GLENBOIG GATHERING

Our last meeting of '2009 - '2010, at the invitation of our member who lives near Fintry and what an inspiration it proved to be! The beautiful sunny morning among the hills, the warm welcome, the high ceilinged room where we sang all contributed to the energy of our voices as we sang together songs we'd learned throughout the year.
We started off with the call and response, WHAT'LL I DO WITH THE BABY? and followed on with Paul Wilson's fine song with a driving five beat metre, BRAND NEW DAY, which we sang many times allowing it to develop a momentum of its own. Returning to ALWAYS THE SINGING, we can now put some conviction into this, enjoying its rolling three beat swing as well as the good words.
This lovely May morning was the perfect time to revive our Icelandic song NÚ ER VETUR UR BÆ

NÚ ER VETUR ÚR BÆ Icelandic folk song

Nú er vetur úr bæ ---- Now winter has left the farm
rann í sefgrænan sæ ---- Has run into the reed green sea
og þar sefur í djúpinu væra ---- And is sleeping there in the calm deep,
en sumarið blítt, ---- But (the) kindly summer
kemur fagurt og frítt ---- Comes, beautiful and mild
meður fjörgjafar ljósinu skæra. ---- Bestowing (the) energising bright light.

Jónas Hallgrímsson

which I can say we sang with good Icelandic accents as well as inspired musicality as we looked out over the Fintry hills.

Instrumental pieces as well as songs from individual members made this an altogether thoroughly enjoyable morning, after which we were well ready to do justice to the spread laid on by our hostess and spend some time in good company.

A good ending to a good year. I wish everyone a happy and restful simmer and look forward to meeting up again on Tuesday 7th September to make more wonderful music




Finally some photographs from the days events -- Click on the small thumbnailand then on slideshow to see larger pictures

Enjoy Music - Fintry

DRUMMING LESSON FROM SIGNY JAKOBSDOTTIR

Moira our Enjoy Music Group leader was not with us today and her daughter Signy Jakobsdottir gave the group an excellent introduction into "Drumming"
Signy who was born in Iceland is now based in Glasgow where she works with extensively with Scottish Ballet. With roots in Gamelan, African and Indian drumming she brings a global approach to her performances. Her unique sound palette has led to sessions with amongst others Fred Frith, Trilok Gurtu, James Grant, Capercaillie, Gamalan Pacifica, Joko Susilo, and Zeitgeist Percussion Ensemble.

We all had a great morning beating away on the Drums --- Thanks Signy

Click on the small thumbnail to see some more photos and then click on slideshow to see larger pictures.

Enjoy Music -- Drums

WE BALANCE OUR HARMONIES.

In making the open vowel sounds of Russian words we have to produce a good, round sound using our facial apparatus as well as the vocal chords and we spent some time this morning doing this, taking turns to come up with words and sing them to a melodic phrase which everyone copied, _ interesting words, Karamazov, Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, vodka, improvised short musical phrases and some fun.

After these long, heavy sounds, we got the energy going with Senjua. The three parts were well remembered but the balance was all wrong. Good how, after some people switched parts, the sound of the song came into balance, blending into a full, close harmony, African style.

We then returned to ALWAYS THE SINGING which we had started last week but which was new to several members and looking now at the words, we sang through the three verses.

DECORATING THE THIRD was our piece on the instruments and building on last weeks session, we were now beginning to feel comfortable with the musical patterns, enjoying the repetition and the variations played by the glocks. As we ended the morning I realised this is our last session on the bar instruments before the summer break. Here's hoping we can remember all this good practice in three months time!

Next week, 4th May: Signy will lead the group in a session on the drums and other percussion.
Tuesday 11th May: Our last meeting and we're invited to Fintry for music and lunch. Meet at the community Centre car park at 10:00 a.m.

A NEW SONG AND A HARMONIC PATTERN.

We opened this morning to the whistling, tuba, horns and synthesiser of the German group Haindling. Whistling is a morning kind of sound and it worked well to help us concentrate on posture and breathing before singing some scales to warm up the voices.
Siyahamba always has an energising effect and although we missed the alto part, we drove it along with some rhythm on the small drums.

Following that, we returned to JULIAN OF NORWICH which is a great sing, allowing us first to listen carefully to our own voices and next time through, to be careful to hear the voices around us, and concentrate on the blend.
Next we began ALWAYS THE SINGING, a new song for our group, words and music by Alison Burns, songmaker, music educator, community choir director and workshop leader.

