Newsletter - February 2003

Articles

Fiona Harrison

Saturday Recital

"It’s good to see such a healthy audience!" said Terry at last Saturday’s recital with Fiona Harrison. I’ll second that - the word is obviously spreading in the South that the DGS puts on good guitar concerts at Kinson Community Centre.

Fiona had skilfully chosen her programme with a varied selection of pieces to ensure an enjoyable evening was had by all.

This recital is to be Fiona’s last performance until after her baby is born, so we were extremely lucky that she came when she did. Scientific research tells us that to play beautiful music to an unborn baby is linked with intellectual and creative development. If this is correct then I have to say that Saturday’s concert alone must have given Fiona’s baby the ultimate advantage.

We became immediately aware that Fiona has a superb quality of tone and musical phrasing. This was also apparent in our workshop on Sunday, where she focused on phrasing in the finest details.

No concert is complete without a touch of Bach, and Fiona started with the Prelude from Suite BWA 1006a. She followed this with another well known favourite Grand Sonata by Paganini.

We were next treated to A short walk in a rainforest by Australian composer Richard Charlton. The music began with a flock of colourful birds flying through the trees - we were then taken on a musical journey through the rainforest.

El Abejorro (The Bumble Bee) by Pujol concluded the first half. This clever little piece really did sound like a buzzy bee.

The second half included a piece by another Australian composer Ross Edwards called Blackwattle Caprices. Blackwattle, we were told, is an inlet of Sydney Harbour. I do hope that we hear a lot more of these two Australian pieces. Another unfamiliar piece for me which was very beautiful was Un Dia de Noviembre by Leo Brouwer. Other pieces in the programme were Una Linosma por el amor de Dios by Barrios and Danza Espanola No. 5 by Granados.

Relaxing at party at Katie and Phil's house after Fiona's concert

Sunday Workshop

With a total of 23 participants this has been our most popular workshop to date. In fact we were slightly over subscribed for the Sharp Room. I hope that nobody felt too cramped. I do realise that this room is far from ideal for these events but the problem at the moment is that Kinson has become so very popular that it is becoming increasingly difficult to book the other halls on the required days. In future I will try to book a different venue if we cannot have one of the other halls. Anyway, enough whingeing, we had a brilliant day.

Fiona started off the morning events with a session on technique. Everybody playing a two octave G major scale in unison. First in crotchets, then quavers, triplets. Then half of the room ascending and the other half descending at the same time.

A series of exercises followed. Taken from Abel Carlevaro’s ‘Serie didactica para guitarra; Cuaderno No.2 - Tecnica de la Mano Derecha’. This is a book I feel that we all should own. (I just copied all that down in case anyone wanted to order a copy).

• Arpeggio exercises on an E minor chord shape, moving up the fret board until reaching the twelfth fret. This proved to be more difficult than it looked because of the different arpeggio variations.
• A chromatic scale in octaves - an exercise designed to show just how much movement we need in our left hand and elbow to enable us to reach for our next chord change successfully. We formed small groups of three for the purpose of observing each other and commenting as to whether we were doing it correctly or not.
• Tremolo exercise by Sor. (p.a.m.i) A few people were chosen in turn to play a couple of bars of this exercise and the rest of us were encouraged to comment on which note we thought was the weakest. For most people it tends to be the (i) finger. Fiona told us that the way round this problem and to help gain control is to play through the exercise several times, stressing in turn the different notes played by each finger.

We started the ensemble session with a short piece called ‘Tiny Tunes’ by Derek Hasted. Fiona was impressed by the way that we stayed in time with each other and actually ended together, even dampening the rest at the end. We also played Allegro from Concerto in C by Vivaldi. Fiona explained that a successful sight reader would be reading a bar and a half ahead of where they are playing. A very useful tip is to be able to look at the music and know what to leave out. The first beat in the bar is obviously the most important note and as this piece was in four-four time, the third beat was the second most important. We demonstrated this by playing the piece through just on the first beat. This was also to prove that everyone in the room was capable of participating. We then played the piece again, this time just playing the first beat of each set of semi-quavers and finally as many notes as we could manage.

Where's my camera?

Our masterclass session I know was of benefit to everyone. Fiona’s style of teaching encouraged everyone to participate by asking her questions and commenting. As mentioned before she paid great attention to phrasing. A very useful tip was not to over emphasise the first beat of a new phrase but to tail off the previous phrase.

Fiona had a different exercise up her sleeve as a solution to every problem. Here a just a few of them:

1. Playing a chord sequence backwards to really get to know them.
2. To use the big joint in the knuckles when striking the strings to reduce stress on the fingers and produce a bigger sound.
3. Turning the finger slightly when making a slide to reduce squeak.
4. Playing a tricky chord change with a dotted rhythm to help with the speed of the hand movement

There were lots of other useful tips and ideas. Some we have heard many times before but it is also good to be reminded from time to time. The main thing is to do some of these things everyday and also to read those theory books.

