ITALIAN HOUSE AND FRENCH CHURCHES.

Our warm up music this morning was the Italian song Voglio Una Casa _ I Want a House _ composed by Lucilla Galleazzi, and sung by her in an arrangement by Christine Pluhar with the ensemble Arpeggiata.

The gentle but intense 3 beat metre suited our movements but it wasn’t until we sat down to listen again while following the text that the song could be fully appreciated. Beautiful voice and tender sentiments.

Awakening our voices after the long break we tackled some scales and breathing exercises before launching into the new song ‘Brand New Day”, written by Paul Wilson and Marilyn Tucker for the Milennium but definitely a good sing at any time. This piece will take some time to bed in but it will be worth the effort. (Don’t I always say that?)

The noisy as ever coffee break was followed by some practice on the instruments, up and down scales, stoating the sticks.

Then, continuing on the ‘new’ theme, we began a new Orff piece with French text, Carillon de Vendôme, arranged for 3 part voice ensemble with glockenspiels, metallophone and flute. We made a good start, singing the 3 parts.

I didn’t interrupt the flow of my blog to mention the fire drill which came smack in the middle of our listening to ‘I Want a House”. Suffice it to say that we all made a quick exit, out beside the pond, on a lovely morning, happy there was no real fire in our house (pictured above)

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A CAROLLING MORNING

Somehow these icy days made me think of the Russian winter, reminding me of the lovely sound of the balalaika orchestra and this morning we warmed up to the music of Russian folk dance.

We were a big group today, with only two members absent so that standing close together and becoming aware of the blend of the voices we made a good sound, opening on THE CAROL OF THE ADVENT.

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? gives the opportunity for single voices to sing in 'call and response' style. Mairi, Jim, Isla and John each took a verse and backed by Irene on the drum, this song sounded effective.

We sang through THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS and repeated it, groups of 1, 2, or 3 singing each verse.

Rounding up after coffee took some doing as the talk was going strong but when we finally settled down we gave good energy to 'It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", a thoughtful carol and antidote to the pre-Christmas, buying babble.
Thinking back to THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS we decided the text was somewhat out of date and gave it our new 2008 RECESSION VERSION, to much hilarity.
Our Christmas lunch, organised by Carol and Gordon at the Douglas Park Golf Club, was a real joy - good food, wine and company. And of course we raised the rafters with our songs. Mairi, after some persuasion and reluctantly after eating so well, delighted us all with some 'joining in' songs.

My thanks to all for making this such a successful and happy session. ------------------

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Looking forward to seeing everyone back on 13th January.
With every good wish, Moira.

Click on the picture below to see the days events. Unfortunately you need about 15 minutes to watch it. There are a few videos in the presentation and depending on your broadband connection these take a bit of time to load. There are 34 slides to see and if you get a black screen when a video is loading just give it time and you will then see and hear us singing . Please make sure your sound it turned up. To see an alternative presentation for the photos only click on the small Christmas tree at the bottom of this post -- Cheers and Merry Christmas from Carol your webmaster

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Enjoy Music_ Christmas 2008

ADVENT CAROL FOR THE CAFE STAFF.

We opened today with harp music by Alison Kinnaird _ Balfour Village and Shapinsay Polka, using its 8 beat phrases to pace our breathing and develop breath control.
Not quite hyperventilated, but certainly buoyed up on this intake of air, we then managed a good full sound in the 3 part harmonies of SENJUA.
SIYAHAMBA also needs good secure harmony and to this end we spent some time working on the second part, sung by the lower voices. Next week should see a big improvement on this.
Moving on to the instruments, we then built up the four ostinatos, underpinned by Carol on the drum with Moira Perritt making a magnificent effort on the bass xylophone, for I SHALL SING, before starting the song. Keeping all this together is demanding of everyone but well worth striving for as it's hugely satisfying to achieve that feeling of ensemble, plus - it's a good song.
THE CAROL OF THE ADVENT was our seasonal piece today and what a pleasure that is to sing!
Having been told by the cafe staff that they'd been listening to it from the balcony above us, we decided to wish them a good Christmas break by giving them a performance in the cafe at the end of the morning: a small, but appreciative audience.
Click on the picture below to see more -- Please allow time to load

Make a Smilebox slideshow

SOME MORE FUN FROM ENJOY MUSIC

In the absence Moira (hope she is enjoying Berlin and Venice) we had another DIY session, in the spirit of "Have a go and have fun!" Isla very ably organised the proceedings and all 17 of us had a very enjoyable morning.

Diana started us off with warm-up exercises " (Yoga Style) followed by some unusual but very effective vocal exercises from Mairi.

