Tag Archives: bka

BKA2015 – The Simplest Things

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Every BKA residential course starts each morning with a vocal warm up and choir session. This year we are split into two groups. SATB choir with Dr. Árpád Tóth and SSA with David Vinden.

This morning even in the simple warm up I had a wonderful spine tingling moment. We were a few minutes into our warm up and David asked us to sing a simple unison tonic on do. Then while one half of the room held the do the other half harmonised with the dominant on so. Softly we were encouraged to really tune into each other and hear that perfect fifth. Then a third note was added, you guessed it… mi. So far so good. But the tingle came when we switched from solfa to an oo sound. The effect was amazing. Such a simple tonic triad, carefully prepared and accurately executed, sounded so beautiful. From the gasps around the room I realised I was not the only one to feel the magic.

More News from the Kodály Summer School

  • BKA2015 – Al Fresco Improvisation - What better way to start the BKA’s Summer School at the leafy University of Leicester than singing al fresco. The session was Choral Improvisation with the amazing Dr. Árpád Tóth. Those of More →
  • BKA2015 – The Simplest Things - Every BKA residential course starts each morning with a vocal warm up and choir session. This year we are split into two groups. SATB choir with Dr. Árpád Tóth and SSA with More →
  • BKA2015 – Just Listening - I managed to catch up with a couple of BKA first timers, Cilla and Chris, over some delicious lasagne this lunchtime. I asked them how they were getting on. Chris More →

BKA2015 – Al Fresco Improvisation

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Choral ImprovisationWhat better way to start the BKA’s Summer School at the leafy University of Leicester than singing al fresco. The session was Choral Improvisation with the amazing Dr. Árpád Tóth. Those of us lucky enough to attend last year’s summer school knew we were in for a treat, the rest of us were sat with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

Well the first improvisation was the location! Making the most of the beautiful evening, we moved outside to sing with the accompaniment of the wind swooshing through the leaves of the weeping willow. It was a really magical experience and Árpád’s infectious enthusiasm soon had us making the most beautiful vocal sounds by listening and responding to each other.

More News from the Kodály Summer School

  • BKA2015 – Al Fresco Improvisation - What better way to start the BKA’s Summer School at the leafy University of Leicester than singing al fresco. The session was Choral Improvisation with the amazing Dr. Árpád Tóth. Those of More →
  • BKA2015 – The Simplest Things - Every BKA residential course starts each morning with a vocal warm up and choir session. This year we are split into two groups. SATB choir with Dr. Árpád Tóth and SSA with More →
  • BKA2015 – Just Listening - I managed to catch up with a couple of BKA first timers, Cilla and Chris, over some delicious lasagne this lunchtime. I asked them how they were getting on. Chris More →

Teaching Musicianship at the Piano (Part 1) – 26th October 2015

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Shepperton, Middlesex

A one-day course for teachers of children aged from 8 years

Course tutor: Nikhil Dally MACantab, CertAdvStudiesGSMD

Dates: Monday 26th October 2015
Location: Winches Cottage, Church Road, Shepperton, Middx. TW17 9JT

The object of this course is to help you to teach a “different” kind of piano lesson:
not conventional private classical piano lessons, in that their principal emphasis is not on learning to play correctly classical pieces written out note-for-note in absolute-pitch standard stave notation. Rather, their emphasis is on continuing the style and methods of the Stepping Notes Music School for the 2s to 8s (singing, movement, relative solfa, relative notation and chord symbols, scale and harmonic analysis), but gradually applying these tools to the piano.

“Thanks for yet another fantastic course. I always come away from your courses inspired and excited and encouraged and full of imaginative and innovative ideas.”
– Eleanor Bartlett

By these means, you will learn how you can help your children to learn to:
– write and improvise piano accompaniments to songs
– “play by ear”
– play from chord symbols
– transpose pieces at sight
– compose for the piano
– accompany others effectively
– play the piano in vocal and instrumental ensembles

In order to get the most from this course, you will need to:
(1) have a working knowledge of basic relative solfa; and
(2) be familiar with, or be willing to familiarise yourself with, some simple children’s songs, some of them from the Colourstrings repertoire (therefore you may need to purchase some books or CDs in order to do so).
If you are unsure about any of these things, please do contact Nikhil first to discuss this. Thank you.

