All singing, all dancing at Avalon. Becky

All is crazy here at Avalon as most classes are off timetable and preparing for the huge school production next Saturday! This gives me licence to walk into any class of unoccupied children and run music workshops which is fantastic fun! Crowds singing and dancing along, making up their own rhythms, learning to listen to each other, competitively clapping notated rhythms and smiling a lot. One class of girls requested a song about friendship day, luckily I remembered an appropriate song one and we sang it round their teacher when she came in. Friendship day seems to be a big occasion here which means both Anna ma'am and I have so many ribbons, rings and child-sized bands put on our hands that it is surely a risk to circulation!

My Grade One classes are in the final stages of rehearsing their Jack and the Bean stalk presentations which is exciting - I have been haunted by those same songs for nearly a month now! I am very proud of what they have achieved: learning a lot of songs, singing in a round, playing percussion at appropriate moments (and sometimes they don't play in the inappropriate moments which is the real achievement!), writing their own lyrics and even creating their own backdrops.

The school production also means I have been drafted in to play guitar - a nice challenge for me! These songs are not the standard four-chord-wonders-in-easy-keys that are the staple for English school productions. They use raga and tabla with tunes I cannot predict and harmonies foreign to me - very exciting! Much practice needed.

Outside of school cultural exchange continues. We are learning a heart-throbbingly beautiful hindi song from the girls we live with and teaching them some keyboard to accompany it.

I am really keen to put on a concert to fund raise for local charity but finding a venue is proving more difficult than expected! Unlike other parts of Mumbai, there is not a western-music-concert-audience in Vashi, or so we have been told. We are continuing to try and our lovely friend Wilfred is calling on local contacts so hopefully it will happen! 

Maria Gurgaon Post 4

After a month I’m feeling in a reflective mood about my time here in Gurgaon. Although I’m teaching a lot and growing to know my students more, I’m anxious for my stay here to have an impact that extends beyond the time I am here for. To do this I need to train the teachers as well as teach the children. However, this is difficult as in some of the areas there is no-one else teaching besides me, so as yet, I can’t pass my knowledge on to a successor. Nevertheless, there are vocal teachers I can train and I plan to give a workshop to them shortly.

Otherwise, my classroom music lessons are going well at Shri Ram were I have now covered the basics of rhythm, harmony and taught them about different instruments. Last week I started a Blues project with my students aged 11-14 and we have been looking at the historical and social background of the genre as well as singing some blues. Some students are very keen to sing in lessons whilst others are not so keen which can be a little disheartening. Still, I had some great Elvis Presley impressions from the boys when we sung his Rock’n’Roll version of the blues standard ‘Hound dog’.

This week I’ve been developing the Blues project in order to teach about different technical features that make up the blues. I’ve been encouraging an atmosphere of creativity which has been novel for my students who are used to a certain style of learning where they regurgitate given material. In today’s lesson for example I was asking pupils to write their own blues lyrics based on the standard AAB form. Once the strangeness of composing something of their own passed, I had some quite heartfelt responses- mostly about how my students hate maths!

Áine in Gurgaon

Hello all!

Maria and I have now officially been over a month in Gurgaon, and goodness it is going quickly.

I am still recovering from a slightly manic, but nonetheless wonderful, week. With Indian Independence Day in our sights (the 15^th of August), One World College of Music is deep into preparations for concerts for the big day. This week therefore has been full of rehearsals, and auditions by bands and solo acts who want to play.

A highlight of the programme is a patriotic song written by two brothers at the school, who I have been helping to mentor in composition. Having posited that a purely Western style of composition may not be entirely appropriate, a local Indian classical composer has been helping the boys compose various sections in a more Indian style, including a new ‘alap’ (free, improvisatory introduction). My class at the local NGO School, Sankalp, are also going to be joining the One World pupils for a patriotic marching song. The class now know their parts, but are yet to come to One World to have a rehearsal with the singers and drummers there. I’m preparing for utter chaos, as classes at OWCM are largely held in English, but my Sankalp pupils only speak Hindi.

