Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to all my pupils and their families. 2023 will no doubt have its challenges as well as its excitements and its high points, but we are ready for all of it!

Some of you will sit instrumental and/or theory exams, and all of you will make progress and gain more skill, more control, more confidence and more enjoyment from your music.

Look back now at the start of 2022. What have you learnt and what have you achieved since then? How far have you come with your music?

I should like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and musical year ahead.

Playing By Ear!

Our second Entry Into Music is now explained and described on this website. Have a look under Tuition – Practising.

Playing By Ear is difficult for many people. If you need help with any aspect of this amazing skill, please contact me. Lessons can be arranged! Help is at hand! But do read the article and then just have a go. You may find you’re a natural!

Do you want to be a better sight reader?

New article on Sight Reading skills! Have a look at the Practising tab under Tuition. Let me know if it’s helpful!

(Did you know that reading conventional notation is not the only way to access music? There are two other ways, which I will show you about soon. Oooh!)

Articles And Resources

There are plenty of resources on the linked Pupils Site. You will need the password to access them. If you don’t have it, please let me know, and please check in on the Pupils Site to see what’s there that can help with your music learning.

If you think of something that could be useful, but it’s not already there, let me know! I’m always open to suggestions!

Practising!

You’ll find articles on how to get the best out of your music learning under the Tuition tab.

Click on “Practising!”, and you’ll find articles which use some cool initials that will help you remember exactly what to do! (as long as you remember the initials!) These things are called INITIALISMS by the way, though you may hear them referred to as acronyms.

Strictly speaking, the initialisms I use are not acronyms. Some initialisms are acronyms, but mine aren’t, because they can’t be pronounced as a word. For example, RADAR is an acronym (the letters stand for RAdio Detection And Ranging) and it can be said as a word, so it’s an acronym. So is SCUBA (which means Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus).

I use the letters AFC and CTS. Intrigued? To find out more, read the article! It really help you practise efficiently and productively, and the result will be greater progress and greater enjoyment too! Have fun!

Pupils’ Page Up And Running!

If you are one of my pupils, or a parent of a pupil, please click on “Pupils” to access this page. You may have already received an email to give you the password to get into this page, but if not, please let me know and I will send it to you.

On this Pupils Page you will find many useful resources, such as your Scales Charts, Theory Charts and Aural Charts, as well as advice on How To Practise! Please have a look round, and let me know if you think something else should be on there but isn’t. Also let me know if you have any problems accessing the resources. All the Charts are in pdf form and can be downloaded and printed.

I hope you find the new Pupils Page interesting and useful.

Pupils’ Page!

Coming in September!

Specifically for my music pupils, a library of resources and useful information. The page will be password protected. All pupils who sign up for lessons in the autumn term will be sent the password, which will change every term.

You will be able to access theory charts and other music theory guides and protocols, the latest exam timetable, lesson dates and any changes, audio recordings of exam music to help with your practice, and many other useful resources.

End of Summer Term 2022

The summer term at Ripplingkeys Music finishes on Saturday 30th July 2022. I’m aware that this is after most schools break up. Please get in touch if there are any lessons you can’t make – I do need six weeks’ notice in order to reschedule your lesson or refund your fee.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!