Nightingale Activities
We are very fortunate that, except during major lock downs, Felton Village Hall is able to take bookings. This is because it is a Covid 19 Secure Venue. If you come to the hall, you'll find the protocols we are all used to now – a one way system, lots of sanitiser, 2 metres distances seating set out for you, QR code posters to scan, no sharing, and, of course, masks. The doors and windows stay open as much as possible, but there's heating as necessary. People have got used to bringing layers and even blankets for those who like to feel really cosy. The good news is that the toilets are available for use, but it's bring your own refreshments.
Session lengths have been reduced to bring down the risk a little. Most activities run for an hour and a half. The charge is £1 an hour each to cover hire of the Hall, so that means £1.50 for most things.
Because everything has to be set out for you, you need to book in for each session in advance. And of course you'll provide your contact number for Track and Trace.
It was July when we learned that it would be possible to reopen the Hall subject to lots of safety measures. At that time, singing and playing wind instruments was not allowed. That cut out most activities. We could carry on with the Ukulele group, expanding it to welcome any players of similar instruments such as guitars. Slow Tunes could continue, but, sadly, without the recorder players. A new group has evolved from Slow Tunes – Sessiony Sessions. Nothing else was viable, so two new groups have been established, both of which can continue when life gets back to whatever becomes normal whenever that is. The new groups are workshops for Pitched Percussion (instruments provided) and Exploring Music. The latter uses keyboards, which participants need to bring.
Inevitably sessions have to be a little more formal. Materials are sent out as pdfs in advance so each person prints out their own. (Anyone who needs hard copies gives 3 days notice and a set is available in an envelope for them). We have to socially distance, so sessions are run from the front, and with masks or visors being worn, with the minimum of talk.
All these sessions are in line with the Felton Music philosophy. (That sounds very grand). Each person brings and takes away what they want. There are options and encouragement to practise at home but no expectation that people should. When a bit of understanding about how the music works is relevant, that's provided. There are no performances.
At the time of writing we are in the England-wide autumn lock down. Dates are booked for December in the hopes that restrictions will be loosened then.
Detailed descriptions of each group are below.
Slow Tunes
Slow Tunes has moved from Felton Music Saturdays to Saturday afternoons, approximately fortnightly.(We work round other bookings in the Hall). The agenda is the same – playing ceilidh tunes at a more manageable pace than you usually hear. This means the session is accessible for anyone who wants to join in. We now work to a tune list which is sent out to everyone coming in advance, so music sheets can be ready in order. Every 4 or 5 sessions, we focus on a different repertoire of about 20 tunes, keeping a few we already know and adding new tunes. We're making progress playing by ear and by memory, having 3 or 4 tunes to do each time.
At present participants play fiddle, concertina, melodeon, pipes, guitars and ukulele.
It is sad that recorder players had to be excluded initially because of the ban on wind players. In order to address this in part, Hazel Makepeace has videoed each session, and the link is sent to all the Better Recorder Playing Group as well as to all who attend the sessions. Each video is viewed by more than 20 people, so it is clearly a valued resource.
Anyone would would like to play along with the video is very welcome to. You'll be sent pdfs of the music and the link for the video.
Listening to one of the videos will give you an idea of whether or not the sessions might be for you.
We could manage to cope with a small number of additional players at the sessions including recorder players. Places may need to be rationed because of capacity in the hall, though I think that as some people's circumstances mean they feel it is wise for them not to attend group activities this will not turn out to be necessary.
Upcoming Dates
Saturday December 5th, 2pm to 3.30pm
Saturday December 19th, 2pm to 3.30pm
Sessiony Sessions
Once Slow Tunes has finished, some players stay on for another hour led by Chris Metherell. The repertoire overlaps with that of Slow Tunes and has additional tunes. The pace is quicker and we are working on being able to pick up a tune by ear and join in without the title being announced. It's developing into being run like a session – no counting in – one player kicks off and there's a sequence of tunes. It's stretching a lot of us, but is great fun and we sleep well on a Saturday night.
Sessiony Sessions are open to anyone who would like to join in. It could appeal to those who may find Slow Tunes a bit too slow, and pub sessions a bit too fast. Maybe we should have called it the Goldilocks Hour.
Upcoming Dates
Saturday December 5th, 3.30pm to 4.30pm
Saturday December 19th, 3.30pm to 4.30pm
Ukuleles and Guitars
In order to work for people who have done little or no playing, the materials focus on a restricted set of chords for several sessions. There are optional extras for those who have more skill and experience. We work through a repertoire of songs in all sorts of styles for a few sessions, ending with a grand play through of all of them, then embark on a new set.
Within the group there's a range of knowledge and skills. Some are ace at strumming, some know lots about how to finger the chords, and there's always support for understanding what's going on in the music. People share their expertise – as well as is possible with masks and maintaining our distances.
To provide variety in the sessions, we also work in tab, and everyone is encouraged to learn to play the tunes of the songs from tab or notation. That was necessary initially when singing was banned. More recently we have allowed ourselves to sing, though not at full throttle.
We also practise a few ensemble pieces. This is proving to be a very attractive way of making music. The high pitch of the ukuleles is grounded by the lower sounds of the guitars. The pieces are short, familiar and there are parts of different difficulty so players can choose which they want to do.
There is space to welcome more people. The session is great for those who have been playing a bit, but beginners will find it's not too difficult to join in with. People who are very experienced could find it a bit slow and restricted, but might welcome the opportunity to make music with others. Their input would be very welcome!
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday December 9 2pm – 3.30pm
Pitched Percussion Workshop
With so many Felton Music activities depending on singing or blowing, I was casting around for what we could do that would be as coronavirus safe as possible. The answer was pitched percussion – that's xylophones and such like: instruments with different length bars that you hit. You don't need any technique to get started, though it's good to learn how to hold the beaters and make a nice sound with a bounce. All the notes are laid out in front of you, so you can play thinking just about the patterns you are making.
Felton Music now owns 6 instruments of a good size – not the tiddly things you might give a toddler. With no sharing, sessions have to be restricted to 6 people. More than that number 6 found the workshops enjoyable, so we started holding them weekly instead of fortnightly, so everyone could get a chance. This plan means yet more people could join in, giving everyone an opportunity for a workshop once a fortnight. A week gives the instruments time to isolate in their boxes so they are safe for different people to use the next time.
There's no written music at the workshops. Everything is done by ear and looking at the patterns of the notes. We work out and learn short tunes by ear, make up music out of patterns, play around with chords and improvise in ones, twos and the whole group. Absolutely no prior knowledge of music or the instruments is needed in order to participate and enjoy the sessions. Each workshop is free standing.
Upcoming Dates
Friday December 11th, 7.30pm to 9pm
Friday December 18th, 7.30pm to 9pm
Exploring Music Workshop
Playing a keyboard involves no singing or blowing and quite a number of people have one. Keyboards are splendid tools for finding out more about how music works. All the notes, white and black, are there, so you can see how they relate to each other. Even if you have no piano technique you learn to use all your fingers very quickly so you can play patterns more easily than dabbing with one finger. And you can hear how different combinations of notes sound when they are played together
Since August we've been playing around with chords, progressing at a very steady rate to try to ensure that no one is left behind. Those who are more experienced and confident can do more complex things with the same materials. We do use music notation, but very basic reading skills are all people need to be able to join in and learn. There's playing, finding things out and inventing.
There's space in the Hall for a few more people to join the workshops. They work best if participants can come most of the time, as we build on what we've done before.
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday December 16th, 2pm to 3.30pm