The day ended in a game of snap! I think I will keep you guessing!

We had a great day and were left with loads to think about.

Quote of the Month

"Music must be made popular, not by debasing the art, but by elevating the people."

National Music. 1840

Next Meeting

The next meeting will take place on 16th February at 2 p.m. until 5.30 p.m. in the small hall.

We are going to start on Concerto in A minor by G.P Telemann. If you attended the workshop you would have already been given your music and if not you should have received it with your newsletter. Please also remember those handkerchiefs!

January Meeting

January proved to be another very well attended meeting. Most people were already set up and raring to go by the time I arrived - and I don’t think that I was late.

Eine Kleine Nachmusik, which is probably our most difficult piece is taking shape and is almost up to speed. Guitar speed that is - not orchestral speed! It is a little tricky in places so don’t forget to practise in-between meetings.

Members demonstrated their ability to improvise - not with musical skills but with an amazing assortment of substitutes for damping the strings in the guise of dusters, tissues, scarves and smelly socks! This was of course for Kalimba, which will now be part of our concert programme. It has been suggested that we have a different colour handkerchief for each of the four parts. I think that this would look rather good.

After coffee performers were:

• Ann, Chris and Maurice played Organ Sonata no. 6 - BWV 530 by J.S. Bach
• Sarah played Nos. 4 & 9 opus 4 by F. Sor
• Valerie played Le Pélerin by N. Koshkin
• Margaret played Prelude no. 1 by H. Villa-Lobos
• Howard played Deux Branles du Village by Robert Ballard, complete with baco foil
• Stephen played a selection of his own music Meadow walk, All at Sea, Valse Bleu, Chanson Triste, Balkan Fidget and Fancy.

DGS Wine & Dine

Ann, me, Nick, Valerie, John, Sarah, Rosemary, Katie, Stephen, Richard, Judy, Jillie, Michael and Jean all said goodbye to their new year diets on Saturday evening (25th January) at the Yew Tree restaurant. This delightful sixteenth century restaurant is renowned for its freshly cooked home made meals. With excellent food and friendly service I think that we would all recommend it.
As we had pre-booked our main courses we had no difficult choices to make and were therefore able to engage in lively conversation straight away. However, our lively conversation came to a halt when the desserts were brought out. They even serve a rich creamy chocolate dessert that is slimming! However the lemon and ginger crunchy cake was definitely the best choice. I know - as I had a taste of both.
	Much to our amusement, Stephen looked a picture at the head of the table, surrounded by twinkling lights which flashed on and off all evening. Having discovered the CD player in a cupboard next to me I was very tempted to change the music, although after having a quick look through their CD collection I had to concede that perhaps Nat King Cole was the best choice.

Bank Holiday Guitar Break
Fiona Harrison flute & guitar course

On Bank Holiday Monday 25th August 2003 to Wednesday 27th August 2003, Fiona Harrison is running a flute & guitar course at Bloxham, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire. Cost £149

There will be classes on solo repertoire, technique and musicianship, guitar ensemble, flute & guitar partnerships. See Margaret for booking form or tel: Fiona on 0208 932 6876

Future Meetings

Concert Diary

Saturday 15th February - Concert 8.00 p.m
Southampton Guitar Society
The Point, Leigh Rd, Eastleigh
Gary Ryan
Tel: Box Office 023 8065 2333
£9 (concessions £6)

21 - 23 February
Dillington House, Somerset
Weekend course with Peter Rueffer
Tel: 01460 52427

Sat 10th May - Concert 7.30 p.m
Dorset Guitar Society
Kinson Community Centre
Dorset Guitar Orchestra
Tel: Margaret Tredwell 01425 613 739
£5

Saturday 22nd March - Concert 7.30 p.m.
Shared choir & guitar concert
St. Mary’s Church Dorchester
The Occasional Singers
Britten, V. Williams, Holst and Birley.
Stephen Kenyon
Four pieces by Dowland and two original compositions
Tel: 01305 269 077 or on the door
£6

Saturday 21st June - Concert 7.30 p.m.
St. Mary’s Church, Dorchester
Midsummer Concert
Fabio Zanon
Premiere of Stephen Kenyon’s Guitar Concerto no 1.
Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Schubert’s Fifth Symphony.
Tel: Stephen Kenyon 01305 257 099
www.jacaranda-music.com

18 - 21 July
Bath Spa University College
Eden Stell Guitar Duo Course
Website: www.igf-events.com

Sat 4th October
Derby Classical Guitar Society
Derby
Workshop & Concert with John Mills

Sat 11th October
Dorset Guitar Society
Kinson Community Centre, Pelhams Park, Millhams Rd, Kinson, Bournemouth.
Workshop & Concert with John Mills

Sun 12th October
Dorchester
Concert with John Mills

Saturday 22nd November - Concert 7.30 p.m.
Sunday 23rd November - Workshop
DORSET GUITAR SOCIETY
Kinson Community Centre
Neil Smith
Tel: Margaret Tredwell 01425 613 739