The BBCM intensive summer course took place during four days in July, and attracted ten people interested in discovering the history and origins of the Kodaly teaching method, and the influences behind the BBCM philosophy. The group consisted of regulars from BBCM classes hoping to uncover the background to the techniques they had been learning, and newcomers hoping to receive a taste of the BBCM experience, thereby expanding their own musical talents or teaching skills. Jo Lin was perhaps the 'star' of this group, having travelled all the way from America on a scholarship from Harvard: his first visit to England was certainly packed, if not altogether typically English!

There were four main areas which Agnes covered during the course: the origins of sol-fa and modes, the work and compositions of Bartok, the history of tuning systems, and an introduction to various music teaching methods. The information that was crammed into these sessions was often new to the majority of the group, and provided challenging new ways of examining aspects of music which are often taken for granted. We discovered that the origins of sol-fa can be traced to the medieval monk, Guido, who used his hand to signal which notes should be sung in sight-reading. It is this system which Kodaly used as the basis for his sol-fa, and Guido's hand can be seen as the BBCM emblem. Modes have also been used for thousands of years, their presence can be found in the earliest known music, as well as all types of folk music, including Indian, Arabic, and European.

The use of modes in folk music links this topic to that of Bartok who, we learnt, spent a huge amount of time collecting, recording, and transcribing folk songs. This work naturally affected his own compositions which often use folk melodies or modal ideas rather than Western European Classical harmony. One such composition is Cantata Profana which we studied in some depth. The musical ideas show many parallels with folk elements, as does its subject, the natural world. The text is based on a Roumanian Christmas carol about a stag hunt, of which one of the lines is "only from the clear spring" (which may be familiar from BBCM T-shirts), meaning "only from a pure source", this being nature and folk music.

Perhaps the newest ground for me was the topic involving concepts of tuning. Having been thoroughly brought up in the system of equal tempered tuning, it was something of challenge to begin thinking of tuning as a flexible element and considering its possibilities as a musical tool. As a violin teacher, it was also very useful for me to compare and discuss different teaching methods, to consider their possibilities and limitations.

As well as all this, we also managed to find time for some practical work, singing and playing. The use of sol-fa, transposition at sight, clapping while singing, and playing while singing, were all attempted and mastered to a greater or lesser extent. It was here that BBCM regulars had a distinct advantage, and it was something of a surprise to the new, yet trained musicians that they found such skills difficult to accomplish. For many of us such tasks seemed closer to tongue-twisters than musical exercises.

It was fortunate that, with the exception of one singer, all the members of the group were string players. A fairly even balance of instruments meant that evenings could be spent playing and getting to know some wonderful pieces from the chamber music repertoire. These included a Brandenburg concerto, Brahms Sextet, and Schubert Quintet, and this last piece has provided the springboard for further music-making since the completion of the course.

After such an intensive four days, everyone came away with their minds packed with information, and it was only afterwards that this could be sifted and assimilated and new ideas formed and absorbed.

by Alice Butcher BA(Hons) MMus