I previously linked two tracks, ‘Red Ribbon: A Short Story‘ & ‘Miles et Juliette.’ Today I have the YouTube links for the two remaining instrumental tracks. The full EP listing:
1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story
2) Red Ribbon Suite
3) Swing, Princess, Swing
4) Miles et Juliette
First, track 2, ‘Red Ribbon Suite’ a piece in three distinct movements:
Photography by Niall Keohane & Paul Pacifico
Track 3 is based around a simple guitar pattern, with Niall adding piano, strings and harmonies:
All music written by Keohane-Pacifico.
Production by Niall Keohane.
Copyright ⓒ 2022
Thank you for visiting this blog page. If you like the music, we would really appreciate it if you could give us a ‘Like’, and pass on to your friends. The ‘visits’ and ‘likes’ really help new bands to get attention.
Can a young teen class have better English than an IELTS class ? That is the challenge. Without pushing the students too far, and with realistic expectations, let’s introduce some low-frequency words (L-FW), phrases and idioms.
Furthermore, students will also be expected to speak in longer sentences, using connectives as well as a wide range of adjectives.
The subject of our current unit is very dear to my heart: music. Let’s rock !
First match the new words with the meaning
ubiquitous // over the moon // genre // extremely
kind of or type // to feel very, very happy // everywhere // an adverb that means very, very
Roll up your sleeves and practice: Fill in the gaps using the new words AND your own ideas.
Today, music is ______________ . We can hear music on our _______ and when we go to _______________.
Yoyoka, a Japanese drummer, is ____________ talented. She must ________ many hours, every day to be so skillful.
If I pass my English test with A+, I will be ___________________ . My parents will be so happy, they will _______________.
My favourite _______ of music is ____________ because it makes me feel ___________ and ____________ .
Genres (types) of music:
Jazz / rap / pop / rock / classical / electronic
Look at the photos. What genre are they ?
Why do you think so ?
Kraftwerk from Germany
T-ara from South Korea
Chloe Chua from Singapore
Miles Davis from USA
Rolling Stones from the UK
Cassper Nyovest from South Africa
Grammar exercise. Rewrite the following blog post in the Past Tense (verb 2)
EXAMPLE: Yesterday I go to school and I have a speaking test. I do very well and my parents are over the moon.
Yesterday I went to school and I had a speaking test. I did very well and my parents were over the moon.
Now … your turn
Last week I see a concert on TV. The group is Blackpink and they play for 30 minutes. They sing many songs and dance extremely well. It is so exciting I am over the moon. The next day I buy their music and decide to be a pop star too !
Watch this concert and write your own blog using Past Tense (verb 2) as well as adjectives and new words. Let me help you with the start:
This morning I watched a video from T-ara. The band … (what song did they play ? Did they all sing ? What else did they do ?
Did you like the music ? Why or why not ?
Were they alone on stage ? What did they wear ?
How did the audience feel ? Do you wish you were there ?
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
A still from Niall’s Red Ribbon: A Short Story video
Butterfly Decal, the band I am in along with my dear friend Niall Keohane, are finishing the final mix on our debut EP.
The Jazz-inspired EP, entitled ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’, has four tracks:
1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story
2) Red Ribbon Suite
3) Swing, Princess, Swing
4) Miles et Juliette
Track 1 is a piece of first-person prose over a Jazz background and sound effects, a collage of film, music and poetry.
The video features Niall’s stunning B&W photography, (from the UK), while I add some shots from Sai Gon, Viet Nam. As the track nears the end, a theme from the next cut appears, low in the mix, leading to …
Track 2, an instrumental piece in three movements. Parts 1 and 2 share a melody but have a tempo change, whereas Part 3 leads to a melodic resolution.
Track 3, ‘Swing, Princess, Swing’, is based around a two-chord guitar structure. I’m only playing a $40 acoustic guitar here but Niall’s production makes it sound (almost) professional. Niall also adds backing vocals.
Track 4 is another story set to music. In the late 1940s, Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis travelled to Paris where he met, and fell in love with, singer Juliette Greco. As with Track 1, this cut features narrative, music and effects.
We plan, once we have enough material, to make our music available online on Bandcamp or SoundCloud, as well as posting more videos on YouTube.
The production was by Niall at his home studio in Birmingham, UK
Thank you so much for visiting this site. If you have time and interest, please view the videos and share them with your friends. The ‘Likes’ and views really help.
A selection of photos found on web searches. No copyright infringement is intended.
adoreness.com
Model Pattie Boyd from vogue.com
Britt Ekland from outdressing.comImage from elle.com
theatreoffashion.com
time.com
adoreness.com
itsacharminglife.com
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
I recently discovered this band serendipitously on YouTube, but I know very little about them.
