Falkirk High Notes

06/04/2022

* 6 places remaining *

Hi everyone - I'm really excited to release further details about the places I have available on my group Zoom beginner piano / keyboard lessons for 6 and 7 year olds (current P2). These start with a FREE TASTER session on Tuesday 3 May 6.15-7pm and continue at the same time every Tuesday on Zoom.

All you will need is a keyboard or piano at home, a tablet or other device with access to Zoom and an adult available to be with your young person during the lessons.

After the summer holidays, I will send details of the books we will be using to continue your young person's musical journey.

This new class has been inspired by a really fun year with my group Zoom kids who started this time last year. They all made wonderful progress with their musicianship and piano skills, got to know a new group of young people, caught up on any missed sessions by watching the recording and could continue to learn if they happened to be isolating or otherwise unwell - or if any other family situation meant they had to stay at home.

Currently many piano teachers in my area (Falkirk) have waiting lists for one-to-one lessons, and starting in a group setting is a great way to get to know a teacher, start your learning journey and get on a waiting list for one-to-ones at the same time (if you think you might be interested in these for your young person in future). In fact almost all of my group Zoom pupils from last year are now with me as one-to-one students.

In our sessions, we have lots of fun listening to a wide range of music, singing and using our bodies to feel pulse and rhythm patterns, learning the layout of the keyboard and how to play. I also make sure we have time to get to know each other so we can have fun together each week. I use a range of resources to plan my sessions, including the hugely successful Piano Safari materials.

https://pianosafari.com/testimonials/

If you have any questions, or if you would like the link to the free taster session on 3 May, please contact Gillian Millar at Falkirk High Notes via Facebook or on 07981 638924. Thank you for reading!

Find out what Piano Safari can do Read about how our program works for teachers around the world, in their own words. “Piano Safari is the only method I know of that is based on this experiential and playing-based philosophy. Instead of reading music notation being the core, students are taught to...

01/04/2022

After some really great focus and determination across the board, I can now announce the winners of this term's Flashnote Derby challenge.

The app Flashnote Derby provides a choice of games where you gain points for the correct identification of notes on the stave. The most frequently chosen games this term involved competing against racehorses running a course or targetting an alien spaceship. The games can be played with a varying number of notes to reflect the learning stage of the student. It's great to read and play a brand new piece of music - and it's especially fun when you can just enjoy getting on with enjoying the tune without getting bogged down in having to work out each note - and this challenge helps with this.

After a really hard-fought battle with several students showing significant improvements in their scores, the winners were Joshua Carpenter (8-11 years age group) and Molly McGlynn (12-14 years age group). Well done everyone.

25/03/2022

***Register interest now for new beginner piano and keyboard classes for pupils currently in P2 (or age 6 or 7 for home schoolers) starting after Easter on Tuesdays at 6.15pm*** Just over a year ago I started a lovely group of youngsters on weekly lessons entirely on Zoom. I had no idea how it would go, but it was way more fun than I expected, and 4 out of 5 of those who attended are still with me as students today! So I'm delighted to be starting a new group using the same format. Suitable for complete beginners - 45 minute Zoom lessons every Tuesday at 6.15pm (except school holidays) - Small group size so that we get to know each other and can take turns listening to one another - You will need a piano or keyboard, an adult present for the duration of the lesson, a tablet, laptop or phone, piano books (details provided on request) and a music notebook and pencil - All sessions will be recorded and available for playback or catch up for 1 week after each session - Each session will include learning about pitch, pulse and rhythm through rhymes, singing and physical movement and applying those skills to start to read and play music on the piano - For further details please contact Gillian Millar at Falkirk High Notes via Facebook or on 07981 638924. Many thanks!

25/03/2022

Hi everyone. If you are 11-17 years old, play a trad instrument and would be interested in coming along to trad sessions starting after Easter on Thursday nights 7.30-9pm, let me know. They will be held in our house which is not too far away from Comely Park Primary and Falkirk High station. Or if you have such a young person in your house, feel free to ask them if they want to come along. I'll only run if a minimum of 4 young people are planning to attend, so just message me to let me know. There will be no charge for the sessions. The format is simply bring your favourite tunes and play together. I'll be there to help everyone get to know each other and help with the learning of tunes if required. Thanks all.

