Musikmesse

I have just returned from the Musikmesse in Frankfurt. I went for three days with the Kevin Mayhew team.
The magnitude of the whole event blew my mind. There were huge halls of every kind of music or instrument and representatives from everywhere!. I don't think I have ever been to anything so truly international. The exhibition halls were enormous, there were halls full of woodwind instruments, pianos, percussion, guitars and amps, a whole hall full of violin makers, and Yamaha, had their own building!.
The hall I liked the most included all the music publishers and the international stands dealing with Music Education. In the Same hall there were American blue grass banjo stands, recorder manufacturers, about thirty accordion stands ( all with accordion player!!) and harmonica's. There were even self tuning guitars, Middle Eastern music stands with automatic page turning contraptions and relaxation chairs with harp strings down the side that you can pluck to relieve stress.
There is so much I could write about the experience, but the high spots were seeing my music on international stands, meeting the distributors, and the fact that these people knew who I was!.
We tried lots of woodwind instruments and compared them. It was fascinating seeing the "hundreds" of Chinese instrument manufacturers stands that were selling very cheap woodwind instruments. ( It was also interesting playing some of them!).
The whole experience was very enjoyable and I was really well looked after. The Messe, hotel and travel arrangements were fantastic. The only downside was that my husband forgot to pick me up at the airport and I had to wait two hours for him to rush from M.K to Heathrow ( very apologetic!!)

Don't forget bassoonists and oboists.

I have been very aware when teaching the bassoon, that bassoonists do tend to miss out on the "Fun factor" a bit. There are some excellent pieces for young bassoonists, but not lots. I think it is because publishers understandably like to publish for the popular instruments where they will sell more copies, and new music for the more unusual double reed instruments don't get accepted so easily.

My main publisher Kevin Mayhew has been very good at allowing me to slip the occasional oboe or bassoon book in, mainly because I am a bassoonist and he knows this is a subject close to my heart, also he is keen to support Music Education in as broad a way as possible. The first book was "Razzamajazz" for the very beginner, and then " Fresh Air "which is a collection of pieces for grade one to three players. The most recent piece is " Everything is Somewhere else" which is probably about grade seven.

I'm really pleased that both The Associated board and Trinity Guildhall have accepted pieces for the next exam syllabus. All the pieces are in a contemporary style and have the usual Little injection of jazz influence.

Piano Pizzazz

Have just noticed that "Piano Pizzazz" has just come onto the kevin Mayhew website. This is a set of three books ranging from grade one to four . The idea behind it, is to learn to play jazz based pieces, but really play them in a jazz style. The three books gradually introduce the player to the secrets of jazz phrasing and there is a CD to listen to the pieces played with a rhythm section. There is also a section called "Intro-outro" where the player can learn little jazzy riffs, and there is an opportunity to improvise and take the music "somewhere else".

I haven't actually seen copies of the books yet, but this look nice and bright!!.

Sizzling Songs

Proofs arrived today for the teachers book of "Sixty Sizzling Songz" . It really is a massive collection of very useful and fun songs. The backing tracks recorded by Kevin Duncan at Kevin Mayhews are superb, and Jacqui Dankworth has sung the songs in her own amazing style. I really am very excited about this book as I feel it has life and individuality. The pupils books are small words editions with full colour illustrations . The book contains old songs and new songs, traditional songs , songs with a Jazz feel , folk songs, poems to a rhythmic backing, vocal warm ups, silly songs and part songs. All newly arranged in a bright and upbeat style. There is a piano accompaniment in the teachers book, and the CD has versions with and without vocals. I really hope people get to see it.

New musical

I have had a meeting today with Michael Forster the lyricist I wrote "The Menu bites back" and "Rock the cradle". We have been commissioned by the "Living Archive" to write a musical for the hundredth anniversary of a school in Wolverton Milton Keynes. Michael started the book and lyrics just after Christmas and we have been working very much at a distance. Today was the day when I actually sang him the songs I had written, and we talked over the styles and metres of the ones I hadn't. I have a new lease of life for the project now. The show is being given its first performance in December.

National Youth Music Camps

We are now well under way with the preparations for this years music camps. I believe there are just a few spaces left for campers, and we are very nearly fully staffed.

It is always a very exciting time for campers and staff alike, and people come back year after year . All the staff are voluntary , but come from all walks of musical life and all genres.

On the staff are professional musicians and teachers and many gifted amateurs. Staff are paid expenses and a small allowance, and are fed and offered tented accommodation. If you would be interested in coming to Music camp to help with music tutoring or with the catering or the maintenance side of things click on "National Youth Music Camps" (on the right in useful sites) for more details and a number to contact.

teaching in sub zero conditions

Its been SO cold today. The weather has been lovely lately, but then, out of the blue SNOW!.

I have to say it felt even colder teaching in the maids kitchen today. One of the schools where I do a bit of bassoon and saxophone teaching is an old Rothschild mansion. It's very beautiful and full of history, but my teaching room is Freezing. You do hear about instrumental peri's teaching in broom cupboards, and this is definitely better than that, but its like Narnia (always winter). The room used to be the maids kitchen and there is a little back staircase where they ran up to answer the front door. There is a huge ceiling and a tiny fire place where there was probably a tiny fire. I at least have an electric heater, but its probably as effective as the fire place was.

