music_teacher_2014_11.pdf

MUSICTEACHERMAGAZINE.CO.UKNOVEMBER 2014

MONTHLY 4.95

The piano issueTRAINING THE GREATSStars of the concert platformdiscuss their education

LEARN WITH LANG LANGNew technique booksprove effective

SYLLABUS USER GUIDESInside ABRSM and TCLsnew piano exams

PLUS IDEAS BANK CLASSROOM TECH REVIEWS

Wales International Academy of VoiceAre we teaching theory wrong?

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NOVEMBER 2014 | MUSIC TEACHER 3

EditorThomas Lydon

News EditorDavid Ashworth

Resources EditorDavid Kettle

Technology EditorTim Hallas

Head of Design & ProductionBeck Ward Murphy

DesignerHal Bannister

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Music Teacher is interested in articles on all aspects of music education; if you wish to submit one please contact the editor. We reserve the right to edit material for

publication. The presence of advertisements in Music Teacher does not imply endorsement.

Music Teacher tries to avoid inaccuracies;if readers believe an error has been made

they should contact the editor beforetaking any other action.

Vol.93 No.11

CONTENTS 5 EDITORIAL 8 LETTERS 10 NEWS 14 REPORT

The BBCs Ten Pieces gets underway

17 REPORTBernarr Rainbow: continuing the legacy of a giant

19 DIARYCPD, opportunities and gigs

21 Q&AIncoming Music Mark chair Graeme Smith

45 IDEAS BANKKaren Marshall edits a toolkit of fresh teaching ideas from around the UK

59 LUNCH BREAKYour monthly helping of musical puzzles

60 PRACTICAL CLASSROOM TECHTim Hallas urges us to encourage independence in the classroom

70 WORKING WEEKPrimary and ute teacher Clemencie Gatenby

FEATURES

PIANO

22 TEACHING THE STARSMelanie Spanswick asks stars of the concert platform about their education

26 LEARNING WITH LANG LANGPut aside your preconceptions, says Fiona Lau

28 USER GUIDE: TCLTCL head of quali cations (music) Chris Walters explains the new piano syllabus

31 USER GUIDE: ABRSMFiona Lau takes us through ABRSMs new grade pieces

34 WALES INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF VOICEDennis ONeill discusses staying ahead of the game as an elite institution

37 ARE WE TEACHING THEORY WRONG? Grade 5 Theory should be a door, not a barrier, says Pamela Rose

41 CARDIFF SERVICE RISES TO THE CHALLENGEEmma Coulthard turns a crisis into an opportunity

48 ONLINE RESOURCESDownloadable teaching and revision materials covering the whole secondary curriculum and more. Subscribe and download via musicteachermagazine.co.ukThis month: Setting meaningful homework GCSE Composition: exploring

texture, instrumentation, timbre and dynamics

Pre-U Music: Topic C1

50 PRODUCTS AND REVIEWSIncluding Yamahas shiny new

Clavinovas Bach on the oboe Korgs mighty littleBits

synth kit

26

50 37

41

34

MT_1114_03_Contents_Editorial.indd 3 20/10/2014 15:30:07

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MT_1114 Ads.indd 4 17/10/2014 11:09:07

musicteachermagazine.co.uk musicteachermagazine.co.uk NOVEMBER 2014 | MUSIC TEACHER 5

MT EDITORIAL

Is the customer always right?

write Music Teacher magazine, Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, Rhinegold House, 20 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QZ email [email protected] tweet @musicteachermag

AN OLD-SCHOOL APPROACH TO CLIENT SERVICE MIGHT JUST

TURN YOUR BUSINESSAROUND

Who knows best? You, or the person holding the money? If you were in any other business than education, the answer would be obvious, and it wouldnt be the rst option listed.

When the person holding the chequebook is the students parent, or the student themselves, the disagreements can be bizarre to say the least. A look at the most recent dozen threads on the ABRSM forum reveals that one teacher has an adult learner who writes the letter names underneath every note, and refuses to stop doing it. Its a wonderfully supportive thread, with lots of great ideas on how to get him to change his habit and to embrace reading at sight, but there are a fair few users who suggested that, since the student is paying for himself and is enjoying the lessons, the teacher should let him have it his own way. Another thread discusses a pupil who refuses to use their thumbs, who was given somewhat shorter shrift, with some respondents suggesting that the teacher should get rid of the pupil as soon aspossible.

When your paycheque comes from schools, navigating their needs is a whole different kettle of sh, and the stakes are high. In this issue, Emma Coulthard of Music Development Cardiff explains how some old-school, the customer is always right service turned a disastrous funding announcement into an opportunity to develop stronger relationships directly with her school clients, and increase business in the process. A short while ago, we interviewed Steven Sammut, whose private music service, The Rock and Pop Foundation is thriving despite never having received a penny of public money. Both will be at the Music Education Expo at the Barbican on 12 and 13 March next year, and are on a mission to spread the word. Emma is fond of the term civic entrepreneur. One of the several memorable opinions that Steven expressed in our interview was this: The last thing music services offer is a service. Is it possible that the customer might be right more often than we'd like?

Thomas Lydon editor

AMONG THIS MONTHS CONTRIBUTORS

Karen Marshall is a private and school music teacher with pupils of all ages. A member of the British Dyslexia Associations music committee, she specialises in multi- sensory learning

Fiona Lau teaches piano pupils of all ages, privately and for music services, and is a mentor for Essex Music Services and ABRSM

Christopher Walters is the head of quali cations (music) at Trinity College London, and a past editor ofMT

Among this months contributorsKaren Marshall (May 2014)Fiona Lau (September 2014 page 82)Chris Walters (do we have a head shot on

le?):

MT_1114_03_Contents_Editorial.indd 5 20/10/2014 15:31:15

JOINING THE DOTS

I was interested to read the letters in the October issue about the James Rhodes program Dont stop the music, after watching both TV programs with great interest myself. Firstly, Id like to say that anything that raises the pro le of music education is a good thing. I admired James passion and felt that everything was done with integrity and drive to make things better. I wish him all the very best with his campaign.

I have some thoughts. Firstly, is it musical instruments that we are short of, or teachers to teach them? It is true that schools generally have very poor supplies of instruments. However, I know that many music services have cellars lled with instruments. These are not in short supply. In addition, instruments that were used for the Wider Opportunities initiative are also stockpiled in various locations. Instruments are available, but the real problem as I see it is a shortage of well-trained instrumental teachers and a shortage of funds to pay for their services. The lack of infrastructure to support music education work adds to the problems. Hubs simply dont

co-ordinate effectively in most cases, between the teacher, school, parent and student. They dont have the funds or even the mandate to in uence some of these stakeholders. And the Arts Council seems to keep changing the goalposts on what needs to be done. Do the people who make these decisions even venture out on to the coal face? Get stuffed in a cupboard to teach a lesson and get told they have to pay rent to teach in a school theyve taught in for years after being made redundant just a few months earlier? Its a harsh life as a peri.

So what is the answer? Children have at least one term of instrumental lessons through First Access programs but how worthwhile is this? What happens afterwards? Can they really thrive in that term with little foundation to build on? Music in primary schools is seen by Ofsted as one of the worst-taught subjects. I think James orchestra may have enjoyed greater success if pre-instrumental work had been completed. Most children struggle to maintain a pulse. This skill is far better tackled in other ways before embarking on an

instrument, using singing, use of rhyme, rhythm games, and the use of tuned and un-tuned percussion. Activities used in Dalcroze, Kodly and Orff approaches help instrumental lessons truly stick and children are more likely to succeed. Can curriculum music be invested in via a music specialist in every school? Can this person provide post-First Access programs (if needed, teaching instruments as a generalist) and sound music curriculum teaching in each Primary School? Perhaps the answer is part of the 1,300 given to children on free school meals (Pupil Premium) to provide free music lessons and an instrument to practice on? Perhaps an infrastructure needs putting in place to properly co-ordinate schools, parents, music teachers, students and music instrument supplies. If this is the hubs job, then can someone please come up with some best practice on how it is possible and join the dots?

