26/10/2009 by admin.

It’s nearly 3 years since my Mum died, from lung cancer, on Boxing Day, 2006. We all still miss her terribly and I think about her a lot - especially her encouragement to me in much of my teens (ok that IS now ancient history!), when self-doubt seemed to be my default mode of operation.

She told me repeatedly: ‘You can do anything, if you put your mind to it.’ I dismissed it at first as just one of those platitudes that parents offer to cheer up moody kids! But as I got older I watched her try new things herself, stretch herself intellectually and continually strive to acquire new skills and knowledge. This role model has been one of the most amazing gifts that a parent could have given their child.

In her later years, when she wasn’t as mobile as she once was, she decided to teach herself how to use a computer and became an avid ’silver surfer’. She began our family history research, conducting much of it online! To exemplify her philosophy I wrote her a poem (I’m not a poet as you will see when you read it). But Mum’s you-can-do-it approach, which is summarised in my clumsy verse, has helped me so much and I thought that perhaps it might help someone else.

TO MY MUM
(Mothering Sunday, 2000)
Almost all of my friends’ mums, to occupy their leisure time,
Turn their hands to knitting, sewing, baking – that’s the paradigm.
It’s the kind of thing that ladies seem to want to do for fun,
When their children long have left the former family mans-i-on.

This may help to ease the gentle passing of the hours of light.
But I wonder, do they do it just to prove that they’re polite?
No such dross for my mum, she’s a budding expert with I.T.!
Taught herself to speak computer – gone and made a family tree!!

When the needlework and sweaters of the other Mums are junk,
My mum’s family tree will still be sprouting branches from its trunk.
So you see I’m proud of Mum - no ordinary parent, she.
Loves a major project challenge: GENEALOGY (and me!).

Posted in My Learning, Life, web | No Comments »

30/09/2009 by admin.

For years TVs were monstrosities with dubious sound and picture quality. But in the last few years the price of great-quality LCD or even plasma TVs has plummeted, so that now we can get sound and pictures of a quality we’ve just not had before.

Watching films is now a truly exciting experience at home. But what of TV programmes themselves?

Unfortunately, since the number of TV channels expanded some years back in the UK, supposedly to ‘increase choice’, I can look through all my Freeview channels and, most times, find virtually nothing I want to watch. Yes, for those families whose daily tube ritual means that they automatically turn on the TV and - as their ritual has gone for most of the days of their lives, they will watch something - the process is then to choose from the fairly poor choice of programmes.

There was a time when we complained bitterly about having endless repeats of TV. Now there are entire channels set up for it! And if you are one of us hardy souls who find the soaps, well, soapy, and prefer our own, far more interesting daily realities to the so-called reality shows - with their tedious, contrived content about god-knows-which virtually unknown ‘celebrity’ - the choice is negligible. Then, if vampires or emergency services hold little appeal, you have a real problem! You’ve worked hard to earn enough to afford great technology to watch TV on but there’s now nothing on you want to watch. TV technology and programme making have somehow walked right past each other and have failed to meet!

We subscribed briefly to Sky and before that to the old On-Digital service. We stopped it because once again there was just too much content that we didn’t want to watch. And as we clearly already get unwatchable programmes on Freeview, why on earth would I want to pay to get even more programmes I don’t want to watch?

If I’ve painted a very bleak picture, there is at least a tiny light shining in the distance. Dramas like Heroes were truly absorbing, (though much too long). While I enjoyed the ones I saw, I wasn’t prepared to give that much of my life to it! Spooks was also very nicely done and every so often we’ve had the odd gems from superb story-tellers and programme makers like Stephen Poliakoff or Mike Leigh, which are mercifully short but always compelling.

So, programme makers, what’s it to be? Are you going to continue to fob people off with ersatz entertainment in the UK, as you’ve been doing increasingly for more than 10 years? If so, I for one will be spending even less time watching. However, if you choose to make some more intelligent, well-crafted programmes, I will be your greatest advocate.

The problem you’ve created with poor content is that the nightly TV-viewing rituals which almost every family now has, are beginning to break down, as your falling viewing figures and advertising revenues reveal. Your choice: will you let it continue its decline or will you find a way to rebuild the art of quality programme-making that we know we can do in the UK and let it occupy more than a tiny per cent of the viewing schedule?

Truthfully I will be happy with or without a TV because I have lots of other things I am happy to do instead when I’m not working. If I choose to leave my TV off or even sell it, only the TV stations and programme makers will lose out.

Now I’ve increased your choice!

Posted in Life, Community | 1 Comment »

25/05/2009 by admin.

A couple of months ago I decided to try to grow the number of readers of YES magazine, the music education magazine that I edit as part of my work with Yamaha. I have always enjoyed the challenge of turning negatives into positives (or at least giving it a shot) so the reduced budgets that most of the commercial sector has been enduring since the recession kicked in last Autumn provided a suitable trigger for that process to begin.