I think the school put me in there because I'm loud, the room seems to be removed from the main school heating. Oh well, the music's "Red Hot".

Singing in schools

There has been great discussion about the importance of singing in schools, especially since the unveiling of the new government Music Manifesto which stresses its importance.
Of course, this is what music Educationalists have been saying for years. " Singing is an Essential element for the foundation of any music education".
I was fortunate as a child to have a mother who played piano and had me singing jazz standards and performing for visitors from a young age (I didn't always appreciate it at the time). I also remember some very good music teachers at school, and of course the influence of Avril Dankworth at the music camp who taught us great songs which we sung every morning and around the campfire. I tried to use the influences from these experiences when writing songs for "Red Hot Dots", but recently have had the opportunity to compile an enormous resource of fun songs which I'm really excited about. I have not only written my own songs and fun vocal warm ups, but have done new arrangements of old songs which are just too good to let go. I'm sure I will be writing more about "Sixty Sizzling Songz" as the publication date gets closer, but there is a little write up about it on the Kevin Mayhew website. He is publishing two new song books in response to the music manifesto. Have a look on
http://www.kevinmayhew.com/publisher/article.aspx?:d=72612

"Bassoon is beautiful"

When I was out yesterday, my first copies arrived of "Everything is somewhere else". This is the piece I was commissioned to write for the London Chamber Ensemble that was premiered at St Martin in the Fields, London in September.

The piece was originally written for bassoon and string orchestra, but Kevin Mayhew (http://www.kevinmayhew.com/) kindly said he would publish a bassoon and piano version with optional string parts to hire. I dedicated to piece to my eldest daughter Chloe for her eighteenth birthday, she (like me) is a bassoonist.

Its rather a quirky piece showing off the comical as well as the sonorous nature of the instrument. I played the bassoon at the first performance myself, as well as a Vivaldi concerto in the same programme. It gave me a good opportunity to try and remember which way up the instrument went.

The picture is of a bill board outside St Martins that day. I was very amused to appear on the programme with such eminent company (Vivaldi, Bach etc.....).

News about "Class Act"

I have been out all day today adjudicating a festival. When I got home there was an Email from a friend of a friend saying that she was using "Class Act Flutes" for a Wider ops scheme up North and that it was working well.

I was also interested to read she was using the book with 150 children learning the fife!. I was really thrilled to have news of "Class act". I was really pleased when I had finished it, and felt that when teachers discovered the book, they would find it useful for teaching in groups and also one to one.(its also available for clarinet and violin)

It has a similar feel to Razzamajazz, but includes fun rhythm clapping to a jazzy backing, and also exercises to encourage playing by ear. There are also lots more grass routes easy pieces with a "feel good accompaniment" and tempo's both for practise and performance.

I really believe in these books, and was particularly excited about the violin version. I did a lot of research for this with violin teachers and am sure there is nothing else quite like it for the violin yet. (there is a very nice review for Class act violin on the Kevin Mayhew Website at http://www.kevinmayhew.com/).

It takes a while for books to take off, and it was great to hear that this one is being used.

Red hot Recorder, the next big challenge.

After favourable comments about Razzamajazz (especially Razzamajazz Recorder ). Kevin Mayhew (my publisher) asked me if I would write a recorder tutor. My first reaction was " NO WAY!", but then I started to think this would be a real opportunity to write the sort of thing that I would find useful if teaching the recorder (I started to get excited!).

I was determined to write something that was technically sound as well as good musically. I contacted a lot of respected recorder players and teachers to ask their advise about what they would like to see in a really good tutor. ( Most of them said "Oh no not another tutor" !"), but I was not deterred (!), and went on to do a lot of research about recorder technique etc. In 2005 Red Hot Recorder was born, and I believe many of the teachers I sought advise from now use it, so that's quite pleasing ( well actually, its amazing!!)

Razzamajazz, how it all began.

It all started with "RAZZAMAJAZZ". A book of very easy pieces starting with just one note then as each piece went on a new note was added. The pieces were simple, but had what I called a "feel good accompaniment", meaning it was a jazzy up beat accompaniment that made the student ( although maybe only playing one or two notes), feel as if they were playing something really complicated and sophisticated. The idea was to "build" the confidence of the player while gradually teaching technique. The books proved to be very popular, leading onto "Razzamajazz Repertoire", Razzamajazz duets and trios" and the "Razzamajazz Really Easy Band Book".
My next project is to work on revamping the original "Razzamajazz" with some new pieces, a new ( better) backing which will have a choice of speeds, then Razzamajazz two!!!. This will take the player up into the higher register and include more accidentals. Watch this space............

13th Mar 07. Why a blog?

As a composer I have wanted for a long time to be able to explain my work and chat to people about how my writing can be used, and what was the thinking behind it.
When I write something, I get an idea, get very excited about it, and totally involved in it .
Then I send it to my publisher and feel as if a child has just left home.
Occasionally someone will say " I'm using this book at the moment, and its really useful". This is really thrilling as in my eductional writing, all I ever want to do is write things things that are useful, musically sound and enjoyable.
My writing for young people is designed to make the player feel good about playing their instrument, gain confidence and want to do more.
I hope a blog will be an opportunity to explain how the music works, and how certain books can work together or lead on from each other.
I probably will use the word " exciting" a lot, because I nearly always have some idea bubbling.
(I'm very excited about a project just about to be published, but more about that in another post.)