21/01/2022

Live gig in Falkirk tonight - these guys will be good! Trinity Church, 7.30pm. See you there?

Don't Forget the Wallace collection Brass concert in Falkirk Trinity
Church tomorrow Friday 21st at 7.30pm. Including Didjeridoos - not really brass, are they? Wood? Bamboo? anyway, come and see!

29/11/2021

Congratulations to one of my adult students, Jenn Kightley, who just achieved a fantastic result in her Grade 4 piano exam. Jenn overcame many challenges to achieve this goal. Well done Jenn.

22/09/2021

The Falkirk Trad Youth Club has a few spaces left for trad musicians between 11 and 17 years old - we would love to fill our guitar / mandolin positions and fiddle / accordion / clarsach / bodhran players are very welcome too. Last Thursday we enjoyed learning some favourites suggested by our players - Harris Dance and Airaidh Nam Badan. Rather unusually we discovered we all loved pineapple on pizza and Maths. We were feeling, speaking and tapping some Jig rhythms before getting to know how we would recognise these rhythms in music notation. Our second session is tomorrow night, 8pm till 9.30pm at the Tamfourhill Community Hub - please email [email protected] to let me know you’re coming, or just come along. You can also message me on Facebook at “Falkirk High Notes” or contact me on 07981 638924. First session is FREE, and subsequent sessions are £7 per session. Hope to see you there! Gillian :-)

03/09/2021

Starts a week on Thursday 🎶 With thanks to Sarah for the artwork ♥️

23/08/2021

Calling all 11-17 year old trad musicians based in on near Falkirk! Do you play fiddle, guitar, accordion, mandolin or bodhran? A new trad youth club is starting up on Thursday evenings, 8 - 9.30pm, starting from Thursday 16 September. The location is the Tamfourhill Community Hub, not too far from the Falkirk Wheel. You must be 11 to 17 years old and be able to play 3 trad tunes confidently all the way through on your instrument (fiddle, guitar, accordion, mandolin or bodhran). This club is not intended to replace regular instrument lessons, and we expect most students will be having regular lessons elsewhere. The club will run during Falkirk school term time - if the schools are in, the club is on. Sessions will last 1.5 hours and will include activities taken from the following list:
Team building sessions to get to know each other
Playing traditional tunes together, and making arrangements of these tunes
Learning new traditional tunes by rote (by listening and copying)
Finding note patterns in written music and using them to improve music reading skills
Rhythm patterns - learning by listening and playing, then learning how to recognise them in written music
Watching and discussing live trad performances
Bigger better brains - some of the fantastic effects on the brain that result from learning an instrument and making music
Composing our own new tunes
First session FREE! Subsequent sessions are £7 per session, on a pay-as-you-go basis until the October holidays. After the October holidays, payments will be made for a block of sessions at a time.
Playing an instrument at home on your own can be lonely and sometimes uninspiring, and young musicians have been doing a lot of this during the Covid 19 pandemic, separated from their teacher and friends. Playing along with others is fun and rewarding. It reinforces what is being learned in lessons, makes that young person a better musician, provides more opportunities for socialising and brings fantastic rewards, especially in lifting mood and reducing anxiety.
Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. You can message me here on Facebook, email me on [email protected] or contact me on 07981 638924. Thanks for reading, and sharing this post would be much appreciated! Gillian x

24/05/2021

For those who are interested in piano exams, MTB exams are an interesting new option for pupils - one that has worked particularly well during this period of online teaching. I can facilitate the exams via a Zoom link, or in person when restrictions allow, and the recordings are sent to the exam board for external marking.

24/05/2021

Big congratulations to Molly and Penny for achieving great results in their piano exams recently! They have played with great dedication all the way through the various phases of lockdown and I'm delighted for them both.

20/04/2021

Fantastic free concert today at 1pm, featuring pianists from the RCS 👌

Directed by Djordje Gajic & Neil Sutcliffe Join the RCS Keyboard department in celebrating Scotland in music. This afternoons Keyboard Session explores music inspired by Scotland’s culture, landscape, poetry and history. Collaborations involving dance, film, and art all feature in this online perf...