Musical Doorstep Performances in South London and Surrey

20/12/2021

It’s been a while since I posted anything on this page, largely because the rest of our lives have been busy!
However when we found out about a friend’s birthday today we couldn’t let it pass without popping round as we all know how Christmas birthdays can be overlooked!!
My son wanted to play the tune this time & to be fair to him, he would absolutely be able to do this now, however lately we have been concentrating on our Christmas songs so we decided to wait until next time 😊
Video taken by a small person hence the creative angles 😆
Happy Birthday J!

08/07/2021

Following the previous post - Part of our little musical presentation to the local scout group (Beavers).
We played Sound For Us as a round / canon where one person starts first & the other comes in one bar later / 4 counts later.
We taught the group the words & tune afterwards & sang it together 😃

08/07/2021

What happens when the fireman can’t make it at the last min..? Well the violinist steps in of course! 😆
So lovely to step in for the local Scout group (Beavers) today. I talked about being a professional violinist & about creating the Musical Doorstep Performances during lockdown.
I played a bit of Mozart & James Brown - I Feel Good. My son & I also played Sound For Us by the late, great, Sheila Nelson & showed them how to perform it as a round/canon.
We finished with teaching them the song. So great to have a good sing outside! 😃
I didn’t have a hose(!) but we brought the music 😊 (video snippets coming up!)
Thanks to Ellie Lawson for inviting me!

11/03/2021

Happy milestone Birthday to our gorgeous friend, H! With the kiddies back at school I managed to rope in my other half to add to the fun! I think this was his cello’s first outing in 2021!! (He’s normally doing clever filming/recording Apple and Biscuit Recordings)
Loved being able to give her this especially when options are so limited at the moment..
Watch here for H’s reaction. She had no idea we were turning up.. 😊

26/01/2021

Kids loved surprising our dear friend today on her birthday with a mini drive performance 😃 She’s been shielding so hasn’t seen other humans in such a long while. It was freezing but they were pros & delivered beautifully! Felt good to spread a little happiness😃

25/12/2020

Christmas isn’t Christmas without music so here is a festive piece we made up for your enjoyment! After learning that singing has been banned from schools due to the ongoing problems with Covid-19 my daughter was excited to sing instead of play her cello & was also responsible for most of the words & some of the melodies!
My son enjoyed chopping & changing between instruments & singing & also added in some improvisation towards the end!
Hoping our followers have managed a good Christmas despite the difficult times we are living in. We hope our piece may spread a little happiness.
Merry Christmas!

31/10/2020

And the performance! (See last video for our final rehearsal & info 😌)
Socially distanced in our driveway. Sound is a bit intermittent but stick with it! Next time hopefully Apple and Biscuit Recordings will be around to help out! Happy Halloween 🎃💀👻

31/10/2020

Happy Halloween! 👻🎃💀
In the good old days (pre March 2020) one of my favourite things was to coach creative music projects. Such a rewarding and thrilling experience. Well for the first time I did just this, not with 50 or 60 children, but just with the help of my own 2 children. Our first creative family project! They created all the words & virtually all of the melodies. I stuck a few chords in 😌 We did it in 3 short sessions.
If you understand a bit about music please enjoy my son’s b flats - we only learned these for this piece 🤗
We missed Daddy’s filming prowess as is clear from the perfect view of Marilyn Monrow & the less clear view of (half?!) my daughter once she sits down!! 🙈 This is our final run through. The next video shows our performance to our street that one of my neighbours kindly forwarded. I hope it brings some light heartedness & a smile to the less easy times we are living in x ps My son had to ditch his mask as it interfered with his chin position. His choice 👍🏼😌

28/09/2020

For anyone who missed it here is my interview on BBC Radio Sussex that took place yesterday evening. I’m on at about 30 minutes 35 secs in to the programme.

Late night conversation.