Hofnote Newsletter

February 2010

Hello and welcome back into the New Year. The first newsletter of this year begins by looking at endings!

In this newsletter we want to thank Jenny who asked the question, "What is a coda"

As ever we wish everyone well who is sitting an exam. Why do they call it sitting when you stand to play many instruments?

Where does Jazz come from?

Jazz on the Block

How did Jazz come about? Nothing is ever straightforward, and especially so when it comes to tracing where Jazz came from. What is certain, though, is that it was a phenomenon which originated in New Orleans among the Creole population. The Creole people, originally from the West Indies, lived under French and Spanish rule in Louisiana, and became American citizens at the beginning of the 19th Century. They tended to be highly educated, and knew European music and culture very well. In 1894, they were forced from their homes in New Orleans, and made to live in the poorer district, which was inhabited by newly freed slaves. The clash of cultures resulted in the fusion of blues, call and response songs and other music of the slave plantations with the French quadrille, polka, waltz and mazurka, Spanish rhythms and the popular march forms as composed by people such as Sousa as well as the earlier ragtime style of Scott Joplin and others. The strong, underlying beat, and cross-rhythms imitated African music, while the forms and harmony came from European music. The resulting Jazz style was taken up by black and white musicians at the same time. The way early Jazz sounded is lost to us, as no recordings were made until 1917, but early pioneers included Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton. Music in the Jazz style was improvised over chord patterns borrowed from other music. Composers such as Jelly Roll Morton took the basic 2/4 of Ragtime and gave it a 4/4 beat, adding syncopation. Any music could be played in this style, which was called "hot". Black Bottom Stomp by Jelly Roll Morton is an excellent example of how this style of music had developed by the mid- to late-twenties. Click the links to find out more about jazz, This is an interesting article that tells you more about jazz. //www.allaboutjazz.com/jazzroot.htm, One of Jelly Roll Morton's best jazz compositions from 1926 is Black Bottom Stomp and here is a download you can listen to. It will play with Realplayer //www.redhotjazz.com/songs/,

Music from slavery

In 1807 the first act to abolish slavery was passed by the UK government, and in many places there will be ceremonies are marking the two hundredth anniversary. Music which developed from the slave culture is being used, such as Gospel and Reggae. Slavery was a very hard way of life and the slaves in America used African music of their ancestors to help them cope. Many owners banned them singing and dancing but they often persisted in religion, and in secret. Sometimes they sang to keep in rhythm while they worked. Their songs helped them to keep their spirits up and were based on strong rhythms. Today, gospel choirs can be some of the most energetic and lively choirs on stage. Find out here what a "shout" was and you can also listen to some Gospel music at this site. //www.negrospirituals.com/song.htm, Some Gospel choir websites also have examples of their singing on them such as the well known London Community Gospel Choir //www.lcgc.org.uk/music.html, Reggae music was also a response to the awfulness of slavery and developed in Jamaica. "In a sense, Jamaican people were born into a world of suffering because of slavery, and the vitality of music as a healing, uplifting part of life was born with them." said Andy Tower in 'The Painful Path of Music - Slavery and Suffering in Jamaica and their effects on Jamaican Music, 1998' This is a great site to hear some Reggae and also read the words of the songs. //www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/history/reggae.shtml,

Now copy this!

Music games

I found this page with some cool games on it. Particularly good is " Be a Rocking Rhythm Monster" where you have to tap a rhythm on the space bar. There is also a good note naming game for the treble clef notes. //musiced.about.com/games,

Joseph Haydn

Classical composer

Is he having a little joke?