We all then joined in to sing "The Lights of Lochindaal"

Next on the agenda was Joan who played a very difficult flute piece called " Morcaeu de Concours", which she played beautifully, accompanied by Isla on the keyboard.

This was the followed by us all singing "The Bonnie Lass o'Fyvie"

Gordon then sang "Carmen Antisphearisticum " as a rehearsal for his duties next spring as "Deputy Cantor" after the Aberdeen Glasgow Annual Senate University Golf Match. Again Isla played the keyboard for him.

This was next followed by Sue who read out 2 very nice poems by Kenneth Steven called " Trust" and "Gathering Sloes". Jim then played 4 pieces on his "whistle" alernating slow melodies with faster tunes.

We then all sang "Chevalier de la table ronde" and Mairi finished off with the Song - "Over the Mountain " before we all had a deserved cup of coffee or tea.

Isla then got us all singing "There was an Auld Seceder Cat" before her departure and we were then entertained by Mairi again with some "Strathspey, Reel and Jig " Gaelic songs.

To round off the morning we sang "The Wee Room" and "Wee Kirkcudburgh" followed by Irene leading the group in a couple songs sung in two part harmony. --- which she rated as "Coming Along !" in the best traditions of Moira Jakobbson

Well done to all who "had a go " and thanks to Isla for her organisation

WE SHALL SING.

Van Morisson's 'I Shall Sing' was the high point of our morning.
For starters, we resonated with:
'Spinnn lassie spinnn, an even thread and thinnn.
From this fleecy coat of thine
I will make a plaidy fine;
Spin lassie spinnn.'
After this, the African songs, Senjua and Sijahamba resounded wonderfully, Senjua in 3-part harmony.

Moving on to Scottish songs, we sang The Fair Lady, followed by Air Falalalo, by which point the jaws were truly well exercised.

Introducing the beautiful Carol of the Advent, to the French tune Besancon, words by Eleanor Farjeon, to new members, we sang it straight through today, in preparation for the start of December.

Coming back refreshed from the coffee break, we picked up the Van Morisson song, which we haven't sung since last spring. Although we know it well I Shall Sing has always been tricky for us when it comes to fitting the four ostinatos together with the voices.
Perhaps it was the six month rest, but for the first time, everyone was switched on to that beat, listening, playing and singing. Quite a thrill, for me, at least.

I'll be away next week but I can hear from the various conversations, that preparations are afoot for a good programme. Have a good morning and I'll be back on 1st December.

p.s. Here's an ORFFY diversion with thanks to Hollywood, Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor -- Click on the play button to get the movie going !!

AN IMPROVISING DAY.

Today we resurrected many percussion instruments which have spent a long time in the cupboard.
Maracas, claves, small drums, chicken shakers, triangle, indian bells and temple blocks all came out and building on last week's practice we continued with LOVE SOMEBODY, singing the call & response.
Then the tune was played on the instruments, followed by a group improvisations section accompanied by a bass ostinato. Having got a feel for the instruments each person then chose one on which to make an individual improvisation. This was a mesmeric multi repetition of the tune with a different percussion interlude each time. A second go showed how quickly we can get the hang of both the instruments, and doing an improvisation; some very interesting passages ensued.
After making a big sound in the cafe, all 22 of us then made an even better sound with I SHALL SING, MANDELA and LAZY.

LOVE SOMEBODY YES I DO!

LOVE SOMEBODY YES I DO!
(American folk song of Scandinavian descent)
We worked on this song today _ body percussion and call and response with voices, which were further exercised in a good sing through Air Fal al al O.
Returning to LOVE SOMEBODY, after some practice we played the tune on the instruments  - a delightful sound which we'll make more of next week.

Angus McTavish we kept going, singing through the verses for the benefit of new members.

Our final song was MANDELA DANCED IN THE SQUARE  - always uplifting.

Before next week:
Have a listen to 'A Dram Before Breakfast' and make up some body percussion to its rhythms.

The picture above is  called " Seagulls on Ice "  ---  They were listening to all our music  - A real cold morning in Milngavie  but plenty of warmth inside at "Enjoy Music" ! --- click on the photo for an enlargement

HEARTY WARM UP ON A COLD MORNING

The Icelandic ' South River Band' gave us our warm up music this morning -- A Dram Before Breakfast, which inspired energetic arm stretches and feisty foot stamping -- Click on the "Play" Button above to hear this great tune --- give it time to load
Working on the voices, we moved on to singing 'Kumula Vista' in hocket, each person following the previous with a short phrase and this is beginning to show up some fine, if under confident, singers.
Concentrated practice on Old Angus followed, with xylophone & glock players learning their parts separately while the others, supported by Kate and Moira on the bass, put together the song and other percussion parts. Playing, singing and listening so that all the parts keep in time together is quite a skill and week by week we are improving at it, mainly by getting the 'feel' of the music.
We ended the morning with the beautiful harmonies of 'Banua". Three part close harmony was complemented by Mairi and Isla's 4th part soaring above the melody. This was repeated many times, as we settled into hearing our own sound - a lovely, warm feeling.