Keep up the great work James. We all need to keep talking about these things, doing our bit and keeping music education on the agenda. Music is worth ghting for. I myself work with children who have extremely dif cult lives and live in absolute poverty, yet when they sing in their music lessons or play an instrument,

worry leaves their faces. Its like magic, they escape to a different place and all is well. And thats the power of music and why we must ght for it! So much good can be done for so many throughit.

Name and Address supplied

ANONYMITY AT THE TOP

The ISMs Protect Music campaign (beyond 1900), responding to the GCSE and A Level draft proposals raises questions about the governance of our music education. The interface between government policy and those who represent those who enact it in the classroom remains something of a mystery. Whose voices are actually heard? There is anonymity and secrecy at the top of the power pyramid. While the drafts claim to represent in some part a consultative process in which the ISM played its part, a wide gap in perceptions has emerged. It would be helpful to know how power over and control of our music education actually worked. In this case, for example, do the exam boards have the loudest voices? We dont know. I think we should.

John Finney, University of Cambridge

HAVE YOUR SAY

MT LETTERS write Music Teacher magazine, Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, Rhinegold House, 20 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QZ email [email protected] tweet @musicteachermag

BY HARRY VENNING

A WIDE GAP IN PERCEPTIONS HASEMERGED AT THE TOP. IT WOULD BE HELPFUL

TO KNOW HOW POWER OVER ANDCONTROL OF OUR MUSIC EDUCATION

ACTUALLY WORKED

MUSIC TEACHER | NOVEMBER 2014 musicteachermagazine.co.uk8

MT_1114_08_Letters.indd 8 20/10/2014 15:55:43

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Music for Youth supports eMerging actsOver 100 up-and-coming singer-songwriters, indie and electronic artists, all aged 21 and under, performed in the first ever Frequencies event, alongside critically acclaimed acts such as Fyfe Dangerfield from Brit-nominated band the Guillemots, and UK beatbox champion Hobbit.

The two-day Manchester event, sponsored by the Vivendi Create Joy Fund, offered a new platform for young artists and singer-songwriters to get their music heard, performing on stage alongside established international artists.

To see these Frequencies acts in action at the Royal Albert Hall in the Schools Prom concert series (10 12 November), see the booking details below.

Mt readers deal for the schools proMThe Schools Prom 2014 returns to theRoyal Albert Hall inLondon on10,11 and12 November and Music for Youth is offering discounted tickets to MT readers. The concertspromiseto be a spectacular showcase of some of the UKs most talented young musicians. These distinctive concerts present a diverse range of repertoire, for full details visit www.mfy.org.uk. Each concert takes place from 7pm until 9.30pm at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Get 10% off your tickets (usually 528.75*)by Quoting the members code 17613 to the Royal Albert HallBox Office on 020 7589 8212 or atwww.royalalberthall.com.

*Prices are subject to atransaction processing fee of 2.50 per ticket plus a booking fee of 2% of the total booking.

MUSIC TEACHER | NOVEMBER 2014 musicteachermagazine.co.uk musicteachermagazine.co.uk10

MT NEWS

Kings elY launches sixth forM choral awardKings School, Ely has just announced the launch of a sixth form choral award.

The first boy to enjoy the position is Thomas Bruce, a member of the school since 2006. Bruce will have access to intensive, specialist musical and academic training, as well as the opportunity to perform with professional singers, organists, and conductors. In addition, Bruce, like his peers in Ely Cathedral Girls Choir, will gain the experience and expertise needed to progress to a university choral scholarship, or indeed to train as a professional musician.

Bruces appointment marks a new era, as the school seeks to give Sixth Form male students with outstanding musical talent the same opportunities as their female peers. The principal, Sue Freestone, comments. I am so pleased that we are able to offer such an exciting opportunity to young men with a passion for choral singing. It has not felt right that the chance to train for choral scholarships in universities has been the exclusive domain of girls and now the boys are on an equal footing as they prepare for the next stage in their lives.

Youth Music chaMpions greater equitY in supporting Young people across englandThe National Foundation for Youth Music today published its Impact Report for the year 201314. During this year, the charity awarded 182 grants to 165 music organisations, representing an investment of 9.3m in young peoples music-making.

The Impact Report notes the charitys success in reaching out to more children in challenging circumstances; it also records a significant increase in the employment of paid music leaders across its funded projects and a more equitable spread of its investment across the regions of England.

Eighty percent of participants in 201314 were facing significant challenges in their lives compared to 57% in 201213, with Youth Music investing over 6m in music projects specifically focusing on young people from such backgrounds. This follows a refresh of the charitys mission, vision and values in 2012, placing music-making for children in challenging circumstances at the core of itswork.

In 201314, rural isolation and special educational needs were the challenges most commonly faced by project participants, along with financial difficulties, English as a second language, substance abuse (either by children themselves, or by their parents or carers), and physical or mental health issues.

sing up launches new Music curriculuM resourceSing Up has created a new resource, free to its members, to help primary teachers deliver the latest music curriculum. Featuring 84 songs, SingUp Music: Supporting your Music Teaching is a new addition to Sing Ups extensive resource bankandoffers a framework to help teachers develop ayears scheme of work from Reception to Year 6.

Sing Up CEO Michelle James said Were creating new singing resources to support classroom teachers all the time, but weve never really created a scheme specifically to support music teaching before. Wed had lots of requests for it and the feedback has been very positive so far.

Written by Sue Nichols and Hilary Miles, these resources have been devised to offer a diverse range of musical learning and assessment opportunities, embracing performance, composition, improvisation, listening and appraisal activities, as well as suggestions for using technology.

The first terms resources are available free to Sing Up members on the Sing Up website now, with next terms available before the end of the year.

For more details email Katy Moran at Sing Up: [email protected]

last-Minute Venue change for Music MarKEvery cloud has a silver lining. Although Music Mark lost its Manchester venue following the cancellation of The Music Show this year, Staverton Park in Daventry now plays host to the stand-alone conference, with accommodation and exhibitor space now all on one site.

General Manager Jem Shuttleworth says: The venue will enable us to meet the needs of our membership far more effectively, providing greater opportunities for delegates to connect to share best practice and to contribute to membership voice the bar stays open all night!

The conference is titled Progression in Music Education; Further Still, Yet Further, and looks at progression in different contexts.

The key note speaker is Paul Robertson, leader of Medici String Quarter and broadcaster, who has recently been working with The Music, Mind and Spirit Trust.

Fridays seminars include Awards for Young Musicians on identifying talent, the ABRSM on musical progression and the role of assessment, Ofsted music lead Robin Hammertons update one

year on from his notorious paper What Hubs Must Do, Dick Hallam on research into progression in Sistema-inspired projects, and Helen Sprott from Arts Council England on the role of music organisations supporting progression.

There will also be an open space session, where members and partners can share an initiative they are developing.

Saturday includes a new feature, the conference debate, with the weighty title of Whole Class Ensemble teaching: a Catalyst for Progression of an Inhibitor of Progression?

The final session is titled Dear Prime Minister. Incoming Music Mark chair Graeme Smith elaborates: After we have explored progression in music education we are going to determine the message we will give to those who wish to form the next government. We are going to tell them what they need to do to enable us to provide that progression for all our children and young people.

The conference takes place on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 November at Staverton Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire. More details from www.musicmark.org.uk

Laur

a Pa

lmer

MT_1114_10_News.indd 10 20/10/2014 16:48:40


MT NEWS

Kings Ely launchEs sixth Form choral awardKings School, Ely has just announced the launch of a sixth form choral award.

The first boy to enjoy the position is Thomas Bruce, a member of the school since 2006. Bruce will have access to intensive, specialist musical and academic training, as well as the opportunity to perform with professional singers, organists, and conductors. In addition, Bruce, like his peers in Ely Cathedral Girls Choir, will gain the experience and expertise needed to progress to a university choral scholarship, or indeed to train as a professional musician.

