School Gig

[Ed Stander]

Alan:

Probably too late for this, but if you have a jew's harp, bring it along. It's a fine way to show what goes on inside a concertina without opening the thing. Harmonicas are nice too - particularly if you segway from the jew's harp. I do this all the time here in Frigid New York. E.

[Alan Day]

I arrived at The Hever Church of England School at 9-30am my talk started at 10 am.

I was asked to wait in the hallway as everyone was busy and it was due to the final rehearsal of "Oliver" and was greeted with "Consider yourself well in,consider yourself one of the family" and "Food glorious food",all very well sung.A small girl came out of the hall looking worried and eventually found a teacher who sat her down near me and with military precion and timing thrust a wastepaper basket,suitably lined with a polythene bag under her chin.Luckily I had moved my concertinas out of the firing line.

Hever School is situated opposite the grounds of Hever Castle and was the home of Anne Bolyne until she married a divorcee and moved to a council house in London,sadly dying from a neck operation a few years later.

I was ushered into the main hall at precisely 10 oclock and immediately entered the 5-7 year olds who sat down on the floor in rows in front of me. I gave a small talk on the concertina and how it worked and a little girl immediately put up her hand and started asking questions,followed by others and then the little girl who almost permanently had questions to ask me.I then played a couple of tunes and decided it was time for carols.Up to this time the children were polite and fairly quiet.A listen to Zulu Squash box music got them jumping to the music.I then played "Silent night" which none of them knew. They know "Away in a manger" said the teacher ,so I played that,which they all sang and was lovely to listen to. All the carols I had planned to play I thought better of, so launched into "The twelve days of Christmas" which I kept to ten.After a slow start the children started to enjoy themselves and particularly "Five gold rings " sung by their teacher.I kept them seated owing to their age, but even so I received a big cheer at the end,the finale was "Jingle bells" which they joined in with the chorus and once more cheered at the end. They were then ushered out for the 8-10s to come in. This was a very much larger group and filled the hall.I began with a more technical description of the concertina and how it worked,they like the younger ones enjoyed the Squash box music and enjoyed all the music I played for them.The Twelve days was a riot,it started quietly but I noticed that the final line "and a partridge in a pear tree", was starting to get louder. We did the Twelve with the children standing up to do their line and the excitement built towards the end which I speeded up,much to their enjoyment."Can we do it again"? says the twelth group "we did not hear what we were supposed to sing".So off we went again.This time there was so much noise it was deafening.I played them out with Jingle bells which once again was almost shouted.The Headmistress who constantly looked worried that her children were out of control (and they were) came in and tried to get them quiet and her and the male teacher in the room held up their hand in a form of Hitler salute until there was silence."I think we should all thank Mr Day for playing for us".Once more their was uproar.Another Hitler salute and they all marched in line out of the room.JOB DONE.

My final thoughts, BEST GIG EVER

Al

Edited December 15, 2005 by Alan Day

[Mark Evans]

Bravo Al! Sounds like a roaring success! Kinda kreepy that Hitler salute. They use it over here too. It works but I always hear strains of "Deutchland uber alles" and storm trooper boots in the backgrown.

 

Neck opperation eh?

[JimLucas]

Neck opperation eh?

Some women opt for an operation known as a "tummy tuck".

Ann Boleyn had "her head tucked... underneath her arm."

[Animaterra]

Sounds like a wonderful experience, Alan! Are you sure you can't make it to my school before the end of next week? I'm sure we could fit you in, and you can play all the Christmas carols you want!

 

This week I've thrown all the "work"- note reading, rhythmic dictation, etc- out the window, and have handed them "holday song booklets" that I've created (fit to satisfy the state standards). these are devoid of the commercial songs (no "jingle bell rock" or "grandma got run over etc"), but have lots of appealing songs from, well, a few different cultures. Yesterday my biggest, burliest, toughest 11-year-old carefully perused the whole thing and wailed "Ms. Aldrich!! You forgot to put in "Silent Night!!"

 

(I'd deliberately left it out as a hot-button song- but next year it's going back in- I'll tell the story of the broken organ and the children's choir accompanied by guitar in the tiny town of Oberndorf)

[Mark Evans]

Allison, I have a very nice realization of the original version for two soloists expanding to chorus with guitar accompanyment. It's from the New Oxford Book of Carols edited my Andrew Parrot. Charming and very much Austrian. The folk strains in the duet writing are wonderful and the guitar part rings with authentic bounce. Thinking Animaterra here (I ended up doing it with all womens voices and it worked well). I can hear your ladies singing in German right now...ummm !

[Peter Brook]

Great stuff Alan! If I'd known you were going to be in Hever I might have asked permission to come and watch - I only work 10 miles away in Tunbridge Wells. Sounds like it was an absolute riot!

[Robert Booth]

What fun! I wish I had been a student at that school, despite the hand signals. Makes me think of Louie Perkins, a cadaverous elder at the church camp that I attended as a child. He'd throw up his hand, then freeze. Minutes would drag by before he thundered "HEAVENLY FATHER!..." literally scared the Hell out of a bunch of little kids. Our program here, while good, doesn't sound nearly as much fun as you provided, Alan. Good on you!

 

Jim: What's that song you quoted about Anne Boleyn? My father used to sing it when I was very small; havn't thought of it since.