First verse and chorus:

There are twists and turns in every life in the wide roads that lead you from here
But the threads that bind the journey together
Are the songs that weave through the years.

And it’s always the singing and it’s always the song.
In the whole wide world it’s where I belong.
From my heart to my soul, from my feet to my tongue,
It’s always the singing,
It’s always the song.

Moving on to the instruments, we then learned a piece called DECORATION OF THE THIRD -long, slow notes on the glocks accompanied by a moving pattern on the other instruments. As always, this took a while to embed itself but I know that next week we'll be wondering why it seemed so tricky and enjoying hearing the two parts together.

SOME FANTASTIC PHOTOS FROM ICELAND

Here are some fantastic PHOTOS FROM ICELAND

OUR FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

Coming into our fifth year, it's a good time to reflect on how far we've come from when we started _ a group of music enthusiasts, eager to sing, explore instrumental playing and find a way of making music together.

In the course of our meeting we did just that, remembering how hard we found it to hold a part in a round and keep in time with each other when playing an instrumental piece. We still have difficulties of course, but my goodness how we've improved and remarkable now how we approach a new piece with a much more confident attitude. Singing alone was also a complete 'no-no' but remarkable how the good atmosphere within our group has encouraged all of us to have a go.

Hockets, each individual singing a word or phrase of a song in turn round the circle, are now OK and a good way of raising the level of alertness in everyone.

For me, it's been so good to work with people who are prepared to go out of their 'comfort zone' musically and try a new skill, such as playing the xylophones, drumming, improvising vocally and on an instrument. Also, it generates a lot of fun as we don't take ourselves too seriously. 
So musically we're on a good track and we decided to enhance our progress by using what money we can afford to bring in occasional visiting tutors, such as drumming and voice tutors.

We're back on 20th April for our summer session which runs till 18th May.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL.

WE DANCE FOR JULIAN

Fats Waller's 'Numb Fumblin' was our opening music today _ the slow stride piano a perfect pace for our focus on posture, warming up movements and breathing awareness.
The voice warm up was next and and after that we were ready to give a full sound in SENJUA, in three parts.


PEACE, SALAAM, SHALOM, handed to me by a member who had carefully written down the music after hearing it sung en masse at a peace demonstration, is a beautiful round with a gently flowing 6/8 pulse which we picked up very quickly and enjoyed singing, hearing the sound of the whole group. We'll get the full effect next week when we'll do it as a round.


Moving on to concentrate on our individual voices, we sat down to sing LOVE IS COME AGAIN, a French hymn for Easter arranged by Martin Shaw. Its steady unhurried notes and open vowels give the opportunity to think about the sound we make with our own voices and to be conscious of that open throat and relaxed jaw, as well, of course, as enjoying the text and the melody.


On the instruments we returned to 'Carillon' in Carl Orff's arrangement, making a lovely sound with the four parts and those with good memories singing along.
Finally, directed by Diana, we achieved that unity of music and movement, joining in a circle dance while singing JULIAN OF NORWICH _ a good ending to our session on a fine spring morning.

HARMONIES AND CHIMES

A good warm up of breathing exercises and scales prepared us for the long sweeping phrases of AND THE NIGHT SHALL BE FILLED WITH MUSIC which is now beginning to sound more fluid and delicate as we gain confidence. We sang it today as a two part round but the full effect of the harmonies will come when we sing in three parts.

BEAUTIFUL AFRICA is a great sing but really needs the alto harmony in the chorus. We did learn this some time ago and returned to it this morning, spending some time consolidating what some remembered from the past and giving new members a chance to learn it. We'll return to it next week.

The Sydney Carter song JULIAN OF NORWICH has a chiming accompaniment on glockenspiels which Rosemary and Carol learned quickly while we sang through the verses for the benefit of those who missed it last week. It sounded good but could take another two instruments which we'll add next week.

Remarking on how with all the coughing and tiredness at this time of year, we all really need a week in Majorca, the morning's music certainly helped by getting our energy flowing and we ended, as last week, with SPRING, SPRING, SPRING!

WE DO SPRING

It was so good to be back, and many thanks to all for keeping things going in such an inspired way while I was in quarantine.

Our warm up this morning was a revival of the Zulu song of welcome, SENJUA and I was glad to hear that many people remembered the three part harmony, even from quite some time ago, making the full sound that is so attractive in African songs.