Joseph Haydn The classical composer, Joseph Haydn has turned out to be one of the most influential composers in Europe. He began his musical career as a choirboy in St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he sang as a chorister for ten years. It seems that the choirboys were not particularly well looked after, and he always looked forward to the occasions when then the choir sang for the rich aristocrats. This meant that there would be plenty of good food, and the hungry choirboys made the most of it! The boys were not given a particularly good musical education either, and the young Josef learned about music by studying the music that was rehearsed at the cathedral. Eventually, he was dismissed from the cathedral choir and had to start earning a living teaching music and busking. At this time, he worked as accompanist for the singing teacher and composer, Nicola Porpora, who also taught him composition. Through various connections, he ended up as Kapellmeister (Musical Director) to the aristocratic Esterhazy family. He spent most of his working life in this job, as a uniformed servant. His duties included taking responsibility for the twenty-strong orchestra and the instruments. Apart from that, he had to compose anything and everything his boss, the prince Niklaus, asked for. That included symphonies, operas and other instrumental music. When Niklaus died, Haydn was given a pension and released from his duties. He had acquired an international reputation as a composer during his time at Esterhazy, and was invited to London, where his concerts were a great success. He was even made a Doctor of Music by Oxford University. He was a good-natured person, and enjoyed a joke. You can see this in his music from time to time. The Surprise Symphony has a sudden, loud chord in the slow movement, for example. He also knew how to interest his audiences - the slow movement of the Clock symphony has an accompaniment played by the bassoons which sounds like the ticking of a clock; and the Drum Roll Symphony opens with a roll on the tympani which excited great interest. He encouraged Mozart, and tried to help him. He also taught Beethoven for a while, but found him difficult to get on with, so that relationship didn't last. Even so, Beethoven was very much influenced by him. Haydn became ill in his later years, and eventually died at the age of 77 at his home in Vienna, in 1809, as Napoleon was invading the city. Napoleon had a guard of honour stationed outside his house as a mark of respect. To find out more details about Haydn's life and music, follow these links: (Classical Music Pages) //www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn http://hem.passagen.se/alkerstj/worldofclassicalmusic/classical/haydn.html //hem.passagen.se/alkerstj/worldofclassicalmusic/classical/haydn.html, To hear an extract from a symphony by Haydn go to //www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/46332.html,

The rhythm of life?

Music helps develop skills

Music has so many effects on how we grow and develop. There is a lot of evidence that music is the most important thing in developing mental capacities. By using brain scans to show what is happening while people listen to music, scientists can see how music affects the brain and how music exercises different parts of the brain, helping it to grow strong. The areas of the brain which deal with memory, coordination, and language skills are all stimulated by music. In fact children who play the piano are measurably better at maths! If you would like to know more have a look at //www.educationthroughmusic.com/brainarticles.htm One reason why scientists think it might make such a difference is that the brain works with a rhythm and has different wave patterns and speeds ... .just like music. The brain alters its wave patterns to fit with the music. So music really can speed up or slow down the brain. Soothing music can help people to sleep, other kinds of music can help people concentrate Music can be used in various ways to help people get better. This article tells the story of how music can be used to help tiny, premature babies rest better and recover better. //healing.about.com/od/sound/a/kmucci_music.htm, Philip Sheppard says in his book: Children are constantly moving – try keeping your child still, really still, for any length of time and you’ll see what I mean – and this is generally a good thing. Movement is the key catalyst for the development of kinaesthetic co-ordination skills, and music is one of the main stimulants to controlled movement. These key kinaesthetic co-ordination skills promote sophisticated mental co-ordination skills and essential inhibitory controls. Therefore, music can also help control concentration skills, and enables children to focus on learning activities for longer periods". From Music makes your child smartedr by Philip Sheppard (© 2005 Artemis Editions. Reproduced by permission.) //www.musicmakesyourchildsmarter.com, There is a theory that Mozart suffered from Tourette Syndrome, a condition which makes people seem very aggitated. Some think that the music he composed helped him to stay calm and focussed. Scientist, Anne Savanfound discovered that peoples bood pressure reduced when they listened to music of Mozart. Many people think music by Mozart is particularly good in helping concentration. One of the earliest examples of music therapy though is from thousands of years ago when the a distraught King Saul summoned David to play the harp for him. You can read about this in 1 Samuel 16.

Preparing for school music exams

Revision for exams can need a bit of careful organisation. Here is a site with lots of things about learning music. Lots of information, quizzes and games. //website.lineone.net/~webduck/index.htm,

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Hofnote in the Media

Hofnote are proud to have appeared in several publications including the Suzuki Magazine, Music Teacher and BBC Music Magazine. Below are some links to online references to Hofnote.