The clip ‘Waterlilies’ I believe is from a future project, based on Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures From An Exhibition’. The video text states that this is merely a demo, and implies that a new video will uploaded at some point.
You may recognise elements of minimalism, shoegaze, ambient and even math rock. I think I can even hear a faint tambourine half-way through the track.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Recently we have seen the passing of a number of musicians, some directly or indirectly as a result of COVID-19. This is a short tribute to those artists.
R.I.P.
Bill Withers (July 4th 1938 – March 30th 2020)
Bill was a singer – songwriter, famous for such hits in the early 70s as ‘Lovely Day,’ ‘Lean on Me,’ and one of my all time favourites, ‘Ain’t no Sunshine.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CICIOJqEb5c
Lee Konitz (October 13th 1927 – April 15th 2020)
Lee was a composer working in the Jazz field, and played alto saxophone. Famously, Lee played on ‘Birth of the Cool’ by Miles Davies in 1949, as well as on the ‘Miles Ahead’ album of 1957. In addition, Lee made dozens of albums as leader, playing alongside Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams & Jimmy Giuffre … to name just three.
Dave Greenfield of The Stranglers (March 29th 1949 – May 3rd 2020)
Dave was the keyboardist in the English punk band The Stranglers, whom he joined in 1975 and played with until his death. His playing can be heard on their biggest hit, ‘Golden Brown’ which reached number 2 in the charts in 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-GUjA67mdc
Little Richard ( December 5th 1932 – May 9th 2020)
Richard Wayne Pennieman was one of the original rock ‘n’ rollers, and was a true original in his performances, his clothes and his stage presence. Little Richard is even credited with advising the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, how to sing. This is one of his most iconic songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj059o9OwqY
New vocabulary: accurate/ correction / administration
Money
Verbs for things you can do with money:
spend / lose / waste / save / make / invest / forge / donate / pay / worship
I go to work to …….. money.
She always ………… money to charity.
He …………. money buying property
The police caught the man who was ……….. money.
Some people think the iPhone X is a ………. of money.
King James Bible “For the love of money is the root of all evil.”
Many people over the years have tried to buy the Mask of Tutankhamen from the Egyptian Museum, but unsurprisingly the authorities here believe it is priceless so they won’t sell it
Ebenezer Scrooge was such a stingy man, so much so that in English, we sometimes use the word Scrooge to describe people with this characteristic (who are like this). A miser is someone who hates spending any money.
He spent a lot of money on what he thought was a gold watch but when he had it valued, it turned out to be worthless.
I sometimes disagree with stall holders, so I haggle which sometimes gets the price down
Big companies like Pepsi make a killing. They should put their prices down. I sometimes like to splash out on new clothes, but not very often
When I was a student I didn’t have enough money to live on so I took out an overdraft at the bank. I paid it all off in the end (finally)
The men were sent to prison for forgery, that is, making counterfeit money
Speaking practice:
This dialogue has a lot of expressions and phrases.
Joe Hi Bill. Why so glum ? You look down in the dumps.
Bill Oh, just worrying about money. The cost of living keeps going up …
Joe And our wages stay the same. Tell me about it. I’ve had to economise.
Bill Same here; no more beer or Highlands coffee. I feel so stingy !
Joe I always haggle at the market now, try to get the price down. I hate being ripped off.
Bill I’m worried about paying off my overdraft. The interest alone is crippling me.
Joe We should invest in land. My friend sold some land recently and made a killing.
Bill But we’ll need money to invest in the first place. Then there’s always bills.
Joe Yes, my bike’s in the shop, so I’m having to use Grabbike and that ain’t cheap !
2. This is to practice wedding and money phrases.
Tom Congratulations ! You’re finally tying the knot and getting spliced.
Bob Yeah, it’s time to settle down. I’ve taken out a mortage and a loan for the wedding.
Tom It must be costing you an arm and a leg: catering, hall, flowers, photos, invitations.
Bob Absolutely, I’ve withdrawn all my saving and gone into the red. I hate being overdrawn; the interest is sky-high. And, not forgetting, the honeymoon.
Tom You can put down a deposit and pay later. Cheer up ! Don’t be a Scrooge
Bob That’s easy for you to say. I’m gonna be broke and in debt … until I retire !
Sentence building
Use more interesting adverbs and linking words e.g.
although / as well as / somewhat / therefore
Rearrange these basic sentences to make more interesting ones (we use ‘one’ as a pronoun for the noun instead of repeating ourselves)
Examples:
I went to the market today. I bought fish and chicken and vegetables.
Today I bought fish, chicken as well as vegetables in the market.
Last night I stayed at home because it was raining.
It was raining last night therefore I stayed at home.
Your turn:
I saw the new action film. It was a little boring.
Peter was tired but he met his friends for a drink.
Sophie studied very hard. She passed her test.
For western people, Thailand is cheap. Vietnam is cheaper.
