Monthly Archives: March 2012

Issue32: Welcome to the Jungle

I’ve spent this morning at our regular end-of-term music services staff training day. In all the business that we had to cover, there was some time set aside for getting together in groups to discuss and share ideas for teaching different … Continue reading

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Issue 32: My new guitar! Now saving for a piano…

I have just bought myself an acoustic guitar. I have fiddled around with a classical guitar, off and on, over the last thirty years or more, but found it a totally useless instrument for class tuition, as it has no … Continue reading

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Issue 32: One-chord Songs

As a rookie guitar player, well, in public, that is, I thought I’d start simple, and work up. All the following songs can be accompanied with just one chord. This also gives some scope for getting groups of children to … Continue reading

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Issue 32: “New Note A”

Keyboards, Clarinets and Treble recorders all start with the notes C D E F and G. There comes a point when you want to venture one note higher, to “new note A”. The obvious choice is good old “Twinkle, twinkle, … Continue reading

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Issue 31: Welcome to The Music Jungle

Here is the last issue for this term, as the Easter holidays will be just beginning when next Friday’s issue comes out. I have to start with an apology; there was a mistake in one of the charts for the Kuku … Continue reading

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Issue 31: Correction to Kuku

Soon after I posted this article last week, I noticed an error in the grid for part 2. Beats 3 and 4 (the second “double”) should be tones, and not bass notes. In the grand scheme of things it is … Continue reading

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Issue 31: Carnival of the Animals – set of YouTube videos

I have been enjoying this series of YouTube recordings of “The Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saens, played by a small chamber group as part of the annual Julian Rachlin and Friends music festival in Dubrovnik, Croatia. With just one … Continue reading

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Issue 31: The Magic Swamp

This game is popular with all primary school classes; make the story more or less gruesome according to age. You need a small glockenspiel or similar, and a way to prevent the children actually seeing the note you are playing. Line … Continue reading

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