OK, ignore me, just noticed you can get all three of both from RMM, the XYZ ones just aren't listed next to one another like the Amadeus ones are

I owe everything to Piers. I used to trog down the A3 for over 2 hours of a Friday evening (after a working week up in London) for a 2 hour lesson. I would not be teaching now if it hadn't been for his encouragement and belief in me. He really did find/see things in me I didn't know were there...he also makes a mean cup of Earl Grey

Top Chap in all respects.

B x

After chatting to him for only a few minutes you really get the impression he's a decent chap.

Parking shouldn't be too bad at that time of night. The Grand Arcade is now open, and they've at least painted the lines a decent width apart.

Go up the ramp to the upper car park if you want to avoid tight turns!

Thank you jod!

And also, thanks to Google Street View, I've now 'driven' up the road with the car park entrance and exit on it - I knew vaguely where the entrance was but had never seen it, and had no idea if the exit was on the same road or somewhere else entirely


This evening I have been mostly playing A flats, all the way up there in the scary heights. The cat has left the building. And it was only on the treble!!

Well the concert was really rather fabulous. I was unexpectedly in the front row (I had a seat in row E, but apparently the first several rows come and go depending on how they set the stage up). After the concert I ran off to the ATM so I could buy a t-shirt, when I got back with my money they were out signing things so I got my programme signed and said how much I'd enjoyed it. Then there was a lady who had been on the merchandise stall but also taking photos/videos from one of the boxes in the evening, and she asked if I'd like to say a few words to camera about the evening. So I said I would but I think I just said some incoherent gibberish about how it was brilliant and amazing and I'd be seeing them again for definite and possibly even at Cadogan Hall if I could manage it (which I probably can't, due to work stuff).

On top of all that, I managed to drive myself in to the centre of Cambridge and back home, so that was an extra achievement.

And at my recorder lesson earlier in the evening before the concert, my teacher had asked if I'd like to start looking towards an exam, I said why not, so we can make a start on the technical work. Then he found the syllabus and said I should have a copy for if I'm near any shops and could buy anything to try. He said 'did we discuss a level?' and I said no, and he pondered and said 'Five or Six?' so I sat there a bit
I think we will go for 5 partly because it's less daunting, partly because it fits in nicely with my last exam being G4, and also partly because it seems I already own about half the G5 syllabus from my Massive Secondhand Music Haul - in retrospect, it is clear now that the big pile of recorder music in the secondhand shop was basically the Trinity syllabus G1-5 that someone had chucked out. And most of it remains on the TG syllabus (which is what I'll be doing, since my teacher works for Trinity it seems on reasonable, plus it was Trinity I did back in the day as a child).

Glad you enjoyed it Maizie

*looks forward to London gig just that little bit more*

It was good to meet Maizie at the Cambridge Concert. We (RevdDrD and I) disappeared before she got back from the ATM as we had to rescue our babysitter. (One of the perils of us both having an evening out together!)

The Concert was rather amazing. I ended up with a CD and a Coaster for my music room. Now I have a proper place for my mug when I'm teaching.

Youngest Dlet thinks RedPriest music is great and wants to borrow my CD.

Well, purveyor of useless information that I am...
On the TG G5 recorder syllabus, there are 47 pieces (23 descant, 23 treble, 1 tenor).
Of those 47, it turns out I own 20 of the pieces.
Those 20 are published in 11 books.
Of those 11 books, I have purchased new only 3 of them!

So that really good visit to the Oxfam Bookshop - where I couldn't quite belive the amount of good recorder music at or not-toooo-far-above my level that I came home with (most of it was 99p. I spent £18, I think) - was indeed really really really good.

Now, if only I could find the TG scale book for a similar bargain price (I have the AB book; but the TG exams have things in them that aren't in the AB book. Like pentatonic scales. And different diminisheds. I hoping with the help of the internet I might be able to write out the "missing" ones from the AB book...!)

Do the study and escape the scales altogether

Alternatively, buy scales book and studies books, in order to get order to qualify for free postage

(I haven't actually done this. It's just the sort of thing I might do...)

