swannieboy

:) Thanks Anna D! I didn't mention any of my rivals by name...

My keyboard stand is quite tasty, I have to say...! Otta - I do get where you're coming from, and regularly cringe at the awfulness of some of the stuff out there, but honestly I don't think you'd feel like that if you actually came to one of my sessions. We don't do any actions, or wear branded t-shirts, or anything like that. It's just singing songs that are approachable and that people know, and making them more interesting by adding harmonies. And breaking down the "you must be musically trained" stereotype, and in the case of HM, not marginalising people for having inconveniently noisy children. Thought you might like a brief look at us in action - this is the Brockley group a week ago... I also run London City Voices primarily for people who work in Soho, Canary Wharf or the City. There is a huge social (read "drinking") element to LCV, and I have over 200 attending across the groups every week. We do try and shy away from really cheesy stuff, and our current repertoire includes Bohemian Rhapsody (a very faithful arrangement to the original song) and Mr Blue Sky. Really - don't lump us in the same category as other choirs (who should not be named for fear of offending some of them...) - we are really quite different. Richard

**blushes** aww, thank you all. I'm glad it's been enjoyable! :)

Hello all. It's been ages since I posted in here. I thought I'd let you know that Hummy Mummies is still going strong! We have expanded considerably, and you now have a choice of six groups to attend, two of which are in East Dulwich. For those of you who don't know, Hummy Mummies http://www.hummymummies.com is a fun, amateur pop choir for mums where you can bring your bump, baby, toddler or even older child. The class is for the parents, not the children, but the children love it too. You don't need to have any experience at all, no need to read music either. You just need to enjoy singing and be willing to join in. Once you sign up for a term (?65) or a half-term (?35) you can attend as many of the sessions during the week that you like, so you can easily make up sessions that you miss. This term we're singing Abba, Janis Joplin, Lou Reed, Katrina & The Waves, Coldplay - that sort of thing. The locations are as follows: Monday 10:30am East Dulwich Tuesday 11am Peckham (Bellenden Rd) Wednesday 11am Greenwich Thursday 11am Forest Hill/Honor Oak Friday 10am Brockley Friday 3:30pm East Dulwich Do check out the website and the Twitter feed and pop along for a trial session before you commit. We have about 85 mums (and a dad!) in total now across all the groups, and we're soon expanding to other parts of the UK. Drop me a line at [email protected] if you have any questions. Richard

Hi all Just to let you know that there are 2 Hummy Mummies groups going in East Dulwich at the moment(plus one in West Dulwich and one in Brockley). They're all well-attended, with around 15 mums (and sometimes dads) plus children. They are aimed at the adults, and parents remain responsible for children throughout. Songs for this term include "Fix You" by Coldplay, "Perfect Day", "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "Simply The Best". See www.hummymummies.com for more information. Thanks Richard

Hi all Just to let you know that the Hummy Mummies (and daddies) Christmas Concert will be happening at All Saints in Lovelace Road (off Rosendale Road) this Saturday at 10:30am. It will last about 35-40 minutes and there will be about 40 singers plus a live band, and tea & cake afterwards. Admission is free but we will have a collection towards the church premises and the band. There are 2 East Dulwich groups taking part, one which meets on Mondays at 10:30am and one on Friday at 3:30pm. Both are well-attended, with about 15 adults and 20 children at each. The venue is St Clement with St Peter, entrance off Barry Road (just by Mulberry Close). Have a look at the website (www.hummymummies.com) for details. Richard

Sorry - rain stops play today - more next week! Richard

Due to popular demand I will be running the sessions again this week. There have been lots of people coming to join in, and there's still a few weeks till term starts, so let's carry on, weather permitting. Same time, same places, different weeks... 11am, Dulwich Park (Tuesday), Brockley Hilly Fields (Wednesday) and Peckham Rye (Thursday). For obvious reasons we're not going to sing inside the cafes, so look around outside. I'll be the bloke with the guitar, probably (hopefully) surrounded by women with babies. Or at least having a coffee. :) Richard

