Monthly Archives: August 2014

My Musical Journey

Like my older sister, Susan Elkin, I started group violin lessons in our London County Council primary school because our father was a gifted folk fiddler. The English Folk Dance and Song Society produced an annual festival at the Albert Hall … Continue reading

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The Summer Concert

It was the Summer concert afternoon And we all tried hard to play in tune. We plucked and bowed and banged and blew And received our very first review! Despite England’s failure at the ‘beautiful game’ We played ‘We are … Continue reading

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What sort of music do you like?

As a music teacher I often get asked by students, “Sir, what music do you like best?” This is a surprisingly hard question and it took me a while to come up with an answer I am happy with. You … Continue reading

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A first encounter

I was 11 and in my first term at grammar school. It must have been very early in the term because I hadn’t yet made any friends. I’d been playing the violin for three years at primary school and was … Continue reading

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Translating, transcribing and trying to play the right notes

Reading music is like reading a second language. When you are reading a second language, your brain equates the words you are reading to the words you know from your mother tongue, whether consciously or not. When you are reading … Continue reading

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‘Tis the season to be jolly – even in August

Our next concert will be the Christmas Spectacular at the Tower Theatre, Shorncliffe. Last Christmas we took part in a Christmas Spectacular organised by the Salvation Army in Hythe, of which I am also a member. The event brought together … Continue reading

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View from the podium: our summer 2014 concert

As has become our norm, the summer concert consisted of lighter, shorter pieces of music. The exception this time was the first movement of a Beethoven piano concerto, which owing to issues with the soloist, had been postponed from our … Continue reading

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