English Dance and Song Winter 2022
This article appears in English Dance and Song, the magazine of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. The world’s oldest magazine for folk music and dance, EDS was first published in 1936 and is essential reading for anyone with a passion for folk arts.
The English Folk Dance & Song Society’s award-winning Resource Bank contains many free, downloadable materials. These incorporate endless practical ways to use folk song, music, dance, drama and other arts in teaching and learning – in all sorts of community settings, as well as in formal education.
Rachel Elliott, Director of Education, tells us about two recent additions to the expanding Resource Bank.
The Young Folk Club’s Tune Book
This collection of popular session tunes and lesser-known gems was originally created by Rowan Collinson on behalf of EFDSS Youth Forum as a resource for The Young Folk Club’s online sessions. It’s a great set of tunes for any session, or to learn and play at home.
The tunes are organised into sections based on time signature or dance style, so it’s easy to find a particular tune type. There are several versions of the tune book in various clefs and transpositions for different instruments. It’s possible a small section of a tune might not fit within the range of your instrument, but you could try changing the octave or adapting a few notes – this is all part of the folk process.
Happy playing!
Tunes and Groove in Folk and Bhangra
This resource of 12 films and supporting documentation was created for Ashford Creative Orchestra Project 2022, which the English Folk Dance & Song Society ran in partnership with Kent Music. Through aural learning and creative exploration, the project aimed to give secondary school students an authentic introduction to folk and bhangra music – a popular form of traditional song and dance with roots in India that has evolved in Britain since the 1980s.
The project was led by musicians Grace Smith, Kuljit Bhamra and Sam Partridge, who are music leaders for the National Youth Folk Ensemble.
The films intend to inspire participants and teachers to create new instrumental arrangements. The films present building blocks for two pieces: Mill in the Wod, an 18th-century traditional Kentish jig, and Teri Meri, a modern bhangra tune composed by Kuljit Bhamra.
Each piece has a set of six accompanying films to support the learning process, comprising:
- Demonstration
- Learn the Rhythm
- Learn the Tune
- Own the Groove
- Learn the Chords
- Create a Structure and Play
The films are accompanied by a PDF of supporting notes for teachers.
We are continually planning further Resource Bank materials. There are now 108 separate resources to explore – incorporating a total of 456 audio files, 332 videos and 282 supporting documents, all of which are free to download. Do let us know how you are using them, and if you have any suggestions for future resource bank topics: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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