It’s been great to see so many of you at rehearsals this week! Here is a definitive list of what’s happening when, and where…
Please note that Guitar Group will be starting on Tuesday 18th.
Singing opportunities at BYMT
Have a look at all of these – lots there for singers of all types! Just in case there’s just not enough singing going on at school….
Last few places on tour are up for grabs!
We have 10 seats on the coach to fill! If you have not yet paid a deposit, and would like to come on tour this year, please see MissW for a letter about it. Deposits need to be in by 21st September, so hurry!
Sorry everyone – an earlier version of the schedule had JamSesh round the wrong way – this is now correct, with JamSesh#1 on Thursday and JamSesh#2 on Friday.
…with the exception of Guitar Group, which will start back on Tuesday 11th, or maybe even the following week (it depends when Mr Hendry starts his teaching).
As well as the groups listed above, there are some other musical opportunities open to Hayes students:
…in case you’re wondering what skiffle is, here is an example:
You may have noticed that Chamber Choir is no longer on the rehearsal schedule. This is because we lost so many Year 13 members in July, and nobody came to audition to swell the ranks, so we simply do not have enough singers to make a chamber choir. However, Laura is planning on running a small vocal group for ex-Chamber Choir singers, on Thursday lunchtimes in CGG. Come along and see what she has planned!
Finally, Mrs Foster will be running a Clarinet Choir on Tuesdays after school. If you play clarinet and are interested in playing in a small group, please contact Mrs Foster directly.
See the ‘about’ page for all this year’s concert dates. We look forward to seeing everyone at rehearsals next week!
Wider listening
This week’s listening is a special bit of Hayes music! Dan Shears left Hayes in 2005 after doing AS Music and A level Music Tech. He’s now forging a career as a singer and songwriter. Here is the debut single from his new album Shadow & Whimsy. Dan always had an amazing singing voice with an incredible high register, and his very own quirky musical style. You will get this in bucketloads when you watch the video!
Listen to some new music! Go to a prom! Learn a new piece! Play/sing some old favourites!
Have a great time but stay musical!
We’ll see you at the end of August. We will be having a meeting for Music Leaders and Prefects on the second day back, lunchtime on Thursday 30th August.
Rehearsals will all start on Monday 3rd September.
Bring a song to sing – this can be anything you like. Unaccompanied, backing track, piano accompaniment, all fine. Then we will test your range to find the top and bottom of your voice, and see if you can hold a harmony part in a piece we will teach you. There will also be a tiny bit of sight reading.
Something to see in the holidays
Great local theatre and live music! This will be a lot of fun, and if you come along there might be some people in the cast that you recognise!
A brilliant evening all round – well done everybody! In a few cases, some slightly scary pieces came together at the last possible minute!
Harry & Ben raised £77.31 for Mind too, which is great.
Now it is time to tidy up the department. These are the things that need doing:
Music needs sorting and filing
Things need putting away
Some things need mending
Certain areas, i.e. the office and the store, need a good sort-out
Out-of-date things need taking down
If you would like to help with any of these things, or just want to hang out in music and have a jam, just rock up any lunchtime.
There will only be rehearsals for Jazz Band (for Sports Awards) and Jamsesh#1 (for Hazefest) from now on. Everything else is on summer break until the new academic year.
Here is the rehearsal schedule for concert day – that’s next Thursday, 28th June.
Rehearsals Mon-Wed will be as usual.
On concert day…
You must ONLY be in rehearsals when you are scheduled. Absence from lessons will be on SIMS according to this schedule – so if you skip any other lessons because you are ‘rehearsing’, it will go down as truancy
The concert starts at 6.30pm. You need to be there in time to be ready. Use CGD to park instrument cases etc.
You need to wear all black outfits
When you are not actually performing, you need to be in the hall being a lovely supportive, appreciative audience member for everyone else. This involves being quiet!
The concert will be finished by 9pm. If you are a good musician and good member of our music community, you will stick around at the end to help clear away
Tickets are £5 for adults on the door. Senior citizens and under-18s are FREE!
We are now a Musical Futures Champion School!
This is a very exciting recognition of what we do in music at Hayes. So what does it mean, and who are Musical Futures?
Musical Futures is an organisation that promotes practical music-making in schools, particularly in KS3 lessons. You know chair drumming? That’s a Musical Futures thing. So are all the playalong videos that we use. Also the four-chord mashup project in Year 8, and the 3-chord Emeli Sandé project we do in Year 7.
We are completely Musical Future-d up, and they love it, so they have made us a Champion School. We will shortly be receiving some very smart blue plaques that we can put up to show our new status.
Music leader applications
Remember you have until 3pm on Monday (25th June) to submit your application to be a Music Leader. Scroll down to last week’s blog for a link to the form.
The Summer Concert is coming up fast! We only have a week and a half left of rehearsals. So it’s really important that we have everyone at everything between now and then (exams permitting).
