Workshops, Master Classes, etc

GUITAR WORKSHOPS WITH DEREK GRIPPER

ERIN HALL, ERIN ROAD, RONDEBOSCH
Every Tuesday evening of January and February from 17h30-19h30

OR

SCARBOROUGH COMMUNITY HALL
Every Wednesday afternoon from 16h30-18h30

COST: R150
ALL LEVELS from Absolute Beginner to Guitar Maestros

Derek Gripper’s unique Montessori Guitar materials are designed to enable the guitar student of any level to work independently to master a wide range of guitar skills:

Improvisation
Harmonic Accompaniment
Reading Staff Notation
Reading Guitar Tablature
Playing by Ear
Rhythm

In addition, Derek’s wide selection of solo guitar arrangements make music by an exciting range of musicians available to all levels of player:

Ali Farka Toure
JS Bach
Toumani Diabate
Leo Brouwer
Heitor Villa Lobos
Astor Piazolla
Fernando SorvDionisio Aguado...and more...

Private appointments can also be made - or just drop in to observe.

Please email derek@derekgripper.com for information or bookings

Derek Gripper is a groundbreaking guitarist from South Africa. His music draws on a wealth of original compositions, as well as transcriptions of works by musicians like Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti and kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté. Derek has taught guitar in many different environments for over fifteen years. He has a Masters in Music and a Diploma in Montessori Education. For more information visit www.derekgripper.com

Feedback from rockschool workshop conducted by Jeremy Ward - May 2011

Points made by Jeremy Ward (Executive Director, Rockschool / Examiner)

• There are 70 rockschool examiners
• In terms of what Rockschool are offering, Performing Arts Awards (Musical Theatre). In these group exams, each entrant is examined and receives a report.
• Street Dance exams have been accredited by the UK authorities (obviously not in SA yet, but interesting!)
• Things on offer to enhance what rockschool do, and upcoming changes:
• ‘Fact files’ and ‘walk throughs’ in Hot Rock books for Drums and Guitar, grades 1 – 3.
• Now able to offer 2 free choice options.
• Piano syllabus will stay for the moment, but other exam boards have good selection of material available
• Voice – the technical exercises will be changed. Comment made that the syllabus was not clear as to what exactly was required for these exercises.
• Voice - There is a plan to consult Music Sales (rockschool publishers) to find out which are their top 10 downloads on a monthly basis, and to add these to the repertoire for the rockschool singing syllabus. These songs come with backing tracks and lyrics and rockschool will give an explanation as to what they are looking for.
• New marking system coming out in 2012. Allowance for 3 marks for each area, i.e. 12, 13, 14 for a pass; 15, 16, 17 for a merit; 18, 19, 20 for a distinction. The teacher will know from the marks, exactly what the candidate achieved.
• It is also planned to make the marks available on-line and to issue certificates much quicker.
• The Quick Study Piece will be dropped from the grades 6 – 8 exams. The candidate will still play 3 pieces, the generic technicals, scales, etc. then stylistic technicals (Rock, Funk, Blues, etc). Sight reading and improvisation will be in the style the candidate has specialized in. Ear tests will be in the same style. Vocals syllabus not quite in the advanced stage of changing as the guitar, bass and drums syllabus though.
• Pass mark will be 60 upwards. Merit 74 upwards. Distinction 90 upwards.
• Rock and Pop theory will be available next year – on-line and interactive. It will consist of two parts; general theory and then a candidate’s particular instrument theory. Exams will still be held at Centres around the world.
• Fellowship diploma coming in 2012.
• A teaching course over 5 days is being offered. It consists of three days of input and two days of exams. A minimum of 8 people is required for this to work and an examiner comes out to the Centre, to conduct the training and exams.

Feedback from Music Teacher's Workshop run by David Dawson

Trinity Guildhall theory examinations are taken twice yearly. Once the marking is complete, a report is issued, containing observations made by the examiners who have marked the papers. There are usually general comments and comments specific to the grades.

Certain points come up year after year. The oft-repeated general comment is:

The study and analysis of 'real music', and preferably music that the candidates are themselves performing, is an essential support for theory work.

Other 'General Comments' with potential for addressing in practical work:

The vocabulary of music.

Clear, neat, presentation at all grades is important and should be a high priority from the outset. If necessary please use a ruler for long hair-pins and beams. There is an endless supply of good models in the printed music that candidates use in their practical work. Do make this link between practice and theory.

Proportional spacing of notes, rests, leger lines is essential if notation is to be easily read. Beyond a certain basic level we don't read individual notes or signs, but rather take in the overall shape of the music.

In all creative work - melody writing, harmonising a bass part, adding a melody to a given bass part - the simplest answers tend to be the best answers.

Grade 1

1. Answering rhythmic phrase

2. Correct position for: dynamics, tempo making, "Do not forget to re-write all the correct material from the original."

Grade 2

1. A whole bar rest (semibreve) in 3/4 time is three beats.

2. Tonic triad melodies. A more shapely tune can often be created using some repetition of notes rather than constantly jumping between different pitches.