Then taking our cue from the brilliantly sunny morning, we learned the Sydney Carters hymn to spring from 1981 JULIAN OF NORWICH, the theme of which is 'All shall be well'. With its references to bells, this song will be effective with accompaniment from our glockenspiels.
As I explained this morning, in our group we enjoy songs that are musically interesting without being too 'wordy' but at this time of year there's one song that's just irresistible because of its playful text, full of joyful rhymes _ from the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers -- SPRING, SPRING, SPRING. We took some time to read through the three verses before we sang it and I'll be surprised if there are not a few sore jaws tomorrow!

After the break we had a good practice on the instruments, two new members catching on surprisingly well and getting the idea of using both hands to play up and down the scales. We will keep this up and be well prepared when we next start a new Orff piece.

A MIXED MORNING OF MUSIC, SONGS AND POETRY

Mairi and Isla (Click to enlarge)

With our leader of the group, Moira, being unwell this week, Isla White took over the proceedings and did exceedingly well on the piano to keep us all in tune!

We started the morning's session by singing 'Love somebody, yes I do' and 'I shall sing, sing my song' - A few of us will be singing these 2 songs at the Hospice next week

Joan played a very interesting piece on her flute called Pastorale by Germaine Tailleferre followed by 3 Scottish tunes: All for Marie's Wedding, Westering Home and Over the Sea to Skye where we all joined in with hearty voices.

Carol had a go at playing Air Fa La La Lo on her harmonica and everyone sang 2 verses of the song.

Mairi then sang when she borrowed Sheila's scarf -- 'This is no' my plaid' and then we all joined her in her own composition --- the "Croft Song" (Sung to the Road to the Isles)

Chorus
Electricity and Gas we want and water from the mains,
Easy access to the nearest motorway
With connection to the telephone and the sewage drains
And a gaelic name that's not to hard to say

Ruth then read out a very amusing poem called Hamish Hedgehog by John Dennyson from the Scottish Poet Corner of well known newspaper.

Before Coffee we finished off with MANDELA DANCED IN THE SQUARE and SIYAHAMBA

Refreshed after the break Mairi then sang a beautiful song, Vienna, City of my Dreams, and this was followed by Jim who played Macrosty Park on his penny whistle and Sue who read a very moving Ken Stevens poem "The Long Silence"
We then all sang the 1960's song by the Seekers --- A World of Our Own, followed by the Burns song -- Coming through the Rye

Isla then sang a beautiful Irish song called "The Isle of Innisfree" and we all joined in.
(PLAY THE VIDEO BELOW TO HEAR THE LOVELY WORDS)

To finish off the morning we all sang one of our favourites "LAZY" -- Click on picture above to see enlargement of some of the group in full voice

WE ALL WISH MOIRA AND FAMILY A SPEEDY RECOVERY

WE DO BURNS AND KINDNESS

Our first song this morning was SIYAHAMBA, and after our altos learned the harmony part we gathered our forces and sang it giving it our best 'Desmond Tutu full African sound'.
Thinking, on the 25th, about Burns songs and after listening to AULD LANG SYNE, it struck me that kindness is a quality Burns mentions frequently in writing about people and I reflected on the fact that relationships can be based on many different qualities but kindness is an essential component in the mix.

We'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
O this is no my ain lassie, fair tho the lassie be,
O this is no my ain lassie, kind love is in her e'e.
I'll meet thee on the lea rig, my ain kind dearie O.

This thought spurred me on to take two of these songs this morning, AULD LANG SYNE, to the older tune, and THE LEA RIG, both of which we enjoyed singing.
Later we learned the AULD LANG SYNE tune, the first part only, on the instruments but enough to hear that it will be effective played this way. Good to take a fresh approach to the lovely old tunes.

CLICK, STAMP, SLAP, CLAP.

FIRST YOU MAKE YOUR FINGERS CLICK
THEN YOU STAMP YOUR FEET
BOTH HANDS SLAP YOUR KNEES
AND CLAP ON THE BEAT.

This quickened the reactions this morning, the four part round bringing in a succession of body percussion sounds and all that clapping and stamping was just the thing for a cold morning.

We returned to THE NIGHT SHALL BE FILLED, and are now getting the hang of it, the jumps in the melody and the lovely caressing semitones giving the feel of Arab music.
THE WATER IS WIDE, a call and response song, was another challenge to the listening as well as the breath control, with its long notes which create the harmony.

