Steve Hickman master Hambone Artist:

Hambone Kneeslap:

The Human Beatbox – Hee Haw Edition:

Momma Don’t Allow No Music Playin Round Here: Smiley Burnett

Highland Ramblers – Mama Don’t Allow

Thank you everyone for making it so special.

Many thanks, Laurie Gethin, Sing Up Area Leader Bristol

This year is the year of the Rabbit on 3rd February, and apart from appropriate rabbit songs, does anyone have any ideas, even for early prep for next year!  Next year is the year of the dragon, so this could be a great songfest?!!

Pyramid Pack game. Photo by David Tiernan

An exciting project we are currently working on is a Beyond the Mainstream project in Darlington working closely with SENCOs and Music Coordinators in school.  Singing Unlimited will bring the expertise from Jessica Curry, Cliff Lee and Emily Smith to schools in Darlington who are really keen at looking into how singing can help children with Special Education  Needs and who are also in mainstream classes in schools.  This exciting opportunity has already brought the teachers together to learn some repertoire from Emily Smith and many have reported back that their children are engaging better in class and that they are having less behaviour problems and more productive lessions.  Even a child who is regularly excluded from a music session after 15 minutes has managed to stay in for a full 1 hour singing session with out any problems.  We look forward to hearing about the further sessions planned in schools with Emily.  Jessica Curry will be giving the teacher some hints and tips as a specialist who works with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Cliff Lee will be leading some Signed Song sessions to give another communication tool to the children.

We have hosted some one off training days at The Sage Gateshead.   Lucinda Geoghan from the National Youth Choir of Scotland has been several times to lead her popular Singing Games and Rhymes session using the approach of Hungarian educator Kodaly to engage children in lovely games using balls, sticks, puppets, lycra and clapping.  These sessions are always fully booked and we often have lists of people waiting for a space.  Lucinda also came and lead a joint CPD day with Claire Tustin, Sharon Durant and Alison McGowan from the Sage Gateshead who are behind the production of Winter Wonderings, a show using puppetry, songs and theatre which takes children, aged 3-11, on a wonderful magical journey, whilst addressing the SEAL/PHSE curriculum.  The two contrasting training sessions left participants inspired as well as giving them practical ideas for songs, games and how to make simple puppets. 

A scene from Winter Wonderings, Sharon, Alison and Claire.

For more information on how to book Winter Wonderings during November, December and January and costs please contact schools@thesagegateshead.org.

We have just finished collaborating with our partners to finish writing the Local Authority Music Plan for Portsmouth and the Solent. This is a critical document that enables the Music Service to plan strategically and to ensure that all the Sing Up work across the region is fully embedded in a wider strategy. This in turn ensures sustainability and maximum access to vocal training and opportunities for all singers and learners in the region. The Music Service uses the LAMP and the Vocal Strategy as a means of monitoring progress and evaluating the work of Sing Up in the area.

One of the privileges of working as the Area Leader for the Solent region is that we are able to work with schools beyond Portsmouth …in fact, we even get to travel abroad to the Isle of Wight! We are currently planning an exciting vocal and curriculum conference in January for class teachers and vocal leaders across the region to celebrate best practice and learn from national vocal experts. This year we have a cracking line up of trainers and the schools are in for a real treat. We always like to start and end our conferences with some hearty singing, so it’s just a matter of deciding which songs to use – to say we are spoilt for choice is somewhat of an understatement!

We are looking forward to seeing Sue Nicholls in a couple of week’s time – Sue is always popular down in the Solent region. She is going to work with staff and children, singing songs to enhance learning across the whole curriculum. At the end of the day there is a staff choir rehearsal – we set up the staff choir a couple of years ago – it’s a great opportunity for any school-based staff to get together and have fun singing. The sessions always include some warm ups that staff can take back and use in schools, as well as new repertoire ideas and the occasional challenging part-song for good measure!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a year ago that Simon Roberts wrote the Portsmouth Song for Children in Need. We were delighted that children in schools across the country used the song to raise thousands of pounds for Children in Need. As the big day comes round again – November 19^th 2010  – our schools and choirs are busy rehearsing ready for their fund-raising performances on the 19^th. This year the city’s children’s choirs are performing the song at the Kings Theatre, Southsea on the evening of the 19^th November and we are looking forward to another excellent performance.

Our Music Service strap line is “Transforming Lives through Music” and we believe that the work we do through Sing Up across the Solent region plays a part in transforming the lives of children and adults through singing. The “A Song for Children in Need” can be downloaded from the Song Bank – we hope that many of you will enjoy singing this song with your children in November, all for an excellent cause.

So what else are we up to? Well, what with the commission Sing Out Pompey, an original commission planned for February, the new Animal Songbook we are writing, a huge community singing event for Christmas, workshops galore and plenty of schools working towards their Sing Up Awards, things are pretty busy down here and we love it! We are also delighted that 100% of schools in the Solent region have registered with Sing Up – so all I can conclude with is to say…Keeeeeep singing!

The first film is Find Your Jazz Voice with Cleveland Watkiss – Sing Up, where Cleveland Watkiss talks about learning to sing jazz and why it’s such a great tool for learning in the classroom. The second film is Find Your Hip Hop Voice with Napoleon Maddox – Sing Up, International hip hop artist and beatbox maestro Napoleon Maddox talks about learning to beatbox, how to use it in class, and why it’s so much fun!

To watch more films like this please visit one of our YouTube Channels Sing Up and Sing Up America Street.

Have you had choir members (children or adult) who have struggled to pitch a particular song?  What did you do that helped them out?

What is the best way to approach this without drawing attention to any individuals?

Post your comments and ideas here.

What ideas do you have to keep them relevant? Are there certain songs that you struggle with more than others?

Do you think songs like Believe and Hey, Escher! from the Songbank are relevant enough? If not, what songs do you think are?

Post your ideas and comments here.