Hello again everyone,
Welcome to the second of my weekly emails to keep you all connected to Sounding Out. We miss you!
I hope you enjoyed last week’s musical treats, including the extra one I sent on Friday.
We’d love to hear from you, so don’t forget to send me pictures or videos of your children playing their instruments! Everyone who sends something will have their name put in a draw for a prize!
Please also follow us on Twitter for updates and news: www.twitter.com/Kings_Partners.
LISTENING
So, for this week, I have chosen one violin piece and one trumpet, plus an extra treat! I hope you enjoy them.
1. Here’s the King’s School orchestra playing part of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto. This is the very jolly final movement with violin soloist Amy, one of our students. I’m sure it will cheer everyone up!
Question: a concerto is usually for an orchestra with a solo instrument. Why not find some other concertos to listen to, and tell me your favourite?
2. Alison Balsom is one of the world’s leading trumpeters and here she is playing a lovely jazzy piece in the Royal Albert Hall in the final concert of the famous BBC Proms festival (which usually happens every summer, though not this year I guess): The Last Night of the Proms.
You’ll see that she starts off with something stuck in the bell of her trumpet – it’s called a mute and it makes the sound quieter and more muffled.
3. Cabin Fever: Every Monday at 8pm our Director of Music Will Bersey will be playing live jazz with his son Henry on saxophone. They are streaming live on YouTube from 8pm: https://youtu.be/h4Kch7f2TH8
If you have some favourite pieces of music, please let me know and I will share them with everybody.
PRACTISING
Here are some wonderful words of wisdom for all the children from Lise, our violin teacher:
1. small on quantity but good on quality practice goes a long way
2. practice in front of the mirror if you can
3. use a practice diary to help you plan your practice
4. try to play something from memory from time to time
5. always have a fun five minutes of playing at the end of each practice.
Best wishes,
Christina