Speaking skills
To help you improve your speaking skills, here is a small project:
Write a short piece about something you love or adore.
Start with an introduction
Say why you like it
Maybe tell some history or an anecdote (a short, personal story)
Give some examples
End with a short conclusion
EXAMPLE:
JAZZ MUSIC
I love all types of music, but one of my favourites is Jazz. It can be exciting, or slow, but it’s always different.
Unlike other types of music, Jazz is spontaneous. This means that you never hear the same song the same way; each performance is different.
Jazz started in New Orleans but moved up to Chicago, New York and even west to California. The first records were made in 1917 and the first true Jazz genius was Louis Armstrong. If you want to hear jazz, you should listen to his records from the 1920s.
You may know some famous Jazz artists such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane or Charlie Parker. I can recommend these musicians to you as first-rate examples of Jazz.
I hope this has made you curious about Jazz, and that you go online to listen for yourself. Who knows, maybe you too will learn to love Jazz.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
This is the plan for my early morning class on Saturday. To set the scene, there are about 19 students, aged around 7 or 8. It’s a standard classroom; chairs with built-in desktops, and there’s not a lot of space for movement or activities. The students, therefore, are mostly confined to their seats for the two-hour session, not conducive to a productive lesson. Add to that loud students, slow students and the (seemingly obligatory) special-needs student(s), and we have a potential catastrophe … but there are ways to mitigate these issues …
Firstly, the assignment of a class captain. I choose the loudest, toughest boy and he becomes proxy teacher. Usually, they love the responsibility, while I’ve turned a problem into an asset.
Secondly, the ‘montage of attractions’, lots of different but related activities to prevent boredom as well as promoting as much participation as possible. To this end, I try to vary the lesson plan (the first hour is activities, the second, devoted to book work where I can also check students individually).
Thirdly, I really want to break the teacher – student dynamic; I want the students talking to each other in English. Sometimes I have the top students act as teacher, ‘Thay’, and address the class, but today I want everyone speaking to their partner in English. To do this, I’ve prepared a short series of questions they have to ask and answer. But first, a review about ‘what can you see ?’ and prepositions.
I’ll show this landscape and then attach various animal flashcards, asking ‘Can you see a frog ? Where is it ?’ and so on …
Now for the speaking interaction: with all speaking exercises, it’s good to model first. The questions I’ve chosen represent language they have already learnt and should be able to use. I’ll show the following questions, then drill an appropriate reply:
To prepare, I just need to stick some flashcards around the room (food, animals).
Can you see a tiger ? IF there is a tiger picture the answer is Yes, I can, if there is no picture then No, I can’t.
Do you like pizza ? / Yes, I do or No, I don’t.
What are these ? (showing flash card of toes) These are my toes.
How many marbles are there ? (showing picture of marbles) There are seven marbles.
How old are you ? / I’m …..
What can an elephant do ? An elephant can walk and swim and run.
I will then hand out a short questionnaire and, with the invaluable aid of my TA, monitor the class, making note of those who will not or are not taking part. The questions will be:
Can you see a zebra ?
Do you like cake ?
How many puzzles are there ?
How old are you ?
What can a bear do ?
When the first partner has finished, the second will have these questions:
Can you see an ant ?
Do you like rice ?
How old are you ?
How many games are there ?
What can a zebra do ?
The next activity is a ‘run ‘n’ write’. The class is split into teams and have to run to the board and write a word that has appeared in a previous lesson:
We also get to review the plural form of nouns (games, marbles) plus the ‘an’ article before a vowel noun (an elephant). Next up … music time; an old favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpvFx0-uyI
When the band… This could be used as a background to a musical statues game, but the names of the instruments will be highlighted. They then have to identify them:
Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong … the one and only.Kid Ory on jazz tromboneJohnny Dodds on clarinetDavid Carradine as Bill playing Japanese flute.
Again, Thay Student time: a top student will ask the class:
Can you play …. trumpet ? … piano ? … guitar ?
Now a miming game. I will tell a student an instrument, and they will mime playing it. The opposite team has to guess, getting points for correct answers. Any kind of game or competition can really raise energy and motivation levels.
I want to move the lesson closer towards today’s subject (science, specifically parts of the body), so will select six students, giving each a flashcard from last week’s class. Very quickly, they will show their card to the class. Then I will ask ask which student has which card, but using the verb ‘to have’, i.e. “He has toe”, “She has arm.”
Finally, and if time allows because this already could be too long (no problem with that … a plan should be overlong in case any activity falls flat and a Plan B, C & D is needed), more ‘Thay Students’. They will review questions from last week, namely:
What are these ? These are my arms
What are these ? These are my toes
What are these ? These are my fingers
But, to stop them getting too complacent, some good old British irregularities:
Thay Paul's Notes 