music matters Issue #02 Oct 2012

FEATURED INSTRUMENT OF THE MONTH

Read about the exotic Gamelan

MUSICIAN’S DOZEN

Solve the Word Search!

HALF TERM GUIDE See what’s happening in and

around London this Half Term

ST. JOHN’S PREP SCHOOL’S MUSIC NEWSLETTER

THE CLASSICAL

CHARTS Have a look at

BBC Radio 3

2

Editor’s

MESSAGE

Dear pupils,

Welcome to the second edition of Music

Matters, St. John’s Prep School’s very own

monthly music newsletter! As you can see,

we have upgraded to the A4 size format for

the newsletter, just so that we can squeeze

more content in!

In this month’s edition, you can find a guide

for what is happening during the Half Term.

Now remember, there is always plenty to

see and discover in London!

Also, in this issue, I will be speaking about an

amazing piece of technology, which I am

sure you will find very useful. It is called

Spotify and basically, it is a programme

similar to iTunes that catalogues and

contains almost every single song in the

English-speaking world! Just type in any song

you wish to listen to and it comes up almost

instantly. It works on your computer as well

as on your smartphone - if you have one,

that is! Best of all, it is free! I have covered

more on this fantastic programme on page

7.

In the meantime, I hope all of you have a

fantastic, musical Half Term and enjoy the

last bits of warmth before winter truly sets in

for good! Do not forget to check out the

amazing London Children’s Film Festival at

the Barbican and discover all about

filmmaking. More information can be found

on the next page.

Keep singing!

MR. JONATHAN ANG

Editor

Music Matters

CONTENTS

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Half-term What’s On

Instrument of the Month

Young Female Musician of

the Month

Artiste of the Month

Lower School Corner

Musician’s Dozen

News & Upcoming Events

Featured Article: BBC Radio 3

Play a Christmas Tune

Young Male Musician of the

Month

3

Festivals, exhibitions AND

CONCERTS

Nothing says “great day out” as well as an artsy trip in the capital! Here

is a list of what is going on in and around London. This bumper listing

contains everything you need to know for the Half Term break.

London Children’s Film Festival 1st - 30th Nov. Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS

Have you always wanted to be a filmmaker? Well now is your

chance! Throughout the entire month, there will be film

screenings and lots of workshops for you to participate in and

learn what it takes to make your own film.

You can even make your own film in a day and get a copy of

it on DVD to take home with you! Also, find out what happens

behind the scenes when a movie is being made, and how

music for films is used. It is all very much like the Science Museum, but for films! How very exciting.

Ice Age Live London Wembley Arena, Arena Square, Engineers Way, London, HA9 0AA 1st - 3rd Nov.

Sid, Diego & Manny are back and, this time, they will be appearing

live! With dance, acrobatics, flying and skating, this is definitely a

thrilling way to spend the Half Term break.

There will be a 3.5 metre tall Manny the mammoth onstage, and a

brand new character: Shadow, a bird that stretches more than 4

metres long! There will also be plenty of toe tapping tunes and ac-

tion-packed sequences, all just like the films!

War Horse Exhibition London 22nd Oct. 2012 onwards National Army Museum, London, SW3 4HT

Inspired and based on Michael Morpurgo’s hugely popular book ‘War

Horse’, this exhibition celebrates the touching real life stories of animals

who have bravely fought in wars, including Joey the war horse from the

book and films. If you have seen the film or read the book, this will be a

perfect opportunity to experience moments from the story on a large

scale.

This exhibition will be perfect for history fans and animal lovers alike! The

War Horse exhibition runs till 31 March, 2013, so do not miss it!

Half Term at the Museum of London 150 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5HN 27th Oct. 2012 - 4th Nov. 2012

This Half Term, the Museum of London will be holding a series of workshops,

storytelling sessions and exhibitions dedicated to London’s rich and varied

past. Children will get to explore the museum and get hands-on with a range

of activities, some of which will be Halloween-themed as well! All events are

free to attend.

4

Featured Instrument

of the Month

Every month we will feature an instrument, which might be a common

instrument, or sometimes a strange and mystic-looking one instead! If you

would like to see it in action, simply visit YouTube and type in the

instrument name, and there you have it! If you would like to learn a new

instrument, simply speak to your music teacher and they will point you in

the right direction.

GAMELAN The gamelan refers to traditional musi-

cal instruments from the islands of Java

and Bali, in Indonesia, a country lo-

cated in Southeast Asia.

Instruments in the gamelan are mostly

made up of metallic pots or bars. Each

pot or bar produces a different pitch

and are arranged in a specific order,

like the keyboard. These instruments are

played or struck with a beater, and this

is called a mallet.

Although most instruments are made of

metal, there are also instruments that are

made up of bamboo (called the angklung)

or animal skin (drums as seen in the photo on

the left, called the kendang). Clapping

(called keplok) also features prominently is

gamelan music!

Below are a few instruments you can find in a

traditional gamelan ensemble from the Indo-

nesian island of Java. Java is where the capi-

tal of Indonesia, Jarkata, is located, and is

also the most populous island in the world.