Bruces appointment marks a new era, as the school seeks to give Sixth Form male students with outstanding musical talent the same opportunities as their female peers. The principal, Sue Freestone, comments. I am so pleased that we are able to offer such an exciting opportunity to young men with a passion for choral singing. It has not felt right that the chance to train for choral scholarships in universities has been the exclusive domain of girls and now the boys are on an equal footing as they prepare for the next stage in their lives.

youth music champions grEatEr Equity in supporting young pEoplE across EnglandThe National Foundation for Youth Music today published its Impact Report for the year 201314. During this year, the charity awarded 182 grants to 165 music organisations, representing an investment of 9.3m in young peoples music-making.

The Impact Report notes the charitys success in reaching out to more children in challenging circumstances; it also records a significant increase in the employment of paid music leaders across its funded projects and a more equitable spread of its investment across the regions of England.

Eighty percent of participants in 201314 were facing significant challenges in their lives compared to 57% in 201213, with Youth Music investing over 6m in music projects specifically focusing on young people from such backgrounds. This follows a refresh of the charitys mission, vision and values in 2012, placing music-making for children in challenging circumstances at the core of itswork.

In 201314, rural isolation and special educational needs were the challenges most commonly faced by project participants, along with financial difficulties, English as a second language, substance abuse (either by children themselves, or by their parents or carers), and physical or mental health issues.

Matt Griffiths, Youth Musics executive director said: Im delighted these figures demonstrate that were using our investment and resources with even greater pin point accuracy. Our regional balancing system is clearly ensuring geographical fairness across the regions of England, enabling us to reach more children and young people whose challenging circumstances create significant barriers to regular music-making.

For further information about Youth Musics Impact Report 2013-14 visit http://bit.ly/ImpactYM2013-14

a goldEn hEllo From thE corps oF army musicAspiring musicians are being offered golden hello payments worth up to 3,500 when they sign up to serve with the British Armys Corps of Army Music (CAMUS).

CAMUS is made up of 22 bands from the Regular Army and 19 bands from the Army Reserve. It provides a broad range of musical genres, from wind bands, marching bands and a string orchestra, to more modern music such as rock and pop bands. In addition, musicians who work in a full-time civilian job can also take part outside their normal working hours by being a part of a Reserve band. To qualify for the elementary level

payment, worth 1,250, applicants must hold either a grade A to C in GCSE music, or a Grade 68 instrumental or vocal qualification from one of the mainboards.

Supplementary level golden hellos, worth 2,500, are on offer to those with an associate diploma from those institutions, a BTEC, or an AS or A Level in music.

To qualify for advanced payments, worth 3,500, applicants must have a graduate qualification from Royal College of Music, the London College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Drama, Guildhall School of Music and Drama or Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Anyone interested in a job with CAMUS or in finding out more about the golden hello payments can visit www.army.mod.uk/jobs, call 0207 8744 8608, or email [email protected].

Thomas Bruce with principal Sue Freestone

last-minutE VEnuE changE For music marKyear on from his notorious paper What Hubs Must Do, Dick Hallam on research into progression in Sistema-inspired projects, and Helen Sprott from Arts Council England on the role of music organisations supporting progression.

There will also be an open space session, where members and partners can share an initiative they are developing.

Saturday includes a new feature, the conference debate, with the weighty title of Whole Class Ensemble teaching: a Catalyst for Progression of an Inhibitor of Progression?

The final session is titled Dear Prime Minister. Incoming Music Mark chair Graeme Smith elaborates: After we have explored progression in music education we are going to determine the message we will give to those who wish to form the next government. We are going to tell them what they need to do to enable us to provide that progression for all our children and young people.

The conference takes place on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 November at Staverton Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire. More details from www.musicmark.org.uk

MT_1114_10_News.indd 11 20/10/2014 17:18:40

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MT NEWS

Pianos in the ParkLeighton Park School, located just outside Reading town centre, has become the latest addition to Yamahas Music Education Partner Programme, and is the first educational institution in the UK to purchase one of the companys acclaimed CFX concert grand pianos. Other instruments purchased include grands, uprights, digital and stage pianos, totalling 19 in all.

At the request of the school Yamaha UK brought virtuoso pianist and composerJulian Josephinto the CFX selection process. He accompaniedLeighton Parks director of music, Rosemary Scales,toYamahas European HQ in Hamburg in June, and helped choose the most suitable instrument.Julian comments, Iwas thrilled to be invited to help the school select the pianos that best suited the demanding and varied settings of their musical curriculum; an inspiring school, inspiring teaching and now inspiring instruments.

The delivery of the new pianos coincides with the start of the schools 125thanniversary.

obituary: anice Paterson 19402014David Wheway, one of Anices closest friends and colleagues, writes:

It is perhaps difficult to appreciate now that, for most teachers in the 1970s and early 1980s, revolutionary thinking about music education had not begun to impact on either our training or teaching. Because of Anice, Leicestershire was among those education authorities that were at the forefront of innovative thinking about the music curriculum. Anice put together a strong advisory team in Leicestershire and her drive ensured all schools received support through a compendium of music materials and a comprehensive package of professional development opportunities. With her usual enthusiasm, Anice secured LEA funding for the support materials to be distributed free to all Leicestershire schools. This initiative ensured that by the early 1990s Leicestershire teachers confidence was strong, and class music teaching widespread. Curriculum music gained in popularity, and local courses for teachers were often oversubscribed.

Anice had a huge capacity for work, and a concise and organised method of working that ensured time was never wasted and was always productive. She led well, but also listened well, and highly valued the perspective

others brought to the task in hand. Her ability to listen to others meant that her advice was always informed and considered. However Anices thinking was always underpinned by strong values that she never compromised. She was never shy to challenge, and through doing so helped others clarify their thinking and values.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s Anice could be found at the NAME publications stand, where she needed no prompting to enter into lively debate on any topic. Members would consult her to sound out nascent ideas, and Anice would quickly point to any flaws in their argument, sometimes gently, sometimes with a metaphorical poke in the eye, depending on how shaky your argument. She played a major role in promoting NAME and its publications, and a term was introduced to NAME conferences - to be Aniced which meant Anice had either not let you slip away without purchasing the latest publication, or you suddenly found you had a role in the smooth running of NAME such as chair! Such was Anices reputation among many NAME members that she was nicknamed The Boss, out of respect (and affection) for her awesome abilities. I think we have Helen

Coll to thank for that moniker.In the last few years, Anice and I worked

less together, as Anice devoted more time to enjoying a very active retirement. However, there are a number of people in our lives who are so influential that we hear their advice even when they are not present. I know Anice will continue to guide me for years to come. To say I will miss her is a massive understatement.

rockschool offers new iPad aPP for guitarists, bassists and drummersRockschool has just launched an iPad app with London-based techies, Knowledge Rocks. With the KR player, musicians will be able to learn, practise and sit their grade exam directly from their iPad.

The free app is a practice tool for beginner musicians wanting to get to grips with Rockschool exam pieces; it includes everything they need to work on for their grade exam in one place. The app offers a range of functionality including: tempo and key change; the ability to loop entire sections or specific bars; intuitive scrolling; and fully adjustable backing tracks.

Visit www.rockschool.co.uk/apps for more info.

Anice Paterson

MT_1114_10_News.indd 13 20/10/2014 16:49:58

RepoRt: ten pieces gets undeRway words Thomas Lydon

the woRks John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (first

movement) Britten: Storm Interlude from Peter Grimes Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King Handel: Zadok the Priest Holst: Mars from The Planets Anna Meredith: Connect it Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 (first

movement) Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain Stravinsky: The Firebird suite (1911) (finale)

the timelineThe BBC launched its Ten Pieces project with a Leicester-Square premiere early on a September Monday morning, attended by industry figures, journalists, Key Stage 2 students from local schools and a host of celebrity ambassadors. Nicola Benedetti performed in front of the screen and BBC director-general Tony Hall stood up and confessed that his love of classical music sprang from having been made, at primary school, to sit on a hard wooden floor and listen to the stuff. In early October, schools around the country attended local cinema screenings of the film.