The Group Project at OWCM

This weekend, OWCM also hosted a local jazz/fusion group, The Group Project, for a workshop on jazz composition and performance. I was really pleased to see that the workshop was really well attended by pupils of One World College of Music, who all seemed to get a lot out of the experience. Straight after the workshop, we all left for a jazz club in Gurgaon called the Speakeasy (a darkish basement with a stage under a marketplace), where the Group Project then performed. It was fascinating to see an Indian jazz club, but there was more than one tired looking face the next morning! This sort of workshop/school trip combination was a great experience, as seeing performers in action gave pupils something to aspire to, and their fusion attitude towards music showed pupils that Indian classical music could still be integrated into their music. The number of questions that students asked the band, and have continued to ask since (we have now started talking about using modes in jazz composition, how to write/notate music for different instruments from different cultures and so forth) have shown that the experience has really sparked their attention and interest in jazz and fusion music.

With an OWCM student's art work in Saket

Working seven days a week makes it somewhat hard to do many touristy things, but this week I have managed a few trips into Delhi, to my boss’s house, an art gallery district near Saket and to one of the large market places. A trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal is hopefully on the cards after Independence Day with colleagues from school, and this week I plan to use a morning to visit the Qutab Minar and some other monuments in Delhi.

Visiting Mumbai and last month in Chennai

My school is shut at the fifth week of every month so I had the opportunities to visit Mumbai for a few days. From doing sightseeing during the day and meeting up with some friends and other WAMers during the evening, it has been an eye opener for me. The city has so much energy, youth, opportunities, as well as people and rubbish everywhere. Mumbai is so different than what I have experienced in Chennai and it was exciting to see all the similarities and differences between the two biggest coastal cities in India. It has also been great meeting and talking to people from Mumbai and hearing their insights about the city. I really had a great time in there and felt like I’ve learned a lot.

Also during my time in Mumbai, I went to Universal School from Furtados to do some classroom based teaching for the first time with Kerry. As much as I thought it would be relatively straight forward, I found it extremely difficult to engage with a large group of small children and making them sit and listen to what I’m teaching. I’m also assuming that some of them find it really difficult to understand me too which is not helping. Either way, I’m glad that I have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something different than the one to one teaching that I’m used to. But nevertheless, it’s really nice to be back at Musee Musical and seeing all these lovely students once again.

Now, coming back to Chennai with a month remaining to teach in Musee Musical, I have a lot of work to get on and I have to pull myself together. It has been a lazy July for me and I felt like I haven’t done too much yet. This month, besides from the regular teaching hours, I have to start writing a report about the school in general which needs to be handed in when I leave. In addition to that, I would have to complete a small booklet that talks about the common problems that the students have in here so it will keep me busy for a while.

Just yesterday, I have met a visiting student in Musee Musical who has just completed his ATCL exam recently. We were sharing our piano experiences and it has been really encouraging to hear that he’s planning onto studying music at aboard after his mechanical engineering degree. He showed me a piece that he’s planning on playing for his Berkeley interview and I was amazed by his skills and techniques.  Despite not being able to give him much feedback on his playing, we had a good chat and shared our piano experiences and stories with each other. By hearing his piano learning experiences in Oman, we were discussing ways to incorporate better music teaching here at Chennai and it has given me something to think about and we promised to meet again.

Sam and Duncan - Garodia School, week 5

After two of our housemates left our flat we acquired one more except this one suffered the fate of being poisoned and, just after a few days, devoured by countless maggots in the corner of our garage. We don’t mind the stray dogs who have settled in our porch but this rat was really taking the biscuit (or should I say bananas – never have I bought so much fruit to see it literally disappear from one night to the next.) The somewhat squishy remains of the rat were eventually scooped up with the only equipment I could find in the garage: half a shovel and a large machete. I have pictures which I could have uploaded but I wanted to keep this blog relatively family friendly.