Gendèr Bonang Saron

5

Anahitha Vijay, F2

YOUNG FEMALE MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH

Q: Hello Anahitha, how nice to be able to have a chat with

you! Tell us, what instruments do you play, and which is your

favourite?

A: I play the violin and the harmonica, but I prefer the

harmonica.

Q: Is there an instrument you wish you could learn?

A: The drums! My friend Harry plays the drums as well.

Q: .What sort of music do you most enjoy?

A: I really like classical music. In fact, my favourite classical composers are Beethoven,

Mozart and Tchaikovsky!

Q: Very impressive. Tell me, where do you usually listen to classical music?

A: I listen to it on the radio, usually on Classic FM which is my favourite radio station.

Q: I hear you are able to learn a certain tune just by listening and then playing it back on

the keyboard. That is quite impressive, could you tell us more about that?

A: That is correct! I am trying to learn how to do that on the keyboard. I have never really

had proper lessons on the keyboard, so I am trying to teach myself at the moment. I then

imagine how they sound on the violin, before transferring it onto the keyboard.

Q: Who is your favourite singer, and what do think their best song is?

A: It is definitely Nicki Minaj, and my favourite song of hers is Super Bass!

Q: Does anyone else in your family play instruments?

A: My mum does play some Indian instruments, and she is

really inspiring to me. She plays something called the veena

(pictured on the left), which is like a guitar but it makes a

much lower sound.

MUSIC FACTS TO BOGGLE YOUR MIND!

Fact: The size of

Monaco’s orchestra is

bigger than its army!

Did you know that the world's

official fastest rapper is Ricky

Brown? He holds the Guinness

World Record by rapping 723

syllables in 41.27 seconds on

his track No Clue, in January

2005, in front of a licensed

speech therapist.

American composer John Cage (1912–1992)

composed a work in 1952 entitled 4' 33", which

consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds

of complete silence.

The harmonica is the world’s best-

selling music instrument.

6

FEATURED ARTISTE

OF THE MONTH

Every month this newsletter will feature a musician, artiste,

composer or singer for you to discover. Remember, if you want

to know more about the featured artiste of the month, you

can always find more on the internet, especially on YouTube!

ESCALA Escala are a young, trendy group of

string players. They play electronic string

instruments, very much like the electric

guitar, except they are played with a

bow (like a normal violin). Izzy and

Honor play the violin, Chantal plays the

viola and Tasya plays the cello.

Since winning Britain's Got Talent in 2008,

they have become very popular. They

specialise in playing classical music but

with electronic beats accompanying

the music, such as hip-hop, trance and

dance music. This specific type of music

is called classical crossover. Their concerts always feature slick dance moves, shiny cos-

tumes and a dancing crowd, very unlike a traditional classical concert! You can listen to

them on Spotify - see below for more information on this amazing piece of software.

Spotify is an instant, online music streaming service that works like iTunes, but with a massive

catalogue of approximately 15 million songs! You can search via artists, albums, labels and

genres, but one of it’s best features is radio. Simply by starting with a particular artiste of your

choice, you can set up your very own radio station comprising of songs that are similar to the

artiste you started out with! You can also make your own playlists and share them with your

friends.

The basic features of Spotify are free, but they include advertisements after every four to five

songs played. However, if you buy a subscription, you will be able to play music from Spotify

from your mobile or smartphone, and save tracks on your computer so you can play them

without an internet connection. And of course, there will not be any advertisements. Monthly

subscriptions start from £4.99/month onwards.

To download, visit http://www.spotify.com/ or your smartphone’s app store!

7

LO

WER

SCHOOL

CORNER

Bailey the Piping Bear has just got himself a

brand new tartan, and he needs your help

colouring it in! Do not forget to decorate his

bagpipes nicely as well. This month’s best entry

will be awarded a special prize! Deadline: 31st

October, 2012.

To learn more about what tartan is and view

some examples, see the bottom of this page.

What is tartan? It is a pattern of criss-crossed bands in

multiple colours, and is usually associated with

Scotland and Scottish culture. Since the 19th century,

Scottish clans have adopted their own signature

patterns on their tartan dress. Currently, there are

almost 7,000 different tartan patterns in the world, with

around 150 new designs being created every year!

Clan Gordon

tartan

MacGregor

Red & Green

tartan

Maclaine

Dress

tartan

Cu

t o

r te

ar

alo

ng

lin

e

8

Z g f t c S t p D v

E U h R L f X U s f

Y I p i a n o h b B

g t t A R g E O A A

h A B n I f D I n g

J r R g n h L E J P

b u g L E A W U o I

D f W e t r q h t P

S x y l o p h o n E

E b m e j d b a s s

Musician’s Dozen

Can you find all twelve different instruments from the Word

Search puzzle below?

Piano

Clarinet

Xylophone

Tuba

Banjo

Guitar

Bonus word: Djembe

Where is this instrument from?

_____________________

How many of these instruments can you play?