I always do that

*shudder* noooo - buying the scales is too extreme a measure, even to qualify for free postage.....

We've got the AB scales and emsoboe might need them for G8 Depends though on which board she does.

CJB would like to let the world know she is getting rather overexcited about this evening.


Well better to put the comment here than on facebook where no-one will empathise with the amount of excitement Red Priest can generate.

Now back to the mundane task that is Tuesday afternoon.

the corner of Facebook I frequent would've been very excited for you about Red Priest, I assure you, CJB....
How on earth will you keep your mind focused on the everyday until then?
Have fun when you go, not that it really needs saying .

YAY for excited. After Friday I was very tempted to see if I could get tickets for Cadogan Hall and work out my transport options, etc...
And I did put a comment about being overexcited beforehand on facebook. Barry-clari was nice enough to empathise with me

You should have seen Emsoboe's Facebook page after she'd seen them. She didn't actually know she was going beforehand

Hope you all enjoy it tonight.

The question is, what did she do to their facebook page afterwards?!

I couldn't help noticing in the concert programme - and on the Red Priest website - that in the upcoming projects there is a mention of downloadable sheet music...! Now you too can play like Piers Adams (only much much slower, and much much sloppier, at least in my case )

the only way in which I could be said to be playing like Piers is that I too have some wooden tubes with beaks at one end for blowing down and holes along their lengths to put fingers on, and have looked at some of the same patterns of dots in book as he has....after that, the similarity ends only too abruptly .

His articulation is stunning, isn't it?

Don't think I want to know about that As you can gather she was very impressed

She's been invited to a concert her teacher is giving with a Violinist and Harpsicord player in a couple of weeks time. I wonder if she'll equally be impressed. I somehow can't see him dressing as a pirate though

Just got back from the Red Priest Cadogan Hall gig. Excellent! Really liked the flirting - shame we couldn't have found someone for Carol to flirt with when she was playing for Belle Epoque last year, but never mind.

I don't think I'll be adopting the leather trousered look at any time, though.

Piers is so thin he can get away with all sorts of outrageous garb...will never forget the yellow pixie boots of about 15 years ago...

wonder if he'd like one of these.... leather garb...

CJB would like to announce to the world that she is absolutely shattered after a hideous journey home last night (was gone midnight by the time I got in) but still has a huge smile on her face!

I think it is easier to just think of the recorder as played by Piers Adams and the instruments I think of as recorders as distantly related instruments. How anyone can be that virtuosic is beyond me. Having said that now I've heard Red Priest on a number of occaisions the shear shock of Pier's technique doesn't hit as much and I start to realise more how brilliant the others in the group are as well. I'm really looking forward to Angela East's recording of the Bach cello suites out later this year.

That sums it up perfectly.

A great evening - and good to see you again CJB.

Expect a PM in the not too distant future

That's very good. That's how I'm going to look at it in future then I imagine my husband already thinks of the recorder he hears from a CD and the recorder he hears me tootling as completely different things!
And I completely agree that all four of them are brilliant, I too look forward to the cello suites.

*tries to imagine Piers in one of these*

I think he may run and jump about a bit too much for one of those to be safe...

I keep hoping that Red Priest will play in Munich one day. Maybe I should try to arrange a trip to hear them in the UK.

Do any of the bass recorder owners here use it for playing continuo parts? I'm trying to justify the need for a bass recorder (probably would start with a plastic clone)...

I don't, but my teacher has threatened to do so He was going to play the bass bit while I was playing the recorder part of Marcello sonata, but then he noticed that the facsimiie copy we were using went in to the tenor clef for the bass part in a few places, so he decided not to do it, this time round

Yes, I do. My copy of the Handel sonatas (the Barenreiter flute and recorder one) has the continuo part printed below the recorder part so is particularly useful. I also play continuo parts on the flute, transposed up an octave or two. Although now I've got better at the bass recorder I find it rather harder on the flute - a good reason for getting a C bass, methinks!