INVISIBLE VISITORS.

"A Dram Before Breakfast" by the Icelandic group South River Band was the warm up music for our group of 18 today and after opening up the vocal chords and mobilising the facial muscles, we learned a new song "Love Somebody, Yes I Do!" a folk song of Scandinavian origins and well suited to call and response treatment.
Getting on to the instruments, we revisited White Swans, singing and playing it in 4-part round, which went remarkably well considering that several people were learning it on the hoof.
After coffee we made a start on learning to play the tune "Love Somebody" - a good training for the musical ear.
Finally we spent some time on Angus, singing the verses and fitting in the side drum, timpani, bells and bass xylophone. This is coming along nicely and believe me, one day soon, will all fit beautifully together.
As we ended the session, there was a 'happening'! The fire doors suddenly flew open letting in brilliant rays of sunshine - the 'six golden angels' had come to join us!

RETURNING TO OLD ANGUS

We started the session with music by the Klezmatics, a New York group who play Klezma music based on the melodies and style of the Ashkenazy jews of central Europe.
The track we focused on was their version of the Woody Guthrie song I'm Gonna Clean up this World which seemed singularly appropriate in view of recent events on the financial scene and following on from Diana's circle dance of last week, we moved in a circle to the steady beat.
Introducing the song to new members, we then revisited THE WATERWHEEL, eventually singing in three parts and making a good, round sound with our voices.
OLD ANGUS MCTAVISH then got a lot of attention, first to learn the words, and then practise the alto part.
Five xylophone players then moved next door while the rest of us worked on the rhythms of the drums and bells.
This Orff arrangement takes a some concentrated practice but little by little we'll get there.
Many thanks to Rosemary for coordinating and recording last week's session while I was in Iceland. Sounds like it was a lot of fun. We really are a talented group in so many ways and now I'm looking forward to my chance to see a re-run.

HAVE A GO AND HAVE A FUN DAY AT ENJOY MUSIC

In the absence of our esteemed leader (hope she had a good holiday) we had a DIY session, in the spirit of "Have a go and have fun!"
Diana started us off with warm-up exercises and put us in good voice for two of our songs, including harmonies. Joan then introduced us to a lovely and poignant flute piece from Georgia, which she played beautifully,accompanied by Rosemary on keyboard, then led us nearer home to sing "Westering Home". The variety continued with a circle dance from Diana, with moves that were simple but most enjoyable. To finish the first half on a 'high' note, Jim, dressed for the part, took us "Down Below" with a very funny song about sewers.

He turned (with relief) to his whistle after the break and gave us a lively beat for clapping exercises. These descended into much hilarity, until Irene and Moira emerged as expert beat-keepers! We were then treated to two of the fine voices in the group, Irene teaching us a lovely song about a river, and Mairi finishing on a humorous note in "a Wee Hoose". There was just time for Rosemary to take us off to Africa for a Lion Hunt-scary stuff, a far and frivolous step from our start in Russia.

We truly 'had a go' and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks to all who led and followed!.

Many thanks to Rosemary Booth for this weeks report

NEW MEMBERS AND OLD FRIENDS

Two new members, Catriona and Lorna were on a steep learning curve this morning with the beaters and the instruments, while old friends Moira Perritt and Sheila Gardner revived after a long absence, what they learned last year.
At any rate, the scales went with a swing and the beaters were bouncing.
After that, a group took the xylophones next door to practise their parts for Angus McTavish, while the rest of us concentrated on the drum part -- tricky but satisfying when mastered and also fun.
Great to see the cafe opened again after the summer break. It does us good to go upstairs for a coffee & chat halfway through the session.

OUR FIRST 'PERFORMANCE'

After loosening up the joints to Fats Waller's stride piano and warming up the hands to the whistling of the German group 'Haindling', we warmed up the voices with some scales, by which time we ready to attack with gusto 'I need a waiter, with some water' _ a round which really gets up the energy rate.
On a totally different tack, we then learned and sang Banuwa _ a short African round with rich harmonies. Adding a clap in a cross rhythm took a bit of getting used to, but was effective when everyone picked it up.
After coffee, we continued with Orff's arrangement "Old Angus McTavish" _the song in 2 parts, bells and 2 drums + whistle. Next week we'll add xylophones.
We received surprise visits this morning from 2 groups of new starts from Milngavie Primary on a tour of the Community Centre. It seemed they got a bigger surprise than us, seeing and hearing all our instruments.
It was a joy to have them along and hear their thoughts about playing instruments and enjoying music.

