Will Hay

Blog

  • New ABRSM Piano Syllabus – Grade 1

    It is with great pleasure that I can announce the new ABRSM Piano Syllabus for 2013-2014. The pieces can be used in exams from January 2013 until Easter 2015. I have produced a playlist of demonstration videos of the Grade 1 Pieces so far and intend to produce more as time permits…

    My favourite selection I think would have to be A3 – Das Ballett, B3 – In a boat and C2- March though I am also fond of the C3 Chatanooga ChooChoo piece and have been since I first heard it played from a cassette tape in my youth! Only time will tell as to which pieces prove most popular with my students.

    It was fun recording the pieces this morning and I couldn’t resist putting an out-take on the facebook page from when Geoffles decided to jump in on the action!

  • “Creatures Great and Small” Student Concert Series

    The banner above links to “The Geoffles Daily“, a daily photoblog of my kitten Geoffrey following his antics since he came to live with us on April 13th. The daily photos from the photoblog automatically syndicate to a facebook page and an evernote folder!

    Appropriately, the concert series this term will follow an animal theme with the title “Creatures Great and Small”. The school concerts will showcase the talents of my piano pupils within each school with a range of solos, duets and own compositions and each will culminate with this term’s multimedia collaboration project in which a number of students have taken part along with members of the Chester Music Society Youth Choir.

    Parents of the children involved are cordially invited to attend the concert in schools and everybody is invited to the final concert in the series taking place at All Saint’s which will again be supporting a Kampala Music School piano bursary with audience tickets priced at £3/adult and £1/child.

    St. Oswald’s, Mollington – Friday 15th June at 9:15am

    St. Werburgh’s Primary – Monday 18th June at 9:10am

    Saighton School – Friday 22nd June at 9:10am

    Upton Heath Primary – Monday 25th June at 9am

    All Saint’s Church – Saturday 30th June at 11am

    A concert preview video below features excerpts from the Spring Concert Series earlier this year.

  • May: Month of Messiah

    Famous choral music coming up every Saturday in May to which you can listen or participate in.

    5th May: Sing Along Messiah – Chester Cathedral
    270 years after the final notes were added to the score at Chester Cathedral. The friends of the cathedral have organised a sing along Messiah day which will coincide with the annual plant sale.
    Directed by Philip Rushforth. Organ by Benjamin Chewter. Rehearsal 2pm, Sing through 5:30pm £10 / person

    12th May: NES Singing Day
    St. Michael’s, Little Neston from 10am-3pm. Bring along a sandwich lunch. The choir will be hosting a singing day where we will be exploring a variety of music as well as socialising and looking at ways we can develop the choir. (£5 / person)

    19th May: Sing Along Messiah – Neston Parish Church
    Come and sing the Messiah at Neston Parish Church on Saturday 19th May at 2pm. Conductor: Will Hay, Organ: Graham Eccles, Tenor: Chris Sennet, Trumpet: Mark Powell.

    26th May: Chester Cathedral Choir – Jubilee Concert
    ‘A Diamond Jubilee Concert’ – Music to include: Zadok the priest, I was glad, My heart is inditing; Crown Imperial, and Blest pair of Sirens. Tickets: £12.50/7.50

  • Creatures Great and Small

    My Piano Tuition theme this term is “Creatures Great and Small”. For the studio composition project however, I will not be making a video. Instead you must choose three contrasting animals from either Pets, Farmyard, or Jungle categories and compose either a suite of three short pieces featuring the three animals or one piece which features the three animals in relating themes.

    I was really pleased to hear that one of my youngest students had already pre-empted this composition project when she showed me her dinosaur composition yesterday, having chosen to represent three different dinosaurs, two of which I’d never even heard of before!

    Watch out for the weekly listening task in the Evernote listening folder following Saint-Saens’ famous “Carnival of the Animals” suite.

    The term will culminate with  the Summer Charity Concert which will take place at All Saint’s Church, Hoole on Saturday 30th June at 11am concluding with another “multimedia spectacular” which is currently in preparation!

     

  • National Learn to Play Day

    When planning the forthcoming “Playing Together” concert at All Saint’s Church in Chester, I hadn’t quite realised the significance of the date, 31st March, 2012. However it seems like an excellent opportunity to encourage anyone to come along to the concert, be inspired by some musical performances and then head down to their nearest Dawsons store to try a free “taster” lesson on an instrument!

    National Learn to Play Day has been organised by Music for All, the charity of the national musical instrument industry in partnership with the Musicians’ Union, Arts Council England’s “Take it Away” scheme, musicteachers.co.uk and Musicradar.com

    “Playing Together”
    Playing the piano can be a somewhat solitary experience which is why for a year now, I have been actively encouraging my piano/keyboard students to engage with other musicians at the piano, playing duets and trios and with other instruments in small ensembles. Students are also encouraged to take part in composition projects on my Noteflight Classroom which can result in performance in tandem with music technology!