Improvising on the instruments is flowing much better now as our technique is improving and today we did the rounds with six or seven people taking the plunge, improvising a section.

We're working on the Orff piece:

EVENING RED AND MORNING GREY
HELP THE TRAVELLER ON HIS WAY
EVENING GREY AND MORNING RED
BRING DOWN RAIN UPON HIS HEAD.

This involves flutes, solo and together, and solo singer then chorus with xylos, bells and timpani. Should be fun when we get it up to speed.

WE BID FOR THE BLEND

We started this morning by doing some loosening up movements to music from Shaun Davey's piece THE BRENDAN VOYAGE. The track, Water Under the Keel, begins with a melody on the Uilleann pipes and grows to include the full orchestra, giving a wonderful opening up feeling which is exactly what we need to prepare for a good sing.
After some voice warming exercises we then applied ourselves to the Carl Orff piece, Evening Red and Morning Grey.
The four lines of this rhyme are set to a very simple tune which moves stepwise within a small range of notes, allowing us to listen carefully to each other trying for a good blend of the voices. This is a piece to be worked on over a period, involving as it does flutes, xylophones, timpani and sleigh bells as well as the voices.

We then turned to a more challenging sing, a beautiful setting of the last stanza from Longfellow's poem, The Day is Done,

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

The jumps in this melody need careful concentration but express beautifully the sense of the words making it a real pleasure to sing, especially individually, in our quieter moments.

Getting out the instruments after our coffee, we played about with rhythms on the small percussion before lunging into a piece involving improvisation from several members _ an interesting and lively sound as well as good fun.

Finally we gave full voice, again listening as we sang, for a good blend, to GREEN GROW THE RASHES O! (almost, but not quite, from memory).

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS

Wishing all our Readers at ENJOY MUSIC a Happy New Year.

Click on the following link to see your --- NEW YEAR CARD

ENJOY MUSIC CHRISTMAS LUNCH

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THE FAIR LADY -- TAKE 2 !

THE PENTATONIC SCALE

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus", from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009.

THE TURNING OF THE YEAR

Amid these grim, wet, cold, gloomy days it's good to remember that we're coming up to the shortest day and that's the burden of our new song, words and music by Jan Holdstock.

THE TURNING OF THE YEAR

The leaves are gone, the boughs are black and bare against the sky, _
So bring a branch of evergreen and hang the holly high.
For the darkest days are over_ and the spring will soon be here,
So we sing _ and we celebrate _ the turning of the year.
The days are short, the nights are cold, the sky is dark with rain,
But we can see the sunlight in the candle’s flickery flame.
The wind may blow, the frost may bite, but we will take the time
To cheer our hearts with carolling, with music and with rhyme.


We picked it up quickly and were soon carolling away like linties, enjoying the music and the up-beat sentiments.

I'm always happy when it's time to sing the Carol of the Advent, the lovely French tune Besençon, to words by Eleanor Farjeon and we gave it full voice.

The spotlight was on the percussion department today, allowing them some time to concentrate on exactly where and how to hit that drum and cymbal, get the feel of the weight of the beater and also listen to the sounds as the beater hit different parts of the instrument. The result was sensitive playing from both players and now we're ready to film our piece again, first time we have a full turnout.

Last meeting of the year next week followed by the Christmas lunch.

THE FAIR LADY -- TAKE 1 !!!

A CHORAL SOUND

The Enjoy Music Group - Click to enlarge

Of course we are a music group, exploring and enjoying many aspects of music, but singing is a particular joy and we have been quietly and steadily training ourselves to be better singers and even think about blending our voices. This happens regularly whether we are twelve or twenty but this morning the combination of being twenty, and at last feeling comfortable with GREEN GROW THE RASHES O, was quite special and for the first time I felt we were singing as a choir. Words are almost perfect from memory and the faces are showing real feeling for the song,_a pleasure to see and listen to.

We also spent some time this morning having ourselves filmed singing and playing THE FAIR LADY. It's some time since we made a film and I think we got a good format this time for our position in the room. It went quite well but the results were so close to being good that I've decided we should do it again next week now that we're familiar with the drill and get it right.

We are scheduled to finish this term on 1st December but decided to add a meeting on the 8th after which we'll go for lunch at Douglas Park Golf Club