On the Straight and Narrow

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

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

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

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 "It's time for bed" up the stairs we'd climb
I always took a story book
Once Upon a Time
Jack and Jill went up the wooden hill
Peter Piper played a lullabye
Red Riding Hood was in the wood
Puss was in the well
And while Bo-Peep was counting sheep
Humpty Dumpty fell
Jack and Jill went up the wooden hill
Peter Piper put away his pipe.

Lights out in Dreamland, the sandman is on his way
Lights out in dreamland, it's been such a lovely day

The story's old but still it's told when the shadows fall
The memory is still with me, gladly I recall

Jack and Jill went up the wooden hill
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

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

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!