Yes, I do that sometimes

Emsoboe's teacher regularly turns Recorder pieces into duets. They play from the score and he turns the lower piano part into an accompaniment. sometimes she has to play the bottom part whilst he plays the top. It's not just on Bass Recorder though, she's often suprised at how he varies music and Recorders.

Great, just what I wanted to hear. I even have the Handel sonatas, although I am being quite strict about not playing the same ones on the flute and recorder because I worry that I will just confuse myself. I've also got a couple of friends who also play the recorder (both a lot better than me) so we are going to have a get-together some time.

I think it will have to be a plastic bass in F though until I see how much I actually play it. So many fun things to do and so little time...

Does anyone have any idea why G major isn't on the grade 8 scale list? It seems rather strange that you should have to do all keys except one of the easiest.

Probably simply because it is one of the easiest.
:runs off to consult spreadsheet:
Yes, you'll have done G major at grades 3, 4, 6 and 7, all to a twelfth. They must have figured you'd probably know it by G8, one way of the other, so why ask it again? Mind you, they ask for lots of them again and again...
The only thing they could have done for G8 is make it a two octave scale, to throw in a F# for the fun of it.

Oh, just noticed, you do get to do G major at G8 - in thirds, to a twelfth (makes note to create new spreadsheet, by tonality rather than grade )

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. But you get Bb major in 3rds too and that's been on pretty much all the lists since grade 1 too. It just seems odd for them to miss out G given that it would make the complete set.

cos of the top F# I suspect... it feels sort of silly doing G major as a twelfth, and not all instruments will do the fudged slurred top F#. Admittedly I did end up doing a knee-stop for a high note for Grade 8, but that was Trinity, and not during scales.

But about half the other scales are a twelfth. Only F and Ab are two octaves.

yes, but the G major scale fits so comfortably into the two octaves, and F and Ab are after all either side of it - it's just the one pesky note which is a bit of a challenge.
But if you love scales, just do it anyway . Tell you what - you can have my portion . *generously hands out all scales for consumption*

I tried a lovely recorder today - a keyless Marsyas tenor in cherrywood which just fitted perfectly under my hands. I'm almost definitely going to buy it, but am trying to decide whether to sell my Moeck Rottenburgh or to keep it as a spare. I've been playing in an 8' consort at the the early music course this week and could have done with another tenor.

With proper contras or just with the funny cubic ones?

Real genuine taller-than-us jobbies - same make as yours, Petrat.

Today's fun was a Scarlatti sonata for 3 flutes played on 3 bass recorders and a contra. Fantastic

ooh, was that the Alessandro Scarlatti one?

Keep the Rotty. You can then give the new one a rest when playing it in, and also go back to it whenever you're on a course and playing far too much . At least, that's what I did, though my teacher, who is also at Ascot, noticed straight away when my Rotty came out, and said something along the lines of "ew, that one really isn't a patch on your other one, is it?" .

Yes, I can imagine her saying that! I had a lesson with your teacher this week, anacrusis. I'm relieved to find I have no really horrible habits, but have to learn to play without a death-grip. It's a shame I'm not in Scotland - I'm sure I'd come on in leaps and bounds if I had regular lessons with her.

I now have to cross Scotland for my lessons with her - but she is sooo worth it, and we always have a good giggle. It's wonderful to have a teacher who can laugh rather than hiding her head in her hands at some of the things I can't do , and yes, she manages to make a difference with every lesson, too .
PS do send my greetings if you can .

Having played the 'funny cubic one' at SRO (Paetzold), I actually think it is quite good. There is no way I could afford a Kung on the pitiful wage I am getting at the moment, though this one belongs to the SRP.



I have her as well. But no teacher can improve your playing if you are so out of sorts, like I was in my last lesson with her.

I don't like the Paetzold ones. I find the sound too strong and hooty, (good technical term, that! ) and I can't take to the shape. I was so lucky to have been left money by a kind relative. I would never have afforded mine otherwise. It will get lots of use and loving care though.