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Posted in My Learning, web, Yamaha | 1 Comment »

25/05/2009 by admin.

A few years back, my Mum, at the age of about 75, phoned me to tell me: “I want a website.” After my initial shock she explained that that the research she’d been conducting into the Martin family history had got to the point where she wanted to share it with the world, in the hope that someone may offer some new leads to fill in some of the remaining gaps.I looked at some of the easy-to-use template sites but none of them really offered the facilities Mum needed.

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Posted in My Learning, Life, web | 1 Comment »

25/05/2009 by admin.

I’ve always wanted to say: “Let me introduce you to my tailor”. Silly, I know, but there it is. Well, a couple of years ago, when I began a new phase in my career which involved high visibility - presentations, conferences, working with international music artists, etc - I really wanted to look the part so I hatched a plan.

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18/07/2008 by admin.

Well I’ve managed somehow to find some time to work some more on my jazz playing and am really starting to notice the difference.

I’ve spent some time practising useful scales - particularly diminished and melodic minor modes - and am becoming a bit less wooden in my use of them when improvising. I’ve done some ’round the circle’ playing of motifs and licks in all keys but need to do more of that. I’ve focussed mostly on a couple of tunes as a playground for trying things out. These include ‘My Foolish Heart’ and McCoy Tyner’s ‘Walk Spirit Talk Spirit’.

I still need to work on faster playing; I still stumble over fingering during faster impro passages but have no trouble if I learn a passage. I guess I just need to get used to either thinking ahead a bit more or to working with a range of different fingering.

Off to the Jazzwise Summer School in just over a week. My erstwhile fear has gone, after a few months of practice, and I’m really looking forward to it.

The whole point of going is to write up my experience in Yamaha’s YES magazine, which I edit, and hopefully inspire teachers to invest some time in their own jazz playing. If they do this they will find, as I’ve done, that their teaching will move up a gear (and not just in jazz) and they will get untold measures of personal satisfaction!

Posted in Yamaha, Education, Music | No Comments »

29/03/2008 by admin.

In preparation for my looming attendance at the Jazzwise Summer School in July (2008) as a piano student, I’ve begun work on my jazz piano playing. And boy, did it need work!

In the late 80s I was fortunate enough to have piano lessons with Lionel Grigson (d 1994) - former jazz professor at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Lionel taught me lots about jazz harmony and got me started on jazz impro.

So I decided to find a good jazz piano teacher again to help me with some useful approaches to practising and developing my skills and confidence. I had my first jazz piano lesson yesterday - excellent! I got all kinds of things from it. Whereas I’ve been focusing almost entirely on cementing my chord-scale knowledge in the past few years, we did almost none of that in my lesson. Instead we looked at how to develop interest and momentum from a simple thematic idea. This was brilliant and, for the first time, I really felt I was making some headway as a jazz pianist.

Lots to work to do in the next few weeks, putting into practice the ideas we covered yesterday. Pieces I’m currently working on include ‘My Foolish Heart’ (à la Bill Evans) and McCoy Tyner’s ‘Island Birdie’.

Posted in Education, Music | No Comments »

20/03/2008 by admin.

I really miss gigging! Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time in the work that I do, which couldn’t be more fulfilling. But it’s been years since I’ve done a live gig and I miss it like crazy!

Having just set up my MySpace - using the name m2e2 - I’ve uploaded a couple of original compositions and plan to start writing again in 2008 - the year that I finally dedicate time to get playing the piano properly again. In fact later this year I’m taking myself off the the Jazzwise Summer School, as a piano student. Watch this space and my MySpace site for news of new music from me!

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06/03/2008 by admin.

I’ve recently launched a new Yamaha Education online community site, designed to connect professionals working in music education.

Originally I just wanted a blog that people with something interesting to say could use and attract a community. However just before Christmas I came across Webjam, a social networking company - then not 12 months old - which seemed to focus much more on groups, communities, clubs, etc, and was therefore much better suited to my needs. Simply put, Webjam offered lots of interesting possibilities which the existing social networks just don’t have.

Setting up a Webjam is simply a matter of choosing from an existing design (basically a set of CSS scripts that control the look and feel of the site) then draggng modules on to each page. So you can have a forum, blog, profile, mp3 player, polls, YouTube videos, photos and loads of other neat stuff. Braver souls can then customise the design if they wish, simply using standard CSS.

You can set up the Webjam so that it is entirely public or so that people have to join to see certain modules or pages. It’s very simple to set up and the interface works brilliantly.

If you run a club, community or association, Webjam is a fantastic resource and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

www.webjam.com

Posted in web, Community, Education | No Comments »

23/02/2008 by admin.

Professionals working in music education can now join the Yamaha Education Community online at www.yamahaeducation.co.uk and following the joining instructions.

This free service allows community members to take part in a broad range of activities and share ideas and information about all things music education.

Posted in Community, Yamaha, Education, Music | No Comments »