Lovely session yesterday in Peckham Rye. :) Same again next week, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday... Richard

For what it's worth, I have 2 boys at Kingsdale, one going into Yr11 and one going into Yr9, both on Music scholarships. Both are very happy there. With the eldest one we applied for Aske's - I'm SO glad he didn't go there. Didn't even consider any other options for the younger one. As a qualified secondary school (music) teacher, the creativity and technical skill of the pupils AND teachers in Kingsdale beats Askes's (and Prendergast, at which I have taught) by a mile. And it's not just in Music - they seem to be well balanced throughout the curriculum. Sometimes you don't get as much info as you would like, particularly about upcoming events (and particularly as a divorced father who doesn't live with their children), but I think the same can be said of lots of schools. Just my two penn'orth... Richard

Just to let you know that Hummy Mummies are holding free singing sessions this week and next week in parks, weather permitting. 11am by the cafes in Dulwich Park (Tuesday), Brockley Hilly Fields (Wednesday) and Peckham Rye (Thursday). Bring children, friends, potential Hummy Mummies, parents, toys... and probably an umbrella...! If you haven't come across Hummy Mummies yet, we're a choir specifically for parents (predominantly mums) which the children also attend (and generally love!). Proper adult singing, not kiddy songs. Term starts again on w/c 17 September, all details are on the website at http://www.hummymummies.com, and you can check out some video examples of our Summer Concert there too. Hopefully see some of you there tomorrow... Richard

Hi all. Right, I finally had it with the Dulwich Constitutional Club - their attitude was possibly the worst I've ever had to deal with, and they were incredibly rude to me. I have told them in no uncertain terms why we would not be returning to their venue. However, we are now looking for another venue to use for the Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon groups. I am temporarily using Christchurch in Barry Road, but that is expensive at ?32 per hour. Any suggestions...? Richard

I have 2 boys at the school in year 8 and year 10, and am experiencing no such issues. I'm very happy with Kingsdale in general, and my lads are happy there. And they are generally good on the email, as Debi said. I wouldn't put too much store in your daughter's report about 12 teachers leaving. Having been a classroom teacher (and in fact, having worked at Kingsdale years ago), rumours abound among the children. This doesn't mean that they're true.

Right then If you want to see what all the fuss has been about, come along to All Saints Church on Lovelace Road on Saturday 24 March at 11am for a (very short) concert by the 3 combined Hummy Mummies groups. Songs will be Natural Woman, What's Up?, Make You Feel My Love and Forget You (yes, the radio edit!). And maybe an interactive song or two which they don't know about yet. Admission will be free (but we will take up a collection for the church, as they're letting us use their building for nothing). Hope to see you there. Richard

Blimey. I don't think I've ever done 3 hours practise in a day, and I'm considered to be a pretty competent musician...! It depends on lots of things. For example - what kind of musician you want her to be, and when she gets old enough to choose, the kind of musician SHE wants to be. Clearly suniil's daughter is headed for the realms of the professional classical soloist. That's a tough gig, which takes no prisoners. As for starting age - this depends on their level of ability to take instruction and take it with any degree of seriousness, so it varies from child to child. I have 7-year olds who have learnt all 12 of their major scales, the 12-bar blues, and can read quite fluently. I also have older students who lose concentration after 15 minutes. It depends. Mine, who are 15 and 13 now, started in the cradle. But then I could teach them, and it's different when dad does it every day. Ben got his Grade 8 drums at 12 and they are both superb musicians. I would normally recommend about 10-20 mins practice daily for a 6-7 year old. Oh, and you can start playing the piano at ANY age. If you want to be a professional concert pianist, then yes, definitely before 8. If not, definitely start sometime before you die. But before 8 is good, as long as it's with the right teacher...