This was the Inspiration phase of the project, and if you missed it, and managed to miss the pan-BBC splurge on it last month, dont worry. During the next phase Exploration and Creativity DVD packs will be distributed to schools upon request, to complement the huge range of online resources. In addition to those resources at www.bbc.co.uk/tenpieces, a range of third-party providers will be creating bespoke material to promote study and activities around the works. We will bring you a full round-up in our December issue, along with one teachers experiences of taking the project into a school.

Ten Pieces aims to inspire a generation of children to get creative with classical music, and the BBC resources are geared around creative response, through the visual arts and dance as well as through music. Materials already up on the website include Key Stage 2 lesson plans, arrangements suitable for school ensembles, mini-films, clips, discussions and creative masterclasses. There are also audio recordings of the full works, which, if youve seen the film, youll be needing.

The third phase to the project will be Performance. Starting next May, various Ten Pieces Champions around the UK will hold celebratory concerts, the BBC performing groups will get stuck in, and schools will be encouraged to send in videos of themselves responding to the works.

the filmBoth the short film that was screened round the country and the associated deeper exploration film often give the actual music a back seat to celebrities telling you how great it is. Sometimes this is brilliant like Barney Harwoods description of the opening to Beethovens fifth symphony as a dance off and sometimes, when some of the greatest moments in Western music are practically muted so that CBBC presenters can shout things like CAN YOU HEAR THAT PATTERN OF SOUND?, it feels like the BBC is falling into the trap of telling rather than showing.

Each piece opens with live action or animation visuals and a narration from a celebrity, before cutting to footage of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing the

work in what looks like an aircraft hangar. It leads to some curious juxtapositions, especially in the Mozart section, where a film of Katy B chasing a period-costumed horn player round a sunny garden maze cuts to a bleary-faced orchestra, side-lit by ghoulish chandeliers.

But all in all, I have to say it is terrific fun. If the films are used in tandem with the full recordings provided, maybe the whole package is pitched just right.

student feedbackI collared some Key Stage 2 students from St Clement Danes School, Drury Lane, and asked them what their favourite bits were and why. The Holst, Grieg, and Stravinsky were big hits with the boys, and its worth noting that these were the ones accompanied by fantasy-style film or animation.

Christopher: I liked the last piece of music at the beginning [the slow horn solo that begins the finale of the Firebird suite].

Archie: My favourite bits were the first and last ones the space one [Holst] because of the music, and The Firebird because of the animations and the music.

Veronica: My favourite piece was Beethovens symphony number five because its always been my favourite piece and I just love the music. I listen to it on my iPod.

Adual: I loved The Firebird because it was fun. And I liked the trolls and the witches [in the Grieg] that tried to attack the man.

Abdulrahman: I liked the witches [in the Grieg] because it was quite nice and had good animations and good music.


MT REPORT

Nicola Benedetti and Ksenija Sidorova perform at the West End Premiere of the Ten Pieces film

MT_1114_14_Report_Ten Pieces.indd 14 20/10/2014 17:22:16

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Join our growing membership of professional musicians. Make us your ISM.

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Stephanie ReevePeripatetic Music TeacherISM member since 2004

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My ISM is communicationIm Steph. Im a clarinettist and Ive been a member of the ISM for over ten years. Im based in Cambridge and I work as a peripatetic music teacher travelling to several schools a week. I also run a private teaching practice and run various ensembles for children and adults of all ages.

As a peripatetic music teacher I spend my week with a huge range of pupils. I liaise with parents in a variety of ways. I discuss timetables and progress with heads of music, other colleagues, school and office staff. I need to be organised and maintain a high level of professionalism while keeping to a tight schedule. Efficient communication ensures it all runs smoothly but if something goes wrong I know exactly where to turn!

Being part of a professional body like the ISM gives me the opportunity to build networks with fellow professional musicians. The specialist in-house legal advice has been incredibly useful, putting me in contact with the right people at the right time. While my role as a music teacher has remained largely the same, the circumstances around my employment have changed considerably in recent years and the ISM has supported me through those changes.

When campaigning about the wider changes to music in schools my own voice might be heard but as part of the ISM, I can be represented along with many others and that is when my voice grows ever stronger.Stephanie Reeve, Peripatetic Music TeacherISM member since 2004

The ISM is a growing membership of professional musicians who come from all areas of the profession. Many of our members, like Steph, have portfolio careers based in the music education sector and focus on their work as peripatetic music teachers, visiting classroom teachers, private music teachers or educators.

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We not only support our members as individuals but also form a powerful voice for music and music education. With our shared voice we lead several successful campaigns on behalf of music educators, taking your concerns to government. These successes have all helped to safeguard our vibrant and important profession for future years tocome.

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MT_1114_16_ISM advertorial.indd 16 20/10/2014 15:32:04

Bernarr rainBow: a centenary triBute words Kenneth Shenton

Bernarr Rainbow, born 100 years ago this month, was perhaps one of the most significant and influential figures involved in music education during the second half of the 20th Century. Lecturer, composer, teacher, writer, examiner, editor, organist and undoubted enthusiast, the sheer breadth of his industry made him an inspirational guide for countless generations of aspiring music teachers. However, despite all the success, hiscareer was, for the time, a most unusualone.

the life of a vitalising forceBorn in London on the 2nd October, 1914, Bernarr Joseph George Rainbow was the son of a cabinet maker, based at Hampton Court Palace. Educated at Rutlish School, Merton, while a teenager he was appointed Organist of nearby St Jamess Church. Initially becoming a civil servant, working in the Map Room of the Land Registry, he also studied part time at Trinity College of Music. While there he came under the stern but benevolent tutelage of that famed theoretician, William Lovelock.

However, like so many of his generation his seemingly effortless progress was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Married in 1941, by now he was a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, seeing action throughout Europe and North Africa. Having badly injured his spine during hostilities in Italy, he was invalided out of the army in 1944.

That year he succeeded Hubert Crook as Organist of the Parish Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, also becoming Senior Music Master at the towns Royal Grammar School.

In 1952 his outlook found a particularly happy and expressive outlet as Director of Music at the College of St Mark and St John, a Church of England training college, based in Chelsea. There he gathered around him an influential group of music lecturers, including Peter Dickinson, George Self and Brian Dennis, all of whom, like Rainbow himself, were catalysts for change. In addition

to moulding the creative personalities of many ofthis countrys eminent practitioners, Rainbow also began playing a pivotal role in the artistic life of the wider cultural community.

As individual in print as he was in the flesh, over the years he contributed a wealth of finely-written critiques and scholarly analyses to a wide range of specialist periodicals including The Musical Times, Music in Education and, of course Music Teacher. More extensive examples of his art can be found in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Athlone History of Music and The New Oxford Companion to Music. His early reputation was forged with the publication, in 1956, of Music in the Classroom. Eight years later came the celebrated Handbook for Music Teachers. Revised in 1970, it remained an essential resource material for many years.

In the interim however, a chance discovery of artefacts relating to two distinguished college predecessors, Thomas Helmore and John Hullah, led to Rainbows interest in the social history of 19th-century music. His resulting volume, The Land Without Music, called for an urgent re-assessment of the title sentiment, itself a translation of a famous pre-war report by a German journalist. An expansion of his doctoral dissertation formed the basis of a further study, The Choral Revival in the Anglican Church 18391872, published in1967.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Rainbow became increasingly concerned that so much of music teaching exercised hand and eye, while neglecting the ear. To counteract this, he enthusiastically advocated a return to the use of John Curwens Tonic Sol-fa training methods. Together with his fellow educationalist, W. H. Swinburne, they formed The Curwen Institute to actively promote theirideas.

When the College of St. Mark and St. John moved to Plymouth in 1972, Rainbow himself transferred to nearby Gipsy Hill College, later to become part of Kingston Polytechnic. Retirement in 1978 led to increased literary productivity. His most comprehensive study, Music in Educational Thought and Practice, appeared in 1989, swiftly followed by Music

in the English Public School. He also prepared a series of 25 classic texts on music education in an impressive facsimile edition.