Harp

Flute

Bass

Bagpipes

Bugle

Triangle

— QUICK Sudoku —

9

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

LION KING COMPETITION WINNERS

Form 2 & 3 pupils will be making a trip to the Lyceum Theatre at London’s

West End during October to watch Lion King the musical. They won tickets

after submitting entries in a competition last year where they had to perform

numbers from the musical and record it on video before sending it off to the

competition organisers. Their entries came in second place. Well done!

CHOIR COMPETITIONS

The Prep. School choir have started work towards recording their submission

entries for two big competitions this year. The first is the Barnardo’s National

Choir Competition, and the other is the very prestigious BBC Songs of Praise

Choir of the Year Competition. The choir is currently working very hard on

perfecting their brand-new repertoire for the year!

SCHOOL EVENTS

Rehearsals are currently under way for Speech Day performances, as well as

the combined Remembrance Day assembly in November. Mrs. Bowman has

also commenced rehearsals for the Lower School Christmas Show, which will

be held at the Wyllyots Theatre in Potters Bar on 28 November, 2012 at 7.00

p.m.

DESIGN YOUR OWN INSTRUMENT

W I N N E R

Congratulations to Ella

Robinson (LT) for winning

last month’s competition!

10

Since 29 September 1946, the BBC

has been leading the way in classical

music programmes on the radio.

However, it is not just ‘serious’ music

that this radio station deals with.

Read to find out more.

BBC Radio 3 focuses not only on classical mu-

sic and opera, but also jazz, world music and

drama. It is also a leader in the world when it

comes to asking modern-day composers to

write new music for the radio station!

Radio 3 broadcasts from central London, but

it also has recording and broadcasting facili-

ties at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Fes-

tival Hall, so that they are able to broadcast

concerts live on radio from these venues. They

have various programmes everyday, but the

most famous one is their Composer of the

Week programme, which has been going on

since August 1943.

Each week, a particular classical composer is

studied in detail and their work is played more

often on the radio. Below you can find some

famous classical composers who have been

featured and some interesting information

about them.

BBC Radio 3 is also well known for its broadcast

of the BBC Proms concerts, live and in full, every

summer. The BBC Proms is an eight-week sea-

son of daily orchestral classical music concerts

held every year, and this has been going on

since 1895!

The Proms remain extremely popular till this day

and every year, fans known as “Prommers” get

together in fancy dress to celebrate music.

Ludwig van Beethoven b.17 Dec. 1770

d. 26 Mar. 1827

Towards the end of his life

Beethoven still continued

composing and conducting

even though he became

completely deaf!

Muzio Clementi b. 24 Jan. 1752

d. 10 Mar. 1832

Clementi was considered to

be Mozart’s strongest com-

petitor, they would often try

to out-compose each

other! He has also been

married three times.

Jean Sibelius b.8 Dec. 1865

d. 20 Sep. 1957

Sibelius is Finland’s most

famous composer. However,

he only realised he wanted to

be a professional musician

after finishing a law degree at

university!

Erik Satie b.17 May. 1866

d. 01 Jul. 1925

French composer Satie is best

known for his composition Vexa-

tions, which is simply a one-minute

long piano piece played repeat-

edly over 840 times, giving a non-

stop playing time of 14 hours!

11

PLAY A

CHRISTMAS TUNE! With Christmas quickly approaching, this is now the perfect time to pick up some Christmas

tunes! In this and the next issue of Music Matters, an easy Christmas tune will be featured. This

month’s carol is called Away In A Manger, I am sure most of you will be familiar with this tune!

The music here is written mainly for piano, but if you play another instrument such as the violin,

ask your instrumental teacher and they will adapt the music for you so that you are able to play

it on your own instrument!

12

YOUNG MALE MUSICIAN

OF THE MONTH

Q: Hello Jacob. So, what instruments do you play?

A: I play the guitar.

Q: And how long have you been playing the guitar?

A: For about two years now, I think. I go to the Sound

Garden Music School in Barnet for lessons.

Q: .And I suppose your favourite instrument must be the

guitar as well?

A: Yes, it is!

Q: Tell us, what type of guitars to you play?

A: I play the electric guitar, but I also own an acoustic guitar at home.

Q: I hear you are looking to set up a band. Tell us more about it?

A: That is right! I am looking for about six or so musicians to join me with all sorts of

instruments like the piano and drums, and I hope to form a band that plays all different kinds

of music.

Q: So when this band becomes famous and successful, what do you hope to do with it?

A: I hope we can go to Las Vegas and perform!

Editors note: If you are interested in joining Jacob to form a band, please come and speak

to Mr. Ang. It would be preferable if you have a few years’ experience on your instrument

and are able to play any one of the following: the piano, bass guitar or drums. Also, if you

sing, please approach Mr. Ang and he will assess your suitability to join Jacob’s band.

Places are limited so be quick!

Every month there will be one or two students from St. John’s Prep

School who will be featured as Young Musicians of the month! If you

have something about music you want to share, looking to set up a

band or play an interesting instrument, simply approach Mr. Ang and

you might be featured next!

MUSIC MATTERS 10/2012

Published by

St John’s Prep. School

Editor

Mr. Jonathan Ang

Jacob Haynes, F1