Hi jo.clarinet, willobie, katyjay, Deborah and maggiemay,

Thanks for the afternoon, Jo. What a stunning choice of pieces. There are one or two ideas there for the next Forums concert: I have a long-standing ambition to play the piccolo part of Stars and Stripes, so bags I the sopranino.

Thanks to katyjay for the lift: the trian was on time and very quick.

See you all soon.

Hi andante - glad you enjoyed it!

I was in fact thinking of using Stars and Stripes for the recorders at one or other of the Forum Concerts which would like a recorder group - but of course it would depend on who was going, because judging by the last concert trebles and basses were the thinnest on the ground, and there are two treble and two bass parts in S&S. So we'll have to wait and see - but your request is noted!

goodness Andante, I can't believe you got home so quickly!

Anyway ... it was great to meet you all (at last!) Jo, Andante, Katyjay, Willobie and Deborah, and to prove that despite not having made either of the London area concerts to date - I do exist!

So sorry Deborah I didn't recognise you from the picture - just put it down to your being much prettier in real life.

Thanks to Jo for a most enjoyable afternoon (well - half one since I turned up just in time for tea!) It was such fun, I'm now determined to practise those arpeggio thingummies on the treble and be a bit more prepared next time. I was sorry I missed the Brandenburg - or was it a lucky escape? Maybe the Grieg would have been more my tempo. As a (mainly ) keyboard player I have rarely had the opportunity to play with a group of any kind. Andante you're welcome to the piccolo part!

M x

Sorry I haven't posted earlier - I was only in the house for about 10 minutes on Saturday evening when my husband reminded me that we had tickets for the theatre! I had completely forgotten it!

So, in all, a very busy day (I sang in a funeral at a church near Ascot in the morning, raced to Clapham for the SRP day and then went to Windsor for the theatre!)

Jo, thanks again, it was really a great day. But the Bach was SCARY - I'm really going to have to work on my sight-reading! And arpeggios!

Willobie and Maggiemay - nice to meet you at last
Deborah and Andante - glad you got your trains OK.

Cheers

Katyjay

Thanks Maggie <blushes>

Great to meet you all (or meet you all again as appropriate) on Saturday. Remind me to learn the fingerings for some high notes before I do something like this again!

Just to reassure you - some of the music I did there was DEFINITELY more difficult than you would get at an average SRP meeting!

I wouldn't use either that particular Bach or the Squire (which had some nasty bits in it too!) if I was conducting a completely unknown-to-me SRP group - it would just be too risky. But I know the capabilities of the South London Branch very well, so I knew it would be OK - and you all did me proud! Well done!

Just found this thread... Thanks Jo, it was a great afternoon and it was lovely to meet people who I knew only as photographs! Thanks to KatyJay & Andante who sat on either side of me in the Brandenburg and kept me on the straight & narrow.

Andante - you're quite welcome to any sopranino parts! I have an allergy to sops - they bring me out in a mental rash!

If anyone is able to make it to the Cristmas session on 10th December , my husband is conducting - and WILLOBIE will be there...

Willobie

I might have learnt a few more high notes by then December is always crazy, and I don't think I'll be able to make 10th, but I'll pencil it into my diary just in case I actually am free that day.

Sounds like you guys had a fab time!!

* Jane gets out new treble recorder and practises the 3 notes she can play so far*

How many notes do I need to know to join in???

How about I, IV and V in the key of the piece? Should be able to write some sort of part using those .

After Sat if I learn the tonic, the bebop 7, and dorian minor I could probably improvise

Hehehehe! How cool would that be... get to the middle of the Bach, everyone turns to Jane and she does a rocking jazz solo before going back to the lovely Baroque harmonies. The rest of the group could even do the chords for accompaniment!!!

Er....no, I don't think so!

Jane, you'll need to feel *reasonably* confident sight-reading over most of the range to feel comfortable at an SRP. We tend not to work for very long on any one piece - a sight-read through, a short time spent working on awkward passages and then a 'concert' performance - and then it's on to the next one!

Willobie - I'll be there in December for Paul's conducting (even though it's my son's birthday that day!)

Awww spoilsport

Sounds like it was really good, glad you guys had a good time

I was thinking for this...not the SRP which I think is probably a more long term goal

Maybe you could just join, follow the score, and only play when the notes that you know come up .

Hello Peoples,

How often does the group meet please?

[tentatively interested]

Amber
x

Hmm sounds familiar....that's what I do in orchestra

Do you mean SRP? Most branches meet once a month except during the summer hols. There are groups all over the country - if you Google on Society of Recorder Players you can find your nearest branch. If you live near Guildford, that branch is meeting this coming Saturday, as is the London Branch (which I go to) - I guess Guildford is much nearer for you - BUT there might be a branch on your doorstep which you didn't know about!

It's really weird how there are these sort of 'subcultures' - I suppose us Forumites are one! I only found out about the SRP by accident, when I went to Schott's years and years ago to buy a recorder - the SRP magazine was on the counter, so I bought it, and was absolutely amazed to find that there was such a hive of recorder-playing activity, what with SRPs, all kinds of courses etc!!

PS Jane, you need to amend your signature!

Does 3 notes on a treble recorder and c major scale on piano and viola count as playing other intruments?? Oh and of course ball-on-a-rope percussion

Yes, as long as bowing open strings on a violin counts

Cheers

Katyjay

That's not much different from what I did on Saturday!

Oh do come if you can, Amber. I haven't played the recorder for quite a while, but it was great fun on Saturday!

Can't you bring him with you?

W

I don't know yet if he's coming down for the day/weekend/not at all! Will encourage him to come, if he is down.