The British BMG Federation Summer School Urchfont Manor , Wiltshire

This was the most successful Summer School we have held, certainly in terms of numbers. The banjo class doubled from 6 last year to 12 on Elias Sibley’s Ragtime finger-style 5-string banjo course. There were 13 mandolin students working on Jazz, Blues & Swing standards with Dave Griffiths and the mixed instrument class of 10 studied Celtic Music for sessions, performance and dancing under the direction of Nigel Gatherer.

It was very pleasing to see that the event also was able to draw interest from players from abroad in that we had a mandolin player come over from Germany and a banjo player from Belgium.

The venue was an old manor house converted into a residential college with very good accommodation and meals. There was a small bar that the banjo players managed to drink dry, and despite the rain, the local pub “The Lamb” was within a few minutes walk and that proved to be a popular stopping place for some of the students who used the pub for a music session. 

The 5-string Banjo class focused on Ragtime music and all the main aspects of the finger-style of playing the banjo were covered, particularly solo & ensemble playing, interpretation, technical development, sight reading and practice methods.

Jazz’N Blues Mandolin used set pieces from the Blues and Jazz repertoire to help give an insight into how to play and phrase tunes using swing rhythms. Students were introduced to improvisation based on scales, arpeggios and chord progressions.

The Mixed Instrument class learned to play Celtic tunes by ear as well as from written music.

The 5-string Banjo class focused on Ragtime music and all the main aspects of the finger-style of playing the banjo were covered, particularly solo & ensemble playing, interpretation, technical development, sight reading and practice methods.

Jazz’N Blues Mandolin used set pieces from the Blues and Jazz repertoire to help give an insight into how to play and phrase tunes using swing rhythms. Students were introduced to improvisation based on scales, arpeggios and chord progressions.

The Mixed Instrument class learned to play Celtic tunes by ear as well as from written music.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend as usual. The location was very good and not a bad word about the food or the service!”
”I enjoyed working in small groups with mixed instruments, it seemed to add an extra dimension.”

After main classes on Saturday, students selected to be either in a large group playing The Federation Marching On by Alan Middleton plus Latin American pieces Bailecito, Bahia Sueno and El Papamoscas led by Dave Griffiths, or in small groups of their own making. One of these was a banjo group that worked on a piece chosen beforehand, another was made up of people from the mixed instruments' class who formed a folk group.

“I enjoyed the weekend; Nigel is always great, the other people in the group were really nice and we had a lot of fun, and I learned some useful things about how to approach playing music as part of a group, ways to mix things up etc.  The venue was lovely, and the food was excellent”. 

In the closing concert, the mixed instrument class (or as Fliss Davies wrote in her blog, the missed instruments) played two reels Oyster Wives Rant and Clean Pea Strae, sang the song Caledonia by Dougie McLean and ended with Padraig O’Keefe’s Slide. The banjo class played The Clarence, a polka-march by Herbert J Ellis and Calliope Rag by James Scott. This was followed by Claude Burvenich playing in duet with Elias Sibley, her composition Anatole Frivole, saying “The Anatole is in jazz, a chord succession: I VI II V again and again. So this piece is an anatole in G. It is in 7/8 only because I liked asymmetrical rhythm, so it is 3 + 4 in each bar. Frivole is for frivolity and also because it sounds funny!” The Jazz ‘N Blues mandolin class played one tune, St Louis Blues by W C Handy which was equally as long as the other class performances because it included improvised solos from Hans Gruenewald, Philip James, Joe Wilkinson and Michael Lloyd.

“Urchfont was another very successful and enjoyable Summer School. Looking forward to next year's already!”

The Summer School was a success not only for the class work, but also the social side of things; it was good meeting those from previous years and also getting to know new people. We hope next year’s Summer School at Benslow Music Trust, Hitchin, Herts on 11^th – 13^th June will be as successful. Full details will be on the website autumn 2009, but as a taster, there will be 4 courses: Baroque Mandolin with Frances Taylor, Classic Finger-Style 5-string Banjo with Chris Sands, Classical Guitar with Gerald Garcia and Mixed Instruments Folk with Robin Garside. Enquiries should be directed to Henry Girvan on 01592 630374 email henry.girvan@btinternet.com To reserve a place early, contact Benslow Music Trust 01462 459446 or download a booking form from www.benslow.org The title of the summer school is ‘Banjo, Mandolin & Guitar Fest’.

Photos from the weekend taken by Paul Tombs are on his website www.ptgraphics.co.uk