A vitalising force in so many facets of music education, this urbane academic bestrode the often narrow confines of his art with consummate ease. Married for 61 years, he died, aged 84, in March, 1998. Two years earlier, he had endowed the annual Bernarr Rainbow Award for School Music Teachers. This, together with the creation of the Bernarr Rainbow Trust means that, while we may not see his like again, the fruits of his labours will happily live on for many years to come.

Professor Peter Dickinson, composer, writer, pianist and chair of the Bernarr Rainbow Trust writes:The centenary of the leading British authority on the history of music education, Bernarr Rainbow (19141998) prompts many tributes to his unique output. Eight books in his series of Classic Texts in Music Education have been published by Boydell and Brewer, including Music in Independent Schools, edited by Andrew Morris, which includes material from Rainbows study, Music in the English Public School (1990) and brings that volume up to date.

musicteachermagazine.co.uk NOVEMBER 2014 | MUSIC TEACHER 17

MT REPORT

MT_1114_17_Report_Rainbow.indd 17 20/10/2014 15:33:04

WMT_1114 Ads.indd 18 17/10/2014 11:41:54


CPD, COURSES & GIGS LIVE MUSICEFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL1423 November | LondonThe London Jazz Festival sees jazz pop up in venues across the city, with strands this year looking at South African jazz musicians and 75 years of Blue Note records. Many dozens of performers include the funk and hip-hop influenced Hackney Colliery Band (15 November), guitarist Bill Frisell celebrating the Fender Telecaster (15 November), saxophonist Trish Clowes and the BBC Concert Orchestra (17 November), sarod player Soumik Datta (18 November), and the euphoric dance of the House Gospel Choir (21 November).

www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

MT DIARY write Music Teacher magazine, Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, Rhinegold House, 20 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QZ email [email protected] tweet @musicteachermag

OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR STUDENTS

BBC TEN PIECES PODCASTSONLINE | FREE

The BBC has made the five-minute arrangements specially recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for its Ten Pieces scheme available indefinitely as MP3 podcasts.

www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/tenpieces

WIGMORE HALL VARIOUSLONDON

The Wigmore Hall runs a programme of family events, its regularly sold-out Chamber Tots concerts for 12 and 35 year-olds, and For Crying Out Loud 45-minute chamber concerts for parents and babies up to one years old, performed by musicians from the Royal Academy of Music. It also runs Chamber Zone, a scheme which offers free tickets to 1825-year-olds, and composition students may be interested in several pre-concert talks in the new year with composers Kaija Saariaho (14Jan), Simon Holt (19 Jan), Wolfgang Rihm (28 February), Joey Roukens (4March) and Julian Anderson (7 July).

www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

CPD hIGhLIGhTS

RISING WITH THE TIDE MUSIC MARKJANUARY-NOVEMBER 2015 | LEAMINGTON SPAc.1,800 +VAT

Music Mark has recommissioned Andy Hind of ES4S to deliver the eighth year of Rising With The Tide, its senior management course for music service heads, aspiring heads of service and music service employees seeking to refresh their thinking and approach. The course is structured over five two-day residential sessions held throughout the year and focuses on questions such as What is intelligent leadership?, How do the values of an authentic leader impact on the organisation?, How can all staff offer the most effective music sessions for all learners? and In which ways do leaders support a movement from improvement to transformation?. The course also includes online discussions and tasks to be completed between sessions, and is accredited by the Open University. To register interest, email [email protected].

www.musicmark.org.uk

ISM ONE-DAY PIANO TEACHERS WORKSHOP23 NOVEMBER | CECIL ShARP hOUSE, LONDON47.50

Tim Barratt and Graham Fitch lead a day including sessions on the new ABRSM piano syllabus; a two-hour workshop on practice techniques including a Q&A; guidance on running a piano studio with Lorraine Liyanage and Frances Wilson, to cover terms & conditions, collecting payments, marketing and social media; and an informal performance opportunity.

www.ism.org

LEADING A CHOIR: STARTING OUT28 JANUARY 2015 | BLOOMSBURY BAPTIST ChURCh, LONDON85

Aimed at people who lead or would like to lead any form of community singing, including primary and secondary schools, youth, adult and cross-generational singing groups and choirs. The day will explore physical and vocal warm up activities, developing skills in directing and conducting, and tips on effective song teaching without the use of written music and is led by Gitika Partington.

www.sound-connections.org.uk

MUSIC4U NATIONAL CONFERENCE27 FEBRUARY | NATIONAL CENTRE FOR EARLY MUSIC, YORK

Music4U, which offers musical opportunities to young people under the age of 18 living in challenging circumstances throughout York and the Humber and is led by the National Centre for Early Music in York, holds its second conference on 27 February entitled Music for Life The Impact of Music on the Wellbeing of Deaf Young People. Aimed at practitioners, the conference will focus on the challenges faced by deaf young people and how music can promote and improve mental and emotional wellbeing.

www.ncem.co.uk

MUSIC EDUCATION EXPO12&13 MARCh | BARBICAN CONFERENCE CENTRE, LONDONFREE

The Music Education Expo, run in association with MT, is free to attend and offers a wide-ranging programme of CPD opportunities, networking, performances and workshops.

www.musiceducationexpo.co.uk

MT_1114_19_Diary.indd 19 20/10/2014 15:33:54

Minute Of Listening has really helped our kids start appreciating the sounds around them and articulating what they hear

Mary Doe, Sandringham High

A minute of listening for every day of the school year, produced by Sound and Music, the national agency for new music.

www.minuteoflistening.org

Sound and Music

MT_1114 Ads.indd 20 17/10/2014 11:09:29


MT INTERVIEW

MT Graeme Smith, congratulations on your new post. What is your absolute priority in terms of your members interests?Thank you. There are two priorities. First, Music Mark exists to enable its members to learn and develop, especially from each other. Much of the activity in my first few weeks as chair has been around putting together our annual conference. It promises to be an extraordinary gathering of music educators. Yes there will be presentations to interest and stimulate delegates, but there will also be plenty of opportunity for sharing and contributing. For example we have an Open Space session where members and partners can share an initiative they are developing speed dating for music educators! We shall also have an absorbing debate exploring whole class ensemble teaching.

The other priority is that Music Mark exists to provide a voice for its members to ensure government and other stakeholders create the environment where music education can flourish. It is not just about calling for more money for music education. We need to build a compelling case by explaining how

music education hub funding can be used most effectively, how music services and schools can work together, and how other musicians and cultural organisations can contribute. With the combined expertise of our members, we can do that. We are calling the final session of our conference Dear Prime Minister. After two days exploring progression in music education we are going to determine the message we will give to those who wish to form the next government. We are going to tell them what they need to do to enable us to provide that progression for all our children and young people.

MT As head of Croydon Music and Arts, are you having to plan ahead for a possible future without government funding?No, we are focussed on what we do with the funding we have. It is true that the three-year cycle of government funding provides at least a theoretical chance that funding will stop, but a childs education lasts for 13 years. We need continued funding to provide access and progression for all. But Im not hiding my head in the sand. Thats why I belong to Music Mark and why I am determined that we get our message across about all that we shall be able to do with continued funding.

MT Music Mark must have the most diverse membership of any professional association for musos. Why should potential members join up, rather than a more specialist organisation?From some perspectives perhaps our membership is diverse, but what unites us is that we are all music educators. The diversity stems from the range of personal, social, cultural, educational and therapeutic effects music can have to meet the different needs of children. Music as a form of communication is so personal, and for young people it is a critical part of their identity. To meet those needs and interests we need many different types of music educator, each making their

own contribution. But we also need to work together effectively as a team. That is why we need Music Mark and our network of music services and their hub partnerships to bring music educators together.

