I was not expecting that...

Day-to-day life in India is full of unexpected surprises. Even this morning on my short walk to school a man was playing a small drum and chanting, as a monkey he held on a leash continuously circled him. Then, after passing the regular group of cows relaxing in the middle of the road, I arrived at school only to think, ‘that was quite unusual... maybe I should’ve taken a photo?’ By then I found myself teaching in the classroom and such an oddity became a distant memory in an average action-packed day.

Speaking of unexpected surprises, while at school on Sunday having breakfast Aaron and I found ourselves at a bit of a loose end and wondered what to do with our day (apart from catching up on sleep!). Our tabla guru had invited us to a small event nearby (his mother’s Guru Purnima – a yearly event at which all students pay respect to their guru, each performing as a gesture of appreciation); however Vinnie, one of the drum teachers, arrived and we got chatting about our plans. He had one up on that idea and invited us to the Guru Purnima of Zakir Hussain, one of the world’s greatest tabla players who had made his annual trip back to India (he now resides in San Francisco) to attend the event and perform. JACKPOT! Funnily enough we only discovered who he was last Tuesday when our tabla guru recommended we look him up as he one of the world’s greatest players. Thursday we were watching his online tutorials and performances on youtube. Sunday we saw him live. His performance was mesmerising and exceptional in every way, topping off what was an epic six hour event of student performances (including a group of twenty tabla players performing at once), performances by his brothers and nephew, and a ceremony. The event was also in commemoration of Zakir’s late father, who was his guru and a greatly respected player. As part of the event some of the biggest names in Indian classical music attended and according to the musicians we went with this was a very rare occasion. We certainly felt like we witnessed something very special. A late and well needed late dinner at Leopold’s with the drummers followed. Then home. Sleep. School in the morning.

We’re hoping to attend many more live events in our month remaining here, but more importantly we want to take students from the school along to encourage them to see and experience live music. As part of our initiative to promote active music making in the school and giving students more opportunities to perform, we have introduced solo performing during our music lessons in the International School. Even in our classes on the Kodaly method with the younger year groups we ask individuals to demonstrate and perform each activity relating to the singing/clapping exercises we teach. While shy at first, they’re now eager to have their turn at performing in front of everyone and, making sure they get a round of applause, it gives them a nice little confidence boost. It even seems to help with their attention and behaviour! More significantly, after only a short time here, I’ve already noticed a difference in the pitching/tuning of some of the younger classes, so it is very encouraging.

Speaking of Kodaly, we’ve now got the music school offering classes in aural training, for which we will be running group sessions – we’ve also stressed that anyone can benefit from these, even the drummers! These classes are due to start next week. Furthermore, after some firm convincing from Aaron, the music school are now entering a selection of keyboard students for the piano exams (in replacement of the keyboard syllabus, which they currently only follow). The basic argument was that the piano syllabus would challenge, develop, and engage the students more and that if they could play piano, they could easily pick up the keyboard alongside; the opposite, however, being much more difficult. A natural concern was that the students only have keyboards at home, however it is still possible to learn the piano repertoire on the instrument and address basic issues of technique (I’ve also encouraged students to buy pedals for their keyboards to develop that skill in their playing). We’ve also felt that some of the students are under-challenged by their repertoire and so have offered them alternative, more difficult pieces, which they have accepted enthusiastically. I feel it encourages the student to develop their reading and playing skills at a faster rate as well as improving confidence – the student-teacher relationship being important here, encouraging them by showing you have faith in their abilities!

Finally on the piano-front, we have convinced the piano teacher to offer more one-on-one time for students, offering extra lesson-time during another evening. Currently in the group lesson format they would receive 15 minutes each, however we have stressed that focusing on quality is of importance if they are to get the standards up (and ultimately improving numbers, but we have asked them to hold back on that for now...) and, through more time with each student, that vital student-teacher relationship can be successfully enhanced, bringing a more personal and enjoyable quality to the each individual student’s lesson-time.

Beyond our work at the Garodia School this week we conducted our latest set of workshops, and our first organised through the British Council, at the IIT Kendriya Vidyalay School in Powai – not too far from where we are based in Ghatkopar. We arrived at 8am to meet the teachers and the principal and were told the students were very excited about our workshop we had planned. The school offers lessons in Indian classical music up to 5 standard (age 10), but with only one music teacher, one room and a school of over 2000 students, timetabling lessons are impossible thereafter. Quite a few students learn instruments (drums, guitar, keyboard etc) outside of school and they form an ‘orchestra club’ in school made up of these instruments. So these were the students selected for the workshop and we worked with them in two separate groups of around thirty students for 2.5 hours each; first the seniors aged 14-16 and then the juniors aged 10-13. When we arrived at the music room the students were patiently waiting and, after being formally introduced to the session, were asked to each light part of a Samai traditional oil lamp used here to respect the teacher as a bringer of knowledge to the school. Touched by this, we were also presented with flowers in what was altogether an unexpected surprise at the beginning of the day. The sessions ran very well, following a similar format to our previous workshop day at the Garodia School. We started with some fun warm-ups and activities, which instantly got energy levels up and people excited, then followed by a section on listening and discussing music, encouraging them to respond personally and imaginatively to the music, while also trying to get them to think more carefully about how the music is invoking the feelings. After listening to some of the movements of Saint-Saën’s Carnival of the Animals, we took the rhythmic theme of Fossils, introduced quavers and crotchets, and in groups of four got all the students to come up with their own rhythms, which they performed for each other. This then formed the basis of the creative and performing element of the workshop.

Following from the animals theme, we decided on a tribal/jungle idea for a piece. I took half the group and worked on a simple call and response melody and some vocal effects, while Aaron took the rhythm section, using their rhythms composed, layering them and creating a coda. Fortunately the classroom contained many percussion instruments so we put these to good use and made some noise! After a quick 20 minute rehearsal (we were running low on time) we put the piece together and performed it, using a simple AB structure with a coda. The performance went well in both workshops and the students really enjoyed it, some saying they wished they could do this every day! We had a very positive response from the students – they interacted well and were a pleasure to work with. The hospitality of the school was exceptional and they are keen to have more workshops in the future, possibly again next year???

We’re now penning in our next date for a set of workshops organised by the British Council and are eager to do as much as we can while we’re here. Next Saturday we are hosting more workshops at the Garodia School, so we need to get planning.

And as for that piano tuner, well, that may just have to be an entire blog entry unto itself!

Until next time!

Ryan

P.S. here’s a snap of Aaron and I jamming – Hindustani style! I’m currently debating whether to keep growing my hair in honour of Zakir... but then there is the heat factor!

(Friday 30th July 2010)