Hey Jamsesh, MissW and MrT are out on a trip next Friday and so will not be around for usual rehearsals. Jamsesh#2 are getting together to have a runthrough on their own. I’m sure Jamsesh#1 will decide what they need to do and organise themselves!
Music Leader applications 2018-19
It’s time to appoint our new music leaders for next year. Here’s what you need to know:
Anyone, in any year group, can apply
We are looking for people who are committed and tuned in. By that, we mean people who come to rehearsals really regularly, check the blog, answer their emails and generally know what’s going on
This year, we want a smaller group of Music Leaders – no more than 8
What do Music Leaders do? Well, some of them direct ensembles, i.e. conduct a choir or band, or lead/organise an activity. Others help with admin tasks such as filing music, creating programmes and posters for concerts etc. We have an exciting new opportunity in 2018-19 to be part of a research project run alongside the Institute of Education where you will teach something (musical) that you are good at to other students. Or, you might have ideas for something brilliant that we have never thought of – we will listen to your ideas and (if we think it’s good) support you in making it happen
If you are chosen to be a Music Leader, you will get a snazzy purple badge like the one above. Please could this year’s Music Leaders return their badges (unless you are in Y13, in which case you can keep it)
An announcement will be made at the Summer Concert as to who has been chosen to be a Music Leader 2018-19
If you want to apply, you need to fill in this form
Deadline for submission is Monday 25th June
If you have any questions, please talk to/email MissW
SEND Pops Choir – help needed
Mrs Allsopp is setting up a new small choir for SEND students, and is looking for helpers. Please go over to M block and talk to Mrs Allsopp or Miss Jones, or email Mrs Allsopp on ela@hayes.bromley.sch.uk if you’d like to know more about what’s involved.
Wider listening – chill time
It’s getting to that time of year where a) if you’re doing exams, you’ve had enough of them and want them to stop, b) everyone is getting tired and c) we can’t wait for the holidays to come. So this week’s wider listening is a beautiful Mozart slow movement. Zone out for 5-and-a-half minutes of tranquility and let the ‘Mozart effect’ do its thing (to find out what the Mozart effect actually is, read this).
Huge well done to all those who participated in the music assemblies this week! It is a huge deal to perform in front of your peers – the hardest gig that we do. Especially well done to those who did solos, and in front of your own year groups too. Both songs went really well, and we were really proud that the school got to see you in awesome action.
Summer Concert is coming up fast!
…It’s less than three weeks away! 28th June is the date. So we need everyone at rehearsals (exams permitting…)
Music tour
The deadline to get tour deposits in was today (8th June) but we’ll be counting the numbers on Monday so you have a cheeky weekend to get a last-minute deposit in. Go on – you know you want to! Letters went out via ParentMail a few weeks ago.
Wider listening – Anthem from Chess
This week’s piece is the monumental, heartwrenching anthem from Chess, which has recently been on at the ENO. What exactly is it that gives this piece its emotion? The answer is all in the melodic line, the harmony, and the orchestral arrangement (as well as Tommy Korberg’s brilliant performance here).
Remember we are doing our music assemblies the first week back after half term. So all members of Choir will need to come to the Hall very promptly at 2.40pm every day. There isn’t any need to be let out early, but you will need to get there quick, dump your bag somewhere (on the stage behind the curtain?) and get into choir positions ASAP.
The running order is this:
Adiemus (we will do this from the front – it is probably too disruptive to do it in a circle in an assembly)
MissW will talk a bit
My Shot (there will be mics set up)
If you are playing a cajon/surdo/bongos or whatever (either in My Shot or Adiemus) then you are in charge of making sure you have this in the right place at the right time! It is essential that everyone knows their words, especially for My Shot, which was going really well last time but is still a bit on the hairy side of well-rehearsed!
Music tour 2019
Letters have gone out via Parentmail to parents of all members of Choir and Concert Band. Let’s get those deposits rolling in and get our tour to Budapest off the ground!!
This week’s wider listening
Check out this cover version of Africa – there are some extended techniques in there (i.e. not playing the piano in the conventional way)…
Also here is what happens when you play a world map (keep watching….)
This graphic has been created to help you learn My Shot. We will be performing this (along with Adiemus) in the music week assemblies straight after half term. We only have two more rehearsals before then! You need to spend some time listening to it with your copy in front of you, and using this graphic to memorise the structure.
It is easy when you know it!!
Remember the audio for My Shot is on the Choirs page.
Music tour 2019
It’s great that you’re so excited about next year’s tour! Letters will be going out to parents of everyone in Choir and Concert Band in the next few days. Get those deposits rolling in!
Wider listening for this week
It helps to actively work to get better at listening. Here is a really great article from the BBC about how you can do this.
This week’s wider listening piece is from Beethoven’s Moonlight piano sonata. But it comes with some amazing choreography here!