MT You now have a chair and a general manager helming Music Mark, where you used to have a chair and a chief executive. Who now makes the strategic decisions and responds to member feedback?As a membership organisation we have a structure through our Focus Groups and our regional music service networks to enable members to communicate with each other and to the board of trustees and the staff team. Jem Shuttleworth, our general manager, works with the board to set the strategic priorities and the staff team ensure they are carried out. As chair I am in regular contact with Jem to keep up to date with the different work streams.

Thats the formal bit. In any organisation there is also a great deal of informal communication which supports that process. In Music Mark we also need to draw on the expertise of our members, for example to respond to a particular consultation or drive forward a particular initiative. We aim to harness our members expertise and give them their voice.

MT What is Music Marks role in the context of similar organisations and the wider sector? Music Mark is committed to working collaboratively with other organisations across the sector. We have our own distinct perspective and will always ensure our voice is heard, but ultimately our members interests are best served if we can build a broad coalition across the sector.

Q&ACAreer PAth:197276 MA in Mathematics at St Johns

College,Cambridge 197681 Studied Violaat the Guildhall

School of Music and Drama and the National Centre for Orchestral Studies; trained as a teacher at the University of London Institute of Education; freelance viola player in London

198186 Taught at St Marys Music School in Edinburgh

19862000 Head of Eastbourne Regional Music Centre, East Sussex Music Service

2000 Head of Croydon Music and Arts2014 Appointed chair of Music Mark

Graeme Smith is the incoming chair of Music Mark

MT_1114_21_Q&A.indd 21 20/10/2014 15:34:52

Artur PizArroSo, how did you develop your technique?Lets see. For the first couple of years, still with my grandmother and my first teacher. What they really concentrated on was just getting my hands sorted. I think I could do about a fourth or a fifth; that was about it, and that was with my hands wide open. They just made sure that my hands werent doing anything that would hurt my development, or hurt them. So I think they concentrated on my being as relaxed in front of the instrument as I could be. But it wasnt until I started working with Sequeira Costa, when my hand was already a little bit bigger, that we really started on the correct position of the hand: creating the support arch; making sure that the knuckles were the highest point of the hand; making sure that the wrists were never blocked. So, creating strength in the hand but not blocking the wrist, making sure the wrist was in permanent use, and keeping the nice circle that you have in the hand, so, you know it doesnt look flat.

We also worked on making sure that the thumb is loose, all that kind of thing. This work started from age five onwards. We didnt do the really repetitive motion things, like the Brahms, Pischna or the Joseffy exercises. None of those seriously repetitive, mechanical things. We used a lot of the various books by Czerny, from the Five-Finger exercises and the School of Velocity to, for example, the Daily Exercises, the ones that repeat every two bars. Forty times, and all that. We didnt do those so much.

Great stuff. We did do, for example, The Art of Finger Dexterity. That is kind of where I wound up with the Czerny exercises. We did a lot of Clementis Gradus ad Parnassum, the Cramer exercises and the Clementi exercises. And that was it. Lots of scales, lots of arpeggios, and doing scales correctly, at the distance of octaves, thirds, sixths and tenths. Sometimes also chromatic

Noriko ogAwA

So which teacher do you think was the most crucial in your development as a pianist? Right from the beginning everybody was very, very important. Of course my mother was a big influence for me. She was always making sure I practised every day. So in a way I had a tutor at home. It was Mrs Kuroda who really taught me how to use each finger. She was very important. Then I started with Madame

Aiko Iguchi, who was one of the best-known piano teachers in Japan. But probably my biggest influence, I would say now, was from Benjamin Kaplan, who is in London. He, very unfortunately, passed away recently. He was the teacher that I found by myself and I have not been in London yet without him.

So how old were you when you came to London to study?Well, I was a junior student at the Juilliard School when I came across Benjamin Kaplan. He was visiting New York and I was a very difficult, frustrated student back then. And rather cynical, because I would go to competitions and I would always do okay but never really, really well, because I was a very frustrated student, not getting what I wanted. I was not able to have any kind of magical click with anybody at the Juilliard.

My music education was a very personal thing, and I needed to have someone that I could fully trust musically. And a friend of mine said, Why dont you play for Ben Kaplan, who is visiting New York? Not for a very long time but you know, he might be able to spare an hour or two for you. So I went along to the flat where he was staying and played to him, and I have to say it was musical love at first sight. I knew I had found somebody I was looking for and that it had been well worth it for me to go all the way to New York, even after spending years being a frustrated student. So he found me a scholarship in London and I came here absolutely penniless. I had lessons as many times as I wanted, and suddenly, after The

Leeds [International Piano Competition, in which Ogawa came third in 1987] all the doors opened.

What do you think is the difference between learning the piano in Japan compared to learning it here in the UK? Well, the stages of my life were so different. I was a child, a teenager when I was in Japan and then when I came into London I was a grown-up. So I cannot actually compare in a very simple way. But, what I would say is that in Japanese society you do what you are told to do, and over here you have to find what you have to do, and both [situations] are easyand not easy at the same time. For Japanese children it can be very demanding to be giventoo many opportunities because we areborn in to a society where you do what you are told. If you are suddenly free then it could be too much pressure in a very strangeway.

For a Japanese child like I was, it was good to have some kind of framework during my formative years.

After your teens, it would be fantastic to have the kind of education that the British music world can offer to be free to think, choose what you want to play in terms of repertoire, to go and find for yourself what you like to do and explore all kinds of possibilities. Its really too much for Japanese children, I would think. I dont want to sound too chauvinistic about it. This kind of freedom and the endless opportunity that weve got in the British music world is really absolutely fantastic its like a honey pot!

I played for BenjamIn Kaplan and I have to say It was musIcal love at fIrst sIght

If you dont layer the learnIng very carefully not only technIcally, But musIcally so that as a person you develop and you develop your

emotIonal output, you can cause proBlems

Royal A

cademy of M

usicSa

toru

Mits

uta


teAchiNg the stArsMelanie Spanswick asked three concert pianists how they developed their technique

MT_1114_22_Spanswick.indd 22 20/10/2014 15:37:06

Artur PizArroSo, how did you develop your technique?Lets see. For the first couple of years, still with my grandmother and my first teacher. What they really concentrated on was just getting my hands sorted. I think I could do about a fourth or a fifth; that was about it, and that was with my hands wide open. They just made sure that my hands werent doing anything that would hurt my development, or hurt them. So I think they concentrated on my being as relaxed in front of the instrument as I could be. But it wasnt until I started working with Sequeira Costa, when my hand was already a little bit bigger, that we really started on the correct position of the hand: creating the support arch; making sure that the knuckles were the highest point of the hand; making sure that the wrists were never blocked. So, creating strength in the hand but not blocking the wrist, making sure the wrist was in permanent use, and keeping the nice circle that you have in the hand, so, you know it doesnt look flat.

We also worked on making sure that the thumb is loose, all that kind of thing. This work started from age five onwards. We didnt do the really repetitive motion things, like the Brahms, Pischna or the Joseffy exercises. None of those seriously repetitive, mechanical things. We used a lot of the various books by Czerny, from the Five-Finger exercises and the School of Velocity to, for example, the Daily Exercises, the ones that repeat every two bars. Forty times, and all that. We didnt do those so much.

Great stuff. We did do, for example, The Art of Finger Dexterity. That is kind of where I wound up with the Czerny exercises. We did a lot of Clementis Gradus ad Parnassum, the Cramer exercises and the Clementi exercises. And that was it. Lots of scales, lots of arpeggios, and doing scales correctly, at the distance of octaves, thirds, sixths and tenths. Sometimes also chromatic

scales and the arpeggios with all the inversions. And all of that legato, at various speeds and dynamics and so on. The idea was that by the time that I was ten or eleven I would have physical command of the instrument; I would know how to play thepiano.

Even lessons started with that scales and arpeggios followed by your Czerny exercises, or whatever other exercises. That was usually the first hour of the lesson, and then the last half hour would be little Mozart minuets, Bach two- and three-part inventions, slowly graduating into the French Suites. What else did we do? Little Beethoven sonatinas, Clementi sonatinas, slowly and very progressively and methodically layering technical issues and allowing my hands togrow.

