Monthly Archives: April 2012

Issue 34: Welcome to the Music Jungle

Here we go again; just a few more days and then it’s back into the mad world of peripatetic music teaching – for me, at any rate. I have spent the day roaming around Box Hill in Surrey. They have … Continue reading

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Issue 34: Olympic Practising

The athletes competing at the Olympics will have got there through spending hours and hours working on the different elements of their sport. In one way, playing an instrument is exactly the same as learning as sport. It is about … Continue reading

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Issue 34: The secret weapon – Wider Opportunities Classes

It very much depends on the instrument, and the age of the class, but I have found that the rate of progress in Wider Opportunities classes often seems to peak in the Spring Term, and then diminish in the Summer Term. … Continue reading

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Issue 34: Pease Pudding – the Yes/No game

Last week I put up an article about the tune “Pease Pudding” as a partner song for “London Bridge is Falling Down”. I had rather assumed that I had already written about the pulse and rhythm game associated with the … Continue reading

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Issue 33: Welcome to the Jungle

This issue nearly didn’t make it – we have been out all day today (Good Friday) enjoying the bright, clear sunshine, in spite of the sharp wind. However, here we are again, with a selection of music in 5/4 time … Continue reading

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Issue 33: Music in 5/4 time

With the Olympic Games looming large in my planning for the Summer Term’s lessons, my thoughts have turned to all things involving “5” for inspiration. So, to start off, here are some suggestions for music to listen to, which all … Continue reading

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Issue 33: Looking after number 1

I’m not a particularly fastidious kind of person, and a little bit of dirt here and there has never really bothered me. However, being a music teacher is fraught with all kinds of unforseen health hazards. For your own protection, … Continue reading

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Issue 33: Pease Pudding and London Bridge

I have made a start on my lesson planning for Wider Opportunities programmes for the coming term. I shall be using these two tunes in my keyboard, clarinet and treble recorder classes, to revise the notes that they already know … Continue reading

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