical sounds. The development project came to fruition largely as the result of reseach, led by Professor Nigel Osborne of the University of Edinburgh, in Scottish schools.  Nigel Osborne is also a professional composer, interested in all kinds of creative music-making and in improving access to music for disadvantaged groups.

The website describes the instrument thus:

“An expanding range of musical instrument sounds means that there’s sure to be something for everyone. Give a gentle squeeze on Skoog™ for a smooth swell of brass, or how about a subtle twist for a screeching over-blown flute? And with a different note on each side it’s a piece of cake to create chords and melodies.”

The Skoog has been commercially available from March 2010 and has received widespread interest from the education community.
A new company, Skoogmusic Ltd, has been spun out of the University to commercialise the instrument. See the website, www.skoogmusic.com

Richard Stoltzman & “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”

I had trouble deciphering the name of the publisher on the CD cover materials for the Windows 7 recording of Richard Stolzman playing Debussy’s “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”. Then, I thought to set the default software for opening it to my browser. This enlarged it slightly and I could make out the name of “Navona Records”. I visited their site and was delighted to find that they were offering a “New Year’s Gift”- downloads of the audio and sheet music of the piece and a video of Stoltzman talking about it. I don’t know how long it will be made available but here is the link:

http://www.navonarecords.com/holidaygift.html

Audrey

Recordings to Inspire Amateur Players

Just recently, I was delighted to find that Cramer Music have launched a new publication of  “The Classic Experience”,  for flute, wiith 2 CDs. This book of popular classical pieces now comes with recorded performances and practice tempo piano accompaniments. I do hope that, in the very near future, they will do the same for the clarinet version.

There is such a dearth of recorded wind music that is suitable for less advanced players to tackle for themselves! Yes, I know that there are now CDs to accompany ABRSM graded exam repertoire and various method books but this is a far cry from an expressive soundworld that will inspire pupils to explore music and make it their own, without worrying about what grade it might be. I can tell pupils that professional performers put just as much love and thought into preparing a simple tune as they do with advanced sonatas and concertos but they’re not going to believe me unless they can hear the  for themselves the magic of simple music beautifully rendered. One such moment for me was hearing Nigel Kennedy play at , I think it was, the Brit Awards. We had been treated to some amazing virtuoso performances, when along came Kennedy to play “Danny Boy” – breathtaking!

Flute players are a little better served than other wind players and I attribute this to the inspiration of James Galway. He had the courage to bring the flute ‘to the masses’ and to perform music of all kinds. Even so, my regular scout round the instrumental section HMV, et al, usually results in disappointment, even as regards flute. For clarinettists, there are a few pieces recorded by Emma Johnson and that’s about it! I was thrilled, though, when I installed Windows 7 to find that one of the audio samples was of Richard Stoltzman playing Debussy’s “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”. I don’t know how Microsoft came to select that – perhaps, it’s well-known  ‘on the other side of the pond’. I hadn’t come across it before.

Do you folks out there know of collections of simple music beautifully played on flute or clarinet that should be better known to teachers and pupils? If so, please share!

Singing with Children

Parents who are looking for ideas to develop family singing will find the Sing Up website a positive treasure trove! Sing Up is a Music Manifesto project to get children singing. It is aimed at parents/carers, teachers and music-leaders – anyone who values singing and wants to share this joyful activity with children. There is a special section of the site devoted to families. Here, parents will find information about music for different age groups, singing activities and games. The Song Bank currently contains 300+  songs with lyrics, audio tracks, printable/interactive songsheets and activities.

So, what are you waiting for? Visit http://www.singup.org and have fun!

More Than Notation Software

This year, I think the best new software on the music education scene is PROTÉGÉ , From NOTION Music. This is a program with the emphasis on real music! The range of features and ease of use is quite remarkable for a product in this price range (under £50) and it makes a really useful set of tools available to beginner and expert alike.