So, very much like singers: singers have a certain age where they can start singing, and then theres a certain age where they do a certain repertoire, otherwise you ruin the instrument. And we all know that singers are hyper-aware of their instrument because it is in their body, and theyre the only ones

who have that instrument; well the hands are our instrument, and they grow in the same way. Our hands only really mature in our twenties, and if you dont layer the work very carefully not only technically, but musically so that as a person you develop and you develop your emotional output, you can cause problems. And if you tackle things too soon or too late, youre out of whack and you never reallyrecover.

When I then started teaching, and I did a few years at Guildhall, I saw people in their late teens who were either doing repertoire that was well above what they should be doing, because they hadnt been given the foundation to get there, or they were still playing things like Beethoven sonatinas because they hadnt been given enough. So, its a tightrope, and I have to really give thanks to the fact that everybody I worked with was a performing musician.

Makes a huge difference!Because youre not only teaching how to play the instrument, youre not only teaching the repertoire, youre also having to teach and condition from a very early age what its like to be on stage and prepare the repertoire for that whether you get there or not. It is a slightly different path, and there is a slightly different confidence to it. And I find that the modern separation of you either play or you teach, very toxic.

Noriko ogAwALeeds [International Piano Competition, in which Ogawa came third in 1987] all the doors opened.

What do you think is the difference between learning the piano in Japan compared to learning it here in the UK? Well, the stages of my life were so different. I was a child, a teenager when I was in Japan and then when I came into London I was a grown-up. So I cannot actually compare in a very simple way. But, what I would say is that in Japanese society you do what you are told to do, and over here you have to find what you have to do, and both [situations] are easyand not easy at the same time. For Japanese children it can be very demanding to be giventoo many opportunities because we areborn in to a society where you do what you are told. If you are suddenly free then it could be too much pressure in a very strangeway.

For a Japanese child like I was, it was good to have some kind of framework during my formative years.

After your teens, it would be fantastic to have the kind of education that the British music world can offer to be free to think, choose what you want to play in terms of repertoire, to go and find for yourself what you like to do and explore all kinds of possibilities. Its really too much for Japanese children, I would think. I dont want to sound too chauvinistic about it. This kind of freedom and the endless opportunity that weve got in the British music world is really absolutely fantastic its like a honey pot!

I played for BenjamIn Kaplan and I have to say It was musIcal love at fIrst sIght

If you dont layer the learnIng very carefully not only technIcally, But musIcally so that as a person you develop and you develop your

emotIonal output, you can cause proBlems

Royal A

cademy of M

usic

Sven

Arn

stein


teAchiNg the stArsMelanie Spanswick asked three concert pianists how they developed their technique


Federico colliSo which teacher do you think was crucial in your development?I started with a very strong Italian lady. She was very powerful to very little children. I studied with her until eight years of age. It was a method with coloured notes, and I printed them into the scores, there were a lot of games. After the age of eight, something changed in my life when I started to study with Sergio Marengoni. Hes very important in Italy and was a formal professor in Milan Conservatory. I studied with him privately until 16, when I did my diploma in Milan. I am very grateful to Sergio Marengoni because with him I understood what the base of playing the piano is.

So how did you develop your technique?A lot of the personality and the technique I have on the piano was given to me by Sergio Marangoni. This was crucial. Also Konstantin Bogino, who I met after my diploma, helped me to develop my technique; he taught me the very important role of the relaxation of the body and of the hands, and with him I realised, practically, that our body is the most important means in order to produce the beautiful sound.

Did you practice studies? How did you develop it?We studied a lot of Bach and the Classical repertoire, Mozart, and Beethoven. In those years I started to think that Mozart could be one of my favourite composers. And also I covered a little of the Romantic period, focusing on Schuman and Chopin we studied a lot of Chopin. Pieces that are necessary for a young pianist to study.

And we did a lot of technique together a lot of Hanon, with Czerny and Cranmer studies. It was crucial. I spent a lot of time in front of the keyboard studying to improve my fingers. This is bad job, but its necessary. And after 16, I had lessons with Konstantin Bogino and [several other] Russian teachers Boris Petrushansky, and after the Leeds [which Colli won in 2012], Pavel Gililov. I always say that my

character is half Italian, half Russian. And with Bogino, hes the pianist of the Tchaikovsky Trio while teaching a lot. Hes a really wonderful teacher and his father was a legend in Russia, writing a lot of books about how to play piano.

With Bogino, I really understood the job of a concert pianist that it is necessary to spend your life in front of the piano. The best time to play in the day is from 2am until midnight all the time is good for playing. And the music we play should not be outside of us, but part of our life, part of our destiny. I began taking part in competitions to improve myself and see what the crazy world of the competition was like. Studying with Bogino at 16 was a life-changing experience, and so too was when

I met Boris Petrushansky at the age of 20. And fortunately Bogino and Petrushansky have a very good relationship they studied together in Moscow. You could almost say that its impossible for Petrushansky to teach you how to play the piano because you have to be able to play in order to meet him! Hes a teacher of life and imagination; with him I had the privilege to reflect about the ideas that must support the music. MT

The full video interviews, and nearly 40 more with top pianists, can be found in Melanie Spanswicks Classical Conversations series. The full series is available to view at www.melaniespanswick.com

With Bogino, i really understood the joB of a concert pianist that it is necessary to spend your life in front of the piano. the Best time to play in the day is from 2am until midnight

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THE LAUNCHLang Lang, in partnership with Faber Music, has released a series of technique books. He launched them at the 1901 Arts Club on 2 September and promoted them on radio and TV. So what is this series and why should we pay it any attention? What will be, if any, the Lang Lang effect?

The series consists of ve books, referred to as levels, progressing from Grade 1 to Grade 6. The boundaries are just a little outside their grade equivalents: Level 1 has some pieces nearer to Grade 2 and Level 5 has some pieces that have appeared on Grade 6 syllabuses, for example Mussorgskys ATear. Each book is divided into eight units addressing different aspects of a sound technique. As Lang Lang said at the launch,

there is nothing new here the pieces include those from the core piano repertoire alongside arrangements of music from around the world. I have no doubt that if a pupil completes each one they will have the foundation of a very secure technique and will probably have enjoyed the process. The factors that make this series different from the Czerny or Hanon editions are the personal tips and messages from Lang Lang, illustrated by photos of him playing. Personalisation is a powerful tool and this generation of learners loves a personality.

BOOK BY BOOKLevel 1s unit topics include: Exploring the Keyboard, Developing Dexterity, and Independent Fingers. The pieces include

an Etude by Kohler and an arrangement of Saint-Sans The Elephant. These are set alongside more contemporary pieces such as Wedgwoods Mission Impossible, Bullards Jogging Study and arrangements of Chinese and African folk tunes (the Lantern Song and Embrukoi respectively). There is plenty to attract pupils and delight teachers, and of course there are the Lang Lang tips for every piece. I was sceptical about these; I give out tips to my pupils and after quite a few years of teaching I like to think that they are quite good. However I tried some out on my pupils: Lang Lang tells us that his teacher would explain technique using imagery, and that legato could be likened to the suckers on a geckos feet. I tried this out on a pupil and instantly his legato improved. It could be that this simile just worked for him or it could be that I prefaced it with Lang Lang says I also showed my pupils the iPlayer clip of Lang Lang playing a Chopin tude with an orange in his right hand to demonstrate the perfect hand shape, and sent them home with an orange Ihate to say it but they were more impressed than if I had just said it.

