Will Hay

Blog

  • Exam Preparation: Scales

    Scale PractiseAs the exam entry deadline for the next session approaches (Friday 3rd May), the big question on every teacher’s mind is which students are going to be ready to enter this time. Can we afford to leave it another term or is the student going to go “off the boil”? Will the scales be perfected in the next couple of months? Would the pieces be ready in time?

    As students progress through the grades, the sheer volume of scales that need to be learned increases (almost exponentially in the advanced levels). A formal approach must be taken to ensure that ALL the scales are known. To this end I have started to use weekly scale practise sheets on which students can either record and/or evaluate their scale practise. There are eight boxes for each scale to enable the sheet to be used in a number of ways.

    Daily practise can be recorded throughout the week then the final column can be used in the lesson to assess the progress of each scale and chart improvements. Some students prefer a mark out of ten, whilst others prefer a range between crosses, circles, and ticks, or a combination of both.

    The sheets are available to download for free in PDF format and currently cover the requirements or the ABRSM piano syllabus from Grade 1-4. As time permits, I shall add sheets for the higher grades to the collection.

    ABRSM Scale Practise Record Sheets

  • “Blast from the Past” Concert Series

    Blast from the Past Banner

    There will be six concerts taking place in the series later this term. The venues, dates, and start times are listed below. Parents of the pupils involved are warmly invited to attend:
    • Upton Heath Primary School – Monday 11th March @ 0910
    • St. Oswald’s, Mollington – Thursday 14th March @ 0910
    • All Saints Church, Hoole – Saturday 16th March @ 1100
    • St. Werburgh’s Primary – Monday 18th March @ 0910
    • Saighton Primary School – Thursday 21st March @ 0910
    • Eccleston Primary School – Thursday 21st March @ 1020

    The concert at All Saints Church will again be supporting a student bursary at Kampala Music School. Tickets £3/adult, £1/child. The concert programmes will features themed solos, duets and ensembles this term and will also include some of the outcome of the Ground Bass composition project which has been taking place this term.

     

  • 2012 – Review of the year

    2012 is nearly over and it’s a chance to look back over the year and take stock of what has been achieved. I don’t think I’ve ever organised so many piano concerts in one year before.

    Over the past 12 months, there have been 16 concerts for my students to perform in around Chester. 36 of my students have taken exams including 19 prep tests and 2 theory exams.

    The themes this year have been Sea Idylls, Creatures Great and Small, and Going Places.

    Whilst the major project for the spring term featured a composition in a set format to run alongside a video I produced, the other terms featured collaborative video projects in which many of my students took part.

    The review video clip below features excerpts from some of the concerts which have taken place over the year.

     

    Some students have performed in as many as five concerts over the course of the year and their teachers in school have commented on how nice it is to see the progress they have made from concert to concert.

    The concerts at All Saint’s enabled another £300 bursary to be sent to Kampala Music School in June. The bursary is now providing piano lessons for Justus, a 22 year old university student.

     

    Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
    WILL

     

  • “Going Places” – Concert Series

    The theme for the piano concerts this term is “Going Places”. Concerts have been organised for the following dates:

    12th Nov – Upton Heath 910am
    13th Nov – Saighton 11am
    16th Nov – St. Werburgh’s 910am
    17th Nov – All Saint’s Church, Hoole 11am
    19th Nov – St. Oswalds 910am

    The concerts will feature mostly themed solos and duets and may also showcase some ensemble and composition work carried out during the term. They will conclude with the now customary sing-along video item which this term will involve children from every school taking part, thereby unifying the series.

    The concert at All Saint’s Church is open to anyone to attend and tickets are £3/£1, continuing to support the Kampala Bursary.

  • NESingers – A new direction

    NESingers – Musical Director’s Vision Statement, September 2012

    This season we are heading in a new direction following on from the successful Singing Day in May. The new branding “NESingers” opens the door to anyone who wants to join us, whether to sing with our broader, more accessible musical repertoire or to listen at any of the events where we will be performing.

    In the Christmas programme, we will maintain our seasonal tradition with carol concerts featuring favourite carols mixed with new compositions with personal and local connections. This year, we will be including a setting of Silent Night by Jamie. W. Hall who sang with us as a soloist in 2004 and is now a member of the BBC Singers. Jamie has recently had a carol published by Novello in their latest anthology of Christmas music.

    photo by AboutMyAreaNeston

    Repertoire for our Spring concert will feature folksong settings by Rutter as well as an arrangement of “The Ashgrove” completed a few years ago by myself. This has already been performed as far afield as Perth, Western Australia. These items will by combined with lighter popular music and some audience participation.

    Looking further ahead, we will continue our popular theme into the next season. Hopefully we can revisit some repertoire the singers have done in the past with renewed vision as well as learning new works to further expand upon our choral skills and musical enjoyment.

    WILL HAY