PROTÉGÉ  is, first of all, score-writing software. In this respect, it has features one would normally only expect at the top end of the market and shows a real appreciation of composers’ needs. Yet, methods of inputting and playing music are easy to grasp, with the most common requirements conveniently to hand in the initial side-bar setting. Consequently, beginners are not confused by too many options, although these are available to the advanced user. A tutorial is available, designed to enable pupils, including those who have only a minimal aquaintance with standard notation, to learn to use the software when the need arises and they are, consequently, most motivated to do so. It introduces elements of notation, along with the ways in which they are entered into a score, in the order they are most likely to be required.

A big selling point is the set of onboard sounds -instruments played by members of the London Symphony Orchestra and recorded at Abbey Road Studios. For those who don’t have external studio equipment, the package is well worth the purchase price just to have access to sounds of this quality. Dynamics, articulations and performance techniques will play back with the utmost realism.

The NTempo performance feature allows pupils to have real-time control over tempo, including rubato, fermatas and breath marks. This also makes PROTÉGÉ a very useful resource for instrumental teachers, enabling them to provide an accompaniment without distraction from the pupil’s performance.

After my own company’s MIDIgrid and GridPlay software, I consider this to be the most creative music education resource around. Visit www.notionmusic.com to learn more.

Music Technology in the Classroom

Now that the UK Government’s Curriculum Online project has come to an end, most of the easily-located online material giving pointers to good practice in the use of ICT in the classroom, and how to get started, seems to have disappeared with it. Is it considered that the job is done and everyone is now integrating technology with their other resources and confident in its use? If so, it’s a mega case of wishful thinking!

 

When software products were listed on Curriculum Online’s database, for purchase with the electronic learning credits (making them free to schools) every product had to be tagged to make it clear which aspects of the music curriculum it addressed, so some principles of good usage were implicit in the information about resources made available to teachers. I believe that much of the information about types of resources and how they might be used in the curriculum will eventually be made available in other ways but, in the meantime, many teachers look in vain for appropriate support in terms of pedagogy.

 

Last year, in my forum, “Music Technology in Education”, I posted a link to a web-page that provided an excellent starting point for those who, for one reason or another, were just getting to grips with music technology. This link now redirects and I haven’t been able to find the information on the new site, even after receiving directions from the QCA helpline. If I, with all my experience of technology and online resources, am unable to locate the appropriate information then there is little hope for the beginner! I have, however, found the following pages on Becta’s site and recommend them to those who wish to consider the principles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspire Me!   (Select “Music” from the left-hand “Curriculum” menu)

 How To Use ICT in Music
(the link is on Page 3 of the “Inspire Me!” examples)

 See also:
Music Technology and Curriculum Access

Failure, The Price of Success?

How often does the fear of failure prevent us from making the beautiful music of which we are capable? It seems that the more we worry about sounding good the less well we perform. Perhaps we should forget about ‘performing’ (just see what negative associations the dictionary throws up for that term!) and remember that music was mankind’s first means of communication.

I have been brought back, once again, to pondering this question by a young pianist who says she is giving up the piano because she has been told that she doesn’t have the ability to excel as a performer, or even to pass advanced grade exams. My response was that, if she plays the piano just to be better at it than other people, she should give it up and find some channel for competition outside of the arts. However, if she plays because she loves music and wants to share it with other people, she should just get on and do that and her love will communicate itself to others.

We often do not play well in auditions, competitions and exams because we are conscious of being judged. It’s not like taking a driving test or a maths test: communicating through music is much more personal and we find it hard to separate our innermost self from its physical expression. But we will never find joy in sincere music-making unless we have a sense of self-worth that is not dependent on an assessment of our musical skills. In other words, we have to accept that we may fail and make music anyway. Paradoxically, once we embrace the ‘death’ of failure, we can begin to live and grow as musicians.

I find it really hard to put all this into words but I recommended to the disappointed young pianist the book entitled “Effortless Mastery” by jazz musician, Kenny Werner, in which he explores the failure/success paradox and its implications for musicians. Many have found reading this deeply spiritual book a really life-changing experience and Kenny is ever generous in responding to his readers, encouraging them to put its principles into practice. In recent weeks, he has been running a series of tele-seminars on his website, answering readers’ questions and these are available for replay. See Effortless Mastery