Grade 3

1. Poor spacing of parts is the main issue with writing chords for SATB voices. There are a number of possible 'correct' answers but the principles are the same: the interval between bass and tenor can be more than an octave: the interval between tenor and alto and between alto and soprano should not be more than an octave and ideally should be less than an octave. A bass line that moves largely in contrary motion to the given melody will be the most successful.

Grade 4

1. There are both closed and open questions. Candidates normally have no problem with closed questions such as naming the key or writing a Roman numeral below a chord. They do have difficulties in open questions such as comparing the way the composer decorates cadences, or commenting on the pitch. This is a skill that could well be developed as part of practical work.

2. Section 6 asks candidates to write a tune above a given bass note. Candidates were invited to use the given chords and use some unaccented passing notes. the key to a successful answer is to keep it rhythmically simple and aim for a relatively smooth singable tune. Often candidates created very complex melodies with inappropriate rhythms and poor melodic shape.

3. Where errors did occur they largely centred on misunderstanding the rhythmic patterns for 6/8 and writing in patterns more appropriate for 3/4. There is also a less than secure understanding of unaccented passing notes.

4. The concept of harmonic rhythm is rarely appreciated yet is a crucial aspect of composition. If the harmony changes in a regular pattern, then the frequency of that change (the harmonic rhythm) can be expressed by the distance between the changes (every crotchet, every minim, every dotted minim, and so forth). The changes may also be irregular, or not moving at all - static.

Grade 5

1. Section 3 introduces, for the first time, words to be set to music - rhythm only at this grade. Candidate response was very variable. The main issue is aligning strong syllables in the words with strong beats in the music. This is the first task in setting words to music. If this is correct the remainder of the task should be straighforward providing it is kept simple: each syllable needs a note as in the given start.

2. Good melodies are usually rhythmically simple melodies with mainly step-wise movement and a sense of shape and direction. The instruction to 'decorate your tune' is not an invitation to write complex ornaments but rather to add a few simple passing and auxiliary notes as and where appropriate.

3. Section 6 - The first part of this question - using notes from the chords to write a tune - is usually well done. The problem arises with the second part of the question - 'decorate your tune'. 'Decorate', in this context, does not mean trills, turns, acciaccaturas; neither does it mean rhythmic patterns (triplets, semiquavers) not in keeping with the original. The best rule would be to keep it simple. The occasional passing note, auxiliary note or another note of the prevailing chord should be more than adequate.

Grade 6

1. The more creative task of melody writing (Section 3) was much less successful, with many examples of rather aimless melodies and unsatisfactory endings. Using the optional 'start' guarantees a shapely first phrase and something on which to build and develop. That 'building and developing' should be focused on both repetition of material - perhaps with modification - and contrasting ideas. The contrasting ideas should still be linked in some way to the initial idea. Analysis of simple songs would be beneficial in observing how such songs are constructed.

Follow this link for David Dawson's CV (scroll down)

Feedback from Peter Watts’ Seminar for Singing Teachers held in Cape Town recently

Wait till the voice has settled, say some. Learn another instrument first. There is no doubt that the experience of learning another instrument is very helpful. Singers are notoriously poor music readers and a frame of reference which is a little more definite than the invisible voice is certainly very helpful.

Just let them sing. That certainly used to be a great option. When I was a child there were daily singing assemblies in school. We had regular singing in the classroom. We had a Sunday School choir as well as regular singing there and in church too. Just in the course of a normal week there was lots of singing. Sadly that isn’t the case any longer. Children can go through their whole schooling hardly having any exposure to decent singing.

Then what do I mean decent. When I was growing up our models were great singers. In the music theatre world and in the popular music world there were singers who knew how to sing.

But now there are very few models. Ask a child at Initial Grade to sing the last note of a phrase in the Aural tests and many have no idea where to put their voice.

Perhaps the best experience a young person can get is in a really good children’s choir - one where the choir director cares about good vocal production. Sadly those choirs are few and far between and in my experience getting fewer and further!

So all this is getting round to saying that in my view if a child is keen to sing, start them as early as you like. You don’t have to work them too hard. Just teach them to use a real singing voice and not to talk their way through songs. Teach them good posture and breathing and give them a wide experience of repertoire.

How important is stylistic awareness in the lower grades?

It is no different for a singer than for an instrumentalist.

The published assessment criteria, which I hope you are all familiar with is always the deciding factor for an examiner.