Merry Christmas

God Yule

Happy Festivus

Rob

[Alan Day]

Thanks Robert and all

 

"With his head tucked underneath his arm,he walks the Bloody Tower.

With his head tucked underneath his arm at the Midnight hour.

 

Sadly Anne does not join him.

Al

[JimLucas]

"With his head tucked underneath his arm,he walks the Bloody Tower.

With his head tucked underneath his arm at the Midnight hour."

Sadly Anne does not join him.

Eh? I've only heard it as "With her head tucked underneath her arm, she walks...."

 

A Google search on both "his" and "her" variants seems to confirm my memory. Here is one source of the words.

 

It's an English song, though I first remember hearing it done by the Kingston Trio, who substituted "Red Grange" and "Army" (Americn football names) for "Alec James" and "Arsenal" (British football names).

 

My search did get some hits on the "his" variant, but they all seem to be stories -- a legend about Sir Walter Raleigh's ghost, a couple of science fiction and fantasy tales, -- not songs. Alan, if you have a full song about "him", I'd be interested in the lyrics.

Edited December 16, 2005 by JimLucas

[Robin Harrison]

Well done, Al on your school gig.................you may not get paid much for them ( like nothing !) but you'll never have a better, more appreciative audience............never critical and just happy to have you there.

Regs Robin

[Mark Evans]

I went this morning to play for some pre-schoolers in Bellingham with my banjo buddy Terry Thomas (that's him playing with me on the recorded links page). Man, that was fun!

 

We went in the classroom and they had two chairs put out for us...kiddie sized. I'm almost as wide as I am tall and the wee chair worked fine (thank heavens is was well constructed). Terry on the other hand is over six feet. His knees were about up to his chin .

 

After our first number I opened the floor up for questions (man the hands shot up in the air). We answered theirs and I asked them a question: What do you think this kind of music was for? Wow, and answers.

 

Anyway, Im feeling good about the world and the youth who will inherit it right now. Yes, I do realize it is an illusion. They sang "You Are My Sunshine" with me and that was worth everything. Must do more of this for their eyes, voices and hands in the air were payment enough.

[Jim Besser]

Anyway, Im feeling good about the world and the youth who will inherit it right now. Yes, I do realize it is an illusion. They sang "You Are My Sunshine" with me and that was worth everything. Must do more of this for their eyes, voices and hands in the air were payment enough.

 

You must have done a great job; it's not easy to get kids engaged and sustain their interest.

 

I learned that when my daughter was about 3 and we took her to see Doc Watson do a kids' concert. I've always idolized Doc as the consummate performer, but this was his FIRST kids concert, and it was absolutely dreadful. He just used his regular material and lectured the kids about it, and they were bored out of their little skulls.

 

But then he showed what a superb performer he is. He came out for the second half and said something like, i'm sorry, i've been doing this all wrong. Now I just want to sing you some songs I heard and liked when I was your age.

 

What followed was amazing. He came alive, the audience came alive, and I'm sure there are a lot of now-20 somethings who still remember that magical afternoon when their parents dragged them to see this old blind guy.

Edited June 12, 2006 by Jim Besser

[Animaterra]

I went this morning to play for some pre-schoolers in Bellingham with my banjo buddy Terry Thomas (that's him playing with me on the recorded links page). Man, that was fun!

 

What fun, Mark! I bet you knocked their little socks off! Kids love music up close and personal, as long as the players act up close and personal. Good for you and Terry!

[Mark Evans]

as long as the players act up close and personal.

 

 

That's for sure. I went through my training with "Opera to Go." We did school shows in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. You learn real quick what works as well as what doesn't. The pre-schoolers and first graders were always my favorite. The wonder in their eyes and the questions are just a blast.

 

Now if someone could tell me what happens to them by the time they end up in my classroom as freshmen? Man, that's a tough crowd!

[JimLucas]

We did school shows in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. ... The pre-schoolers and first graders were always my favorite. The wonder in their eyes and the questions are just a blast.

I get the same when I play on the street. It's a major reason for doing it. Those kids are still too young to have replaced their personal feelings with social concepts of what they're "supposed to" like. Some of them won't let their parents drag them down the street to the store until they've listened -- maybe even danced -- for a while.

 

But some of the older ones, too, show their appreciation. I get the impression that what they would reject in a more formal setting is not only considered "all right" on the street, but even fun.

[Boney]

But some of the older ones, too, show their appreciation. I get the impression that what they would reject in a more formal setting is not only considered "all right" on the street, but even fun.

Very true. Many people have grown up today only hearing recorded music. Good, lively, un-amplified music with interesting instruments in the hands of a player with a sense of fun is a completely different experience than slapping on a CD. It's like talking to someone face-to-face instead of on a telephone.

[Mark Evans]

Good, lively, un-amplified music with interesting instruments in the hands of a player with a sense of fun is a completely different experience than slapping on a CD. It's like talking to someone face-to-face instead of on a telephone.

 

Well said. It's the old bone I'm on about with colleagues and students alike. "Canned" music is a pale whisper that unfortunately has become background noise so that we don't have to face solitude.

 

While touring with the National Opera 20 years ago I had a roomate who needed to have the radio tuned to the local classical station so he could sleep. It was a problem for me (when sober) for Nesse Norman at 4 in the a.m. singing Wagner in the background is an unpleasant experience . Single Malt is a somewhat expensive counter measure .