Course fee: £65.00 (including a simple vegetarian lunch)
N.B. There are very limited spaces on this course; you are advised to apply early!

Piano Teachers Course Application Form

“I loved the logical progression of the way you built up musical understanding. We were taught it and demonstrated it such that it all made perfect sense.”
– Emily Keyte

The course tutor:

Nikhil Dally received first-class honours in music from Cambridge University, and studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music. Nikhil founded the Stepping Notes Music School in 2000. He designed the Stepping Notes curriculum himself and teaches all classes, for children aged 2 to 8. The school now has about 100 students on its roll, and recently won the award for Best Local Activity with What’s On 4 Little Ones. Nikhil is increasingly in demand to lead workshops for teachers on the Stepping Notes approach. Recent engagements include a series of workshops at the Colourstrings International Summer School and the British Kodály Academy Summer School, a workshop for the Dalcroze Society Professional Development Day, a training session for teachers at the Len Tyler Music School, four INSET courses for Bracknell Forest primary school teachers, and a course for the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Singapore. Stepping Notes teachers’ courses are regularly over-subscribed.

For further information, please contact:
Nikhil Dally
Winches Cottage, Church Road, Shepperton, Middx. TW17 9JT
E-mail: nikhil@dally.org.uk
Tel. 01932 241196
Website: www.dally.org.uk/steppingnotes

Choral Musicianship – 26th September 2015

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Leeds, Yorkshire

Tutor: Nicky Woods

A day for Youth Choirs and Singing Leaders. Suitable for Secondary age singers and leaders of all types of choirs.

Fun and engaging activities to develop musical skills and awareness, including:-

  • inner hearing
  • tuning
  • memory work
  • musical literacy
  • expression
  • phrasing

Venue: Wheeler Hall, Leeds Cathedral, Cathedral House, Great George Street, LEEDS LS2 8BE
Please note – there is no on-site parking. There are a number of municipal car parks in the area

Date: Saturday 26th September 2015 10:00am – 3:30pm

Fees: (Includes drinks & biscuits in breaks. Lunch not provided.)
£30 – Adult leaders, teachers & observers
£25 – ABCD & BKA Adult members
£8   – Under 18s
For group tickets please email Susan Hollingworth at susan.hollingworth@tesco.net

To apply please download and print this application form and send to Sue Hollingworth
ABCD BKA Choral Musicianship Workshop 2015 Flyer and Application Form

Nicky Woods graduated from Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music and trained as a teacher at the University of Reading. She worked as a teacher and cellist in Manchester before joining the music department of The Queen’s School, Chester, then taught in Rome for a short time, at St. George’s English School and, as Director of Music, at The Junior English School.

Nicky returned to England to work as a cello teacher in North Yorkshire and, inspired by an introduction to the philosophy and approach of Zoltán Kodály, decided to train as a Kodály teacher, attending courses in the UK and Hungary and gaining a Certificate of Kodály Music Education.

She currently runs singing-based workshops, courses and musicianship sessions for young people of all ages and for adults and is a tutor for the British Kodály Academy and an Advisory Teacher and Course Leader for The Voices Foundation. She enjoys directing a community choir in Ripon and serves as a trustee of the BKA and on the Yorkshire regional committee of ABCD – and still finds time to teach and play the cello!

Kodály Summer School – August 2015

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Summer is coming and with it brings the 33rd International Kodály Summer School. If this is your first BKA Residential then you are entitled to an £80 discount. Discounts are also available for full time students and BKA members who attended the last Summer or Spring Residential.

If you want to spread the cost of the course then do get in touch about setting up a payment plan. Any questions about the course should be directed to the course administrator Judy Hildesley on judyhildesley@btinternet.com.

Book now to reserve your place or take a look at the wonderful range of activities available this year.

Kodály Summer School 2015

 

 

 

Musical Listening – James Cuskelly

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Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
3.00 – 4.15 pm or 4.45 – 6.00 pm
James Cuskelly

James Cuskelly‘s Musical Listening workshops are being run on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as optional classes on the Kodály Summer School. Students beginning this course on Monday will be expected to attend all three sessions and the Friday afternoon session will be Singing Games with Lucinda Geoghegan. Each workshop will be offered twice: first in Session Two with a repetition of the material in Session Three each day.