To get a distinction in Initial – Grade 3 see p 22 of the Trinity Guildhall Information and Regulations Booklet (available from your Trinity Representative):
1. Notational Accuracy and Fluency
2. Technical Facility
3. Communication and Interpretation

You’ve probably heard this before, but just in case some haven’t, those three sections boil down to:
1. Me and the music
2. Me and the instrument
3. Me and the audience

The marks are divided almost evenly between those three sections:
1. Did they sing what was on the page? 7 marks
2. Was it sung with secure technique, good intonation, well-produced sound? 7 marks
3. Was the performance confident and stylistically appropriate? 8 marks

So, yes, stylistic awareness is important, as are the other features. A beginner pianist playing a little classical piece is expected to play with elegant phrasing.

Let’s think of some things that relate to style in the early grades of singing

Grade One Group A Popular, Musical Theatre and Film
Look at the two songs from Oliver – pronunciation of the words is obviously a stylistic feature to be thought about.
Consider yourself at home – the workhouse boys.
Who will buy this wonderful morning – the upper-class Oliver.

Group B Folk Song
Please let it sound like a child singing a folk song and not a 30 year old. Natural tone – singing of the people – is a stylistic feature to consider here.

Group C General Song Repertoire
All of these are lovely songs for a child to sing

When we get to Grade Three and above the general Song Repertoire is divided into more sections. At Grade 3 in the Pre 20th Century Song group you will find a number of Renaissance Lute songs and then simple Baroque songs
Grade 3
Rosseter What then is love but mourning
Monteverdi Maladetto
In Grade 4 Campion, Dowland, Ford and Purcell all find a place.

By all means add some simple ornamentation. It doesn’t have to be a lot but enough to show an understanding of the style.

Remember an examiner cannot say “I didn’t like that voice or that style of vocal production” and right the voice off. We have to allocate marks in the three sections.

A word of warning:
Modern Music Theatre songs often have a very wide range. Do be careful. I often find that a candidate pushes in the lower range at the beginning of a song and then cannot find their head voice at all when things go higher. This area is fraught with danger.

What are examiners expecting from voices – what levels at what grades?
What do examiners expect in the higher grades regarding voice?

I don’t think I can give you a blow by blow account of exactly what we expect to hear at each grade. I couldn’t with any instrument. We don’t work that way. We have the criteria and try to mark and comment according to that.

My own personal checklist includes:
Does the candidate sing what is on the page?
Does this voice work right through the range – are there very noticeable changes of register?
Breathing – is this managed in a way that enables the candidate to sing the song meaningfully? We breathe to give meaning to the words. We don’t breathe to stay alive – that’s purely incidental!
Are the languages convincing?
Style is it appropriate?
Was there commitment to the performance.

I do stress again if you want to know why candidates get allocated certain marks do look at the criteria. I think all examiners sit at their desk with the criteria in front of them as a constant reminder of what we are listening for.

Where are the marks slanted – more about voice, or musicianship?

Some teachers just concentrate on technique and then the marks aren’t that high.

I think I’ve really answered these two questions already. In fact musicianship has one more mark allocated to it than EITHER notational accuracy and fluency OR technique according to the marking scheme 7-7-8

Performing is more than knowing your work.
How to communication with the audience.

Let me put these two together. Performing certainly is more than knowing your work. In this area singers have an enormous advantage over most other performers. They have words. So they have a meaning they are trying to convey and not just musical meaning. They can look the audience straight in the eye and be much more persuasive than a pianist can. Nothing comes between them and the audience. Nothing is more un-nerving for an examiner than to have a candidate look you straight in the eye and sing directly to you. For one thing it’s very hard to look down to write anything!

How do you get school-age kids to practice?
If I knew the answer to that I’d be selling it on every street corner. I think there are as many different answers as there are kids.

Find some way to interest your students. Boys going through the change in voice can be fascinated by what is happening to them. Measure their voice each week see what they can sing and what they can no longer sing. Make charts. The same applies to girls’ voices but is less obvious. Chart the way that typical childish huskiness gradually disappears from the girls’ voices. Measure the range.

If you like gory videos there is nothing more interesting than watching the larynx at work. Go to www.vocalprocess.co.uk for more information. They have e-books for sale with videos of the larynx being used in singing.

Or try a programme like Sing and See, developed by two leading Australian singing teachers with a New Zealand computer boffin. www.singandsee.com. This enables you to see the exact pitch you are singing and how constant it is or isn’t. And also gives you a spectrograph image of the voice so that you can see how all the harmonics are sounding in the voice. Fascinating.

Some other useful websites:

The British Voice Association
www.british-voice-association.com

The Voice Foundation, Philadelphia
www.voicefoundation.org

Center for Voice Disorders, Wake Forest University
www.wfubmc.edu/voice/

Bodymapping – Barbara Conable’s take on Alexander as related to performance posture
www.bodymap.org

Breathing Works NZ has articles on the breath which are worthwhile
www.breathingworks.com

On our website you will find lots of information related to singing www.wattsandwatts.co.nz look in tips and articles. Also look at some of the books in the library section.

Thank you and do feel free to contact me if you would like any further information. There is a link on the website or use wattses@ihug.co.nz. Both should find me.

Peter Watts

See this link for Peter Watts' CV.