A CONCENTRATED SESSION

It mattered not a jot that the rain poured down past the window this morning, since all eighteen of us were firmly focused on the musical activities, the opening one of which was moving to the wonderful long 7 beat metre of Bobby McFerrin's Circle-song Seven and the plentiful laughter generated during this started the process of warming up our voices.

Building on our practice last week with White Swans and Senjua, we sang and played them on our instruments, the hand movements becoming ever more confident and secure. Our voices sounded good too in the 3 part round.

After the coffee, we made a start on Old Angus McTavish a delightful and exciting arrangement by Carl Orff of this Scots rhyme, singing the four verses and learning the 2 part harmony.

Carol and Joan gave us a steady drive on the drums, Sheila added texture with the sleigh bells, while Kate on the bass xylophone kept the pitch secure. Jim's short phrases on the whistle completed the score for today.

Next week we'll add more xylophones!!!!

THE NEW SEASON STARTS.

We were sixteen making an energetic start to this new session.
After warming up, loosening the joints and finding that good posture, to instrumental music, flute, harp and pipes by the Whistlebinkies, in 8 beat metre, we moved on to listening and moving to beautiful voice music in 7 beat metre by Bobby McFerrin & Co._ quite a different "feel" and very unusual to our ears. Interesting to discover how a rhythm that seems unnatural at the outset can begin to feel settled and comfortable as the music progresses.
White Swans sung as a round, sounded good and composed as it is from downward scales, is a good instrumental exercise. Transferring the tune on to instruments and playing them in a 3- part round allowed us to make a complete piece in the form, instrumental - song - instrumental.
SENJUA, the African song of welcome, we sang in 3 -part harmony and similarly transferred our voice parts to the instruments.
After many repeats, it began to sound good.
The break was noisy and congenial _ there was much catching up to do after the long summer holiday.
We look forward to more happy music making and socialising next week.

Message from Moira - Our Music Blog is being noticed

Hope you're all well and enjoying your summer. I thought you might be interested to know that our music enthusiasm, thanks to Carol, is reaching far and wide.
Cheers, Moira.

On 30 Jul 2008, at 04:00, Robert wrote:
Hello, Moira!
Great blog you have.
I'm writing to you because something you mentioned on your blog caught my attention. It is about the song Kumula Vista (which you referenced as a vocal warm-up in an entry from February).
I can only find very limited resources concerning this song on the internet, and thought I would inquire as to whether or not you have a recorded performance of it. I first became familiar with the song through one of the Sing for Pleasure books, but that was years ago and I would like to re-introduce it, both to myself and my colleagues. Any information you may have will be a help!
Thank you,
Robert N.
Minneapolis, MN, USA

Hello Robert,
Glad you like our blog. I don't know of a recording of Kumula Vista and like you learned it from a Singing for Pleasure book. Perhaps they include a c.d. with their books now; you could check their web site.
Best wishes,Moira.

ICELANDIC FOLK SONG, IRVING BERLIN AND SCOTS SONG VIA ORFF.

Beginning with a good vocal warm up, we then introduced more recent members to the Icelandic folk song for the coming of summer, NU ER VETUR UR BAE and after singing it several times, could really appreciate the beautiful morning and the promise of summer ahead.
Irving Berlin's LAZY, from 1924, was next, always an enjoyable sing and it was even suggested it should be our signature tune!
We ended the session by adding the drum and cymbal to the parts learned last week for Carl Orff's setting of 'The Fair Lady", a powerful version of the Edinburgh song about the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots.
Since so many are unable to come to next week's meeting, the last before the summer, we'll skip the lunch this time and simply round off the year with a good coffee break chat and plenty of music.

A DRUMMING MORNING.

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Our meeting was led this morning by Signy Jakobsdottir, percussionist who provided us with a variety of instruments and really gave us the chance to explore the world of percussion. We showed our two years' experience of group playing, picking up the ideas and keeping a good ensemble as we divided into parts playing different rhythms.
Brazil met Milngavie when we put our energies into the roto toms, hand drums, tambourin and bass drum for a full 'call and response' Brazilian style.
Here we could really work out the aggressions, if we had any, or feel the exhilaration of that high energy playing.
The morning ended with a complete run through of "White Swans", song and instruments. We're now becoming more relaxed with an A-B-A structure and getting the idea of joining the sections smoothly together.
I thought the swans would start to salsa round the pond!