Anyway, the teaching in Garodia is going fantastically. The musical is getting its song list finalised and I now find myself rewriting the lyrics to the rap of Snap’s classic ‘I’ve Got the Power’. Meanwhile the arduous task of funnelling a choir of around twenty pupils to accompany a handful of soloists is underway. We’ve also been further deepening their listening skills through connecting pieces with aspects of life (Vivaldi’s Four Seasons proved more challenging than expected given that Indians do not experience similar seasonal changes to Vivaldi’s very Italian perspective of the year) and developing an understanding of aural skills through following contours of melodies and discerning changes in pitches.

We have also delved deep into the characteristics of different musical genres with the older children, and with the younger grades we have started to listen to and think about music creatively. One of the most successful activities had the children responding to pieces of music with movement and descriptive words and then coming up with their own titles for the pieces. For example, we played them some Scott Joplin and at the end of the activity they dubbed it ‘The Crazy Monkey Song’. Some of the responses from younger kids turned out to be very thoughtful and developed and some kids even came up with short stories inspired by music like Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude. The music teachers at Garodia are evidently enthusiastic about improving their lessons, and we’re doing our very best to leave a lasting impression.

Alongside the teaching we plucked up some courage and went on the school’s annual Monsoon Trek. This involved a 3 hour hot coach ride to the remote mountain region outside Mumbai called Lonavla. As we arrived in the very picturesque setting and vacated the coach we noticed that every child and teacher was covering themselves up with a rain sheet, which is when we realised that the feeble umbrellas we brought weren’t going to be enough. Many of the kids were also shocked when we said that we didn’t bring a change of clothes but really, how wet could it have been? The trek was phenomenal. The place was covered in waterfalls which locals dived into just to get even wetter. As we reached what we thought was the top, through the thick mist appeared more mountain and we continued to trek until we reached the apparently 2000 year old fort which was built into the rock face. Although the climb was difficult and disobeyed what appeared to be every Health and Safety rule we reached the top and instead of an immense view we saw more thick mist – it was truly lovely!

We were this wet for over 4 hours

Recently we took a trip to the Blue Frog, Mumbai’s answer to the lack of Ronnie Scott’s jazz club, which has seen performances from many Western artists, including Imogen Heap. The place was fantastic and made all the more better with the extremely talented band who played in many styles from Jazz, Funk, Rock, and a few Ballads (They even encored with a jazz version of Roxanne!)

Just this Wednesday, we sat in on a rehearsal for one of Mumbai’s premier adult choirs ‘The Stop Gaps’ following a recommendation from one of the school’s music teachers. We sang along and had a great time. On the following day, we attended a performance at the NCPA of the Junior Stop Gaps choir, and despite only being in Mumbai a month there were many familiar faces around the auditorium from various parts of the musical community. We really feel like we’re getting to know the music scene around Mumbai, and the great people involved in it.

Mumbai has a lot to offer and we’re certainly trying to get through it all. 

Where are my chickens and my hens? - Avalon Update.

So what’s new in Vashi? We’re halfway through our adventure…scary stuff! I’ve decided that I don’t want to leave. Becky and I were discussing how we felt about India and we were both told before we left that India gets in your blood. We can definitely see why!

At the start of July, I was struggling with what do to with the nursery children. I spoke to my parents about it and they were very helpful. ‘Oh Cathryn, the songs we used to sing with you. Little Bunny Fou Fou! Try that, you used to LOVE singing along, scooping up the field mice and ‘bopping’ them on the head!’ I thought it was worth a shot so I tried it with all three of my nursery classes. It was a success and yes, they too, love singing:

Little Bunny Fou Fou hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and BOPPING them on the head!

They also love making ‘goon’ faces at me - another key part of the song. If you would like to know more about what becomes of the troublesome Fou Fou, google ‘The Singing Kettle.’ It, like sing up, is a great resource with a variety of songs to sing with younger children.