LANG LANG TELLS US THAT HIS TEACHER WOULD EXPLAIN TECHNIQUE USING IMAGERY, AND THAT LEGATO COULD

BE LIKENED TO THE SUCKERS ON A GECKOS FEET

Royal A

cademy of M

usic


LEARNING WITH LANG LANG

Can the global star of the concert platform really inject something new into your

teaching studio? Believe it, says Fiona Lau

Lang Lang performs at the launch

MT_1114_26_Lang Lang.indd 26 20/10/2014 15:53:26

Level 2 is full of some of my favourite pieces, including Schumanns Soldiers March, and Burgmullers Arabesque. There is also an arrangement of a Japanese lullaby and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Level 3 has units introducing the pedal and playing in new keys, and includes Tchaikovskys Old French Song, Handels Sarabande and an attractive contrapuntal arrangement of El Condor Pasa. Skipping on to Level 5, as mentioned there are pieces from about Grade 46 standard and units include: Refining the Touch, Phrasing and Rubato and Performing all vital topics for advanced level pianists. There are also studies that any anthology worth its salt contains, including Hellers Study in A flat and Mozarts Fantasia in D minor. There is no doubt that this is a good, well-thought through series of technique books.

Why learn With lang lang?When I told friends and colleagues that I was going to the launch of Lang Langs Mastering the Piano series and that I would meet the man himself, there was a variety of responses, ranging from those excited at the prospect

(Ihave probably never impressed my Chinese family so much), to the rather derisory reactions of self-appointed piano experts.

Well I met him, and a more charming, self-effacing man it would be hard to find. However, delightful as he was, that is not the point. In these days of fewer children taking up an instrument, the squeeze on music in schools, parents not having the money or desire to pay for lessons, and children themselves giving up when instant mastery and stardom do not materialise, we need musicians like Lang Lang. He makes the piano fun, he is young, he enjoys his playing and he bothers with piano education. He does not confine himself to giving master classes to the upper echelons of the worlds piano students, but sets up academies, involves children in mass duet playing and writes books for beginner pianists. He performs at the Roundhouse, plays the flashiest version of Mozarts Alla Turca I have heard in a while, does the odd encore on an iPad and goes on The One Show. And why not?

Sometimes we get far too precious and uppity about classical music and forget that music is supposed to be, among other things, enjoyable. Nigel Scaife, director of syllabus

at ABRSM, opined that there is room for everyone; the Alfred Brendels and the Lang Langs of the piano world. In sport we have Mo Farah and David Rudisha, each bringing different things to athletics, and this is what we are fortunate enough to have in the piano world. How lucky are we as piano teachers to have a role model who is young, enthusiastic, works hard at his job and tells pupils that it is worth it? Get over the snootiness and thank your lucky stars that there is such a positive role model around, one who comes off the concert circuit and says yes, you can do it too, its hard work but look what fun we can have, and heres how to do it.

So, I like the books. Whats not to like? Life is all the better for a bit of stardust. MT

Mastering the Piano, Levels 15 from the Lang Lang Piano Academy are published by Faber Music, and cost between 8.99 and 9.99www.langlangpianoacademy.comwww.langlang.com)

Mt readers discountGet 10% off the price of all the books in the Lang Lang Piano Academy Mastering the Piano series. Simply use the code MTMAG14 at the checkout when purchasing from www.langlangpianoacademy.com.

The offer runs from 1 to 30 November 2014 inclusive. It can be used for any number of copies, but cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional code or offer.

hoW lucky are We as piano teachers to have a role Model Who is young, enthusiastic, Works hard at

his job and tells pupils that it is Worth it?


Fiona Lau with LangLang at the launch

MT_1114_26_Lang Lang.indd 27 20/10/2014 15:54:35

Trinity College London (TCL) has just released a brand new piano syllabus for 2015-2017. This article will take you through the various features and innovations of this new syllabus, as well as providing an insight into TCLs approach to syllabus development. We will take each section of the exam one by one, beginning with pieces.

PIECESIn common with other boards, candidates are required to perform three pieces, but the way these are grouped in the piano syllabus is unique to Trinity. At Initial, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 there are no groups at all, meaning that candidates can choose freely from the whole list. At Grades 48 there are two groups A and B and candidates must choose at least one piece from each list to make a total of three pieces.

Within this flexible structure, candidates are encouraged to offer balanced programmes. This can be achieved in a number of ways a tried-and-tested approach is to select pieces from different musical periods, but it may also be possible to think in terms of contrast of mood/character, tempo, key and also technical demands. Even at the higher grades, where candidates are required to select from two groups, the flexibility offered by these groups allows a candidate to present a programme of, for example, entirely Baroque and Classical pieces if they feel they have particular strengths in these fields.

Of course, we are keen to encourage all

students to study and experience a whole range of musical styles and idioms. However, our aim as an exam board is not to prescribe a teaching curriculum but to give ample opportunity for all candidates to have a sufficiently wide-rangingchoice of repertoire when it comes to presenting their strongest facets in the exam.

In the 20152017 piano syllabus, cornerstones of the repertoire are combined with works by less-well-known composers, with the less familiar works always falling within the bounds of recognisable, accessible styles. The earliest works are taken from the collection The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and at the other end of the timescale we have included pieces that have been written

especially for this syllabus and, as such, are previously unpublished. At the lower grades there are arrangements of non-piano pieces in both classical and popular styles, selected not only for their attractiveness and musical accessibility but also for their pianistic and pedagogical appropriateness.

The choice to perform a duet has been a notable feature of Trinitys Initial piano exam for some time. This feature has now been extendedto Grade 1, and the 20152017 syllabus has two duets listed at this level as well as three at Initial. To perform these duets in the exam, candidates may bring a teacher, family member or friendinto the exam with them, and at Initial it is also permissible to perform the primo part unaccompanied

as a solo item. Apart from the fun element of preparing and performing a duet, such an activity can provide an excellent vehicle for developing listening skills and ensemble awareness.

Another feature unique to Trinity is that candidates can choose to perform one of their own compositions in place of any of the three pieces specified at any grade. The focus here is on assessing the performance rather than the quality of the piece, but the hope is that candidates will feel encouraged to bring something of their own musical personality into the exam and gain recognition for performing it. The syllabus contains more information on this option.

TECHNICAL WORKThe Trinity approach to technical work for piano is to ask candidates to prepare a limited number of scales and arpeggios and three technical exercises. This way, a range of technical skills can be tested while also offering variety and some interesting materials for teaching and learning.

At Initial, for example, scales and broken triads (a smaller reach than a full arpeggio) are asked in the keys of C major and A minor. Alongside this, candidates are offered three pairs of exercises and are asked to prepare one from each pair. Each pair tests something specific from the following options: tone, balance and voicing co-ordination

OuR AIm AS AN ExAm bOARd IS NOT TO PRESCRIbE A TEACHINg CuRRICuLum buT TO gIvE AmPLE OPPORTuNITy fOR ALL CANdIdATES TO HAvE A SuffICIENTLy WIdERANgINg CHOICE

Of REPERTOIRE WHEN IT COmES TO PRESENTINg THEIR STRONgEST fACETS

Nancy Litten (left) and Clare Clements perform at the syllabus launch


We asked ex-MT editor and Trinity College Londons Head of Qualifications (Music) Chris Walters to describe the rationale behind the boards new piano syllabus

SyllabuS uSer GuideS:TriniTy ColleGe london

MT_1114_28_TCL Piano User Guide.indd 28 20/10/2014 17:25:22

especially for this syllabus and, as such, are previously unpublished. At the lower grades there are arrangements of non-piano pieces in both classical and popular styles, selected not only for their attractiveness and musical accessibility but also for their pianistic and pedagogical appropriateness.

The choice to perform a duet has been a notable feature of Trinitys Initial piano exam for some time. This feature has now been extendedto Grade 1, and the 20152017 syllabus has two duets listed at this level as well as three at Initial. To perform these duets in the exam, candidates may bring a teacher, family member or friendinto the exam with them, and at Initial it is also permissible to perform the primo part unaccompanied

as a solo item. Apart from the fun element of preparing and performing a duet, such an activity can provide an excellent vehicle for developing listening skills and ensemble awareness.

Another feature unique to Trinity is that candidates can choose to perform one of their own compositions in place of any of the three pieces speci ed at any grade. The focus here is on assessing the performance rather than the quality of the piece, but the hope is that candidates will feel encouraged to bring something of their own musical personality into the exam and gain recognition for performing it. The syllab

music_teacher_2014_11.pdf

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