Monday

In this session participants will look at a range of activities based around listening to the Afro-American spiritual “Sinner, please doan let this harvest pass”. Essential characteristics of the genre will be explored through a range of song materials and singing games. The ongoing sequential development of aural musicianship skills will be embedded in the overall outline and guided listening segments will be incorporated. The activities in this session would be suitable for upper primary or lower secondary students.

Tuesday

Listening activities within the Kodály approach are usually centred on a piece of Art Music, taken from the historical academy. In this session participants will look at a range of activities based around listening to the music taken from the 1993 movie, “Schindler’s List”. In the modern world, many composers consider film score writing as both a practical means of earning a living as well as a platform to push compositional boundaries. The ongoing sequential development of aural musicianship skills will be embedded in the overall outline and guided listening segments will be incorporated. The activities in this session would be suitable for secondary students.

Thursday

While this session is a follow on from the ideas canvassed in the Session 2, this is also a stand-alone session and all are welcome to attend. This session will focus on the second movement of the Gorecki “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” and will consider the musical materials in the historical context as well as exploring the specific compositional devices relevant to the piece. The ongoing sequential development of aural musicianship skills will be embedded in the overall outline and guided listening segments will be incorporated. The activities in this session would be suitable for more advanced secondary students.

Holger Aston

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Holger AstonHolger is a pianist and cellist, having completed his musical studies at the Guildhall School of Music. In 2010 he spent a year in Kecskemet, Hungary where he completed a Master’s in Kodaly Pedagogy, graduating with Distinction. Holger teaches piano at Notting Hill and Ealing High School, musicianship and choir at Colourstrings Music School, and delivers a wide-range of music courses to adults at the Mary Ward Centre, Holborn.

Summer School Session Three Options

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Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 4.45 – 6.00 pm

In Session Three students may choose one of the following three options:

Ethnic Jewish Songs and Dance
Esther Hargittai

A new course drawing on Esther’s research into folk material from the Middle East will provide new repertoire and opportunities for movement through dances linked to the musical material. This workshop is designed to provide teachers and other group leaders with interesting and challenging additions to their music curriculum/repertoire. A variety of children’s songs, folk songs, and songs for Jewish holidays will be introduced and learnt and will include activities to improve your group’s musical skills. The songs will provide new material for multicultural activities; for enhancing religious studies or simply for enjoying something new and different!

All the musical activities and games are structured according to the Kodály philosophy. Each song will be studied in depth with an analysis of its tone set, tonality and phrasing and will provide suitable material for practicing singing in solfa. Where songs are associated with original and simple dances, the dances will also be taught. All the material will be presented with ideas for teaching or reinforcing musical elements as well as ideas for activities, games and/or dances. The ideas will be presented on three levels (beginners, intermediate, advanced) – to appeal to a wide range of ages and abilities from 5 year olds to adults, from primary to secondary students.

Repertoire & Pedagogy
Susan Brumfield

Four consecutive classes will be offered twice: first in Session Two with a repetition of the material in Session Three each day to enable those wishing to do conducting to also include Susan’s class in their programme. Susan’s sessions will draw from her series, First We Sing!   Participants will explore songs and games from songbooks one and two, and discover ways to incorporate them into a Kodály literacy sequence, as well as delve deeply into their use in developing other musical skills. Susan will also demonstrate activities for practice in all skill areas, drawing from the First, We Sing Activity Card pack. Materials in the series will be available for purchase.

Musical Listening
James Cuskelly (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)

Three consecutive classes will be offered twice: first in Session Two with a repetition of the material in Session Three each day to enable those wishing to do conducting to include James’s classes in their programme. Details tbc.

Singing Games
Lucinda Geoghegan (Friday)

This will be a “hands on” session during which participants will experience a range of Singing Games suitable for the Primary classroom and beyond. A variety of different games will be explored including clapping games, ball games, passing games and more.  This class is a repeat of the session in Session Two.