I had my first workshop with the day care children this week. They are a mixed bunch of children aged between about 5 and 13. For this, I started with a ‘copy what I do’ exercise. I had the kids arranged in a circle and then did various silly things to make everyone comfortable and laughing and also make their attention focused on me. Then we moved on to one of my favourite songs:

Where are my chickens and my hens? 2,3,4. Where are my chickens and my hens? 2,3,4. Where are my chickens? Where are my hens? Where are my chickens and my hens? 2,3,4.

A tap (beat) is passed around the circle as we sing the song (like a kind of hand rhyme) and the person who the tap lands on (at the end of the song), has to act like a chicken in the middle of the circle whilst the rest of us try to stifle laughs and giggles. We did that a few times so I had a nice little coup of chickens by the end. The kids were having fun and it put a smile on my face to see the urgency of which some children corrected my chicken wing flapping technique.

We then sang ‘Bongalow.’ Another song I picked up at university. This is great for learning each child’s name and making everyone feel involved as each person is called upon separately to show us how they ‘bongalow’ (dance). Becky’s grade 2 classes love this one also! They have some of the most enthusiastic and imaginative dance moves I’ve seen of young children. I then spent the rest of the session doing rhythm games with them and at the end, took requests for songs they would like to learn. We’ll start learning those today.

In my kindergarten classes I’m starting to do newer songs with them. I’ve done ‘I’ve been eaten by a boa constrictor!’ with my junior kindergarten class. Thanks be to Hannah Evans of Bath Spa University for teaching me that one. There are more sing up songs I’d like to teach them and I’ve got the backing tracks for them on a CD. Use of the CD is great for adding variety and keeping them engaged; some songs are unaccompanied, some are accompanied with the uke and other instruments and others are accompanied via backing tracks.

Muktangan workshops are in the process of being organised and there should be lots to report on that after the week of Indian independence day.

I hope everyone’s enjoying their summer. Speak soon!

Josh in Mumbai 3

I’m now nearly 4 weeks into this trip, having arrived here a week later than the other WAMers.  I’m still thoroughly enjoying it, and everyone at the Foundation is accustomed to me barging into a lesson and giving, what I hope is, a helpful opinion! 

Work is continuing steadily, I probably have around 12 personal piano students a week, while I take an active role in about 30 other piano lessons, run by both Tanusree and Wyomia, the two main piano teachers.  I can only really credit their ability as both pianists and teachers.  I have brought a few practice techniques to the table already, but they were already off to a brilliant start.  I can see why the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation takes pride in its high standards of teachers.

There is already structure within the Foundation, with theory classes and practice booklets a requirement for the students.  I have just started taking the intermediate theory classes, which are currently no more than Grade 2 ABRSM.  I think the long-term goal though is that the ‘intermediate’ level be Grades 3-4 and the ‘higher’ from Grades 5+.

I’m accompanying all 4 choirs, and will be performing with them in the Annual concert on the 11^th September (performing in front of the Indian-born, world famous Zubin Mehta), before I fly back to the UK on the 13^th.

I sometimes wonder whether a small syllabus could be put in place for the outreach work in Aseema (located in Bandra).  This is something I am going to discuss with the staff in due course.  I have also been talking about allowing certain parents into piano lessons (provided they are quiet) as there is currently an aura of ‘fearing and avoiding the parents’, while an obvious miscommunication occurs between student’s objectives and parents expectations.

I’ve also been added to the new MMMF prospectus.  I might be grabbing one before I leave!

Other than that, there’s not so much news really.  My first Listeners’ Club concert is going to be on the 14^th, and I also met with the other Mumbai WAM lot (plus honorary Mumbai-for-4-days Adrian) the other day. It was quite nice to see some friendly faces.  I’ve heard that since 2008, tourism has dropped by more than 35%, (and considering it isn’t even tourist season at the moment) it would partly go to explaining why whenever I walk anywhere lots of Indians come up to me and talk to me.  Most of them being polite… but that's another story.