Comhairle launch of e-Book resource as part of Seachdain na Gàidhlig celebrations

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar are delighted to be launching an e-Book resource created by the Instrumental Music Service at a live online event on Friday the 25^th of March at 11am. This can be viewed on the following link:

  eBook launch event

The event will be compered by Evelyn Coull-MacLeod and will feature pre-recorded videos and live performances from Willie Campbell and pupils from Laxdale and Stornoway Primary schools.

The Western Isles have a rich cultural heritage, and a wealth of musical talent exists amongst those living in our communities, from the Butt of Lewis right down to Barra, as well as many musicians from the islands now living on the mainland and further afield. A vast amount of musical activity takes place on a daily basis in the Western Isles: music lessons, concerts, sessions, various group rehearsals, choir practices etc. however, when the Coronavirus pandemic struck sadly this came to a halt. Despite this, musicians were still busy at home playing, singing, composing music and writing songs and instrumental lessons for our school pupils have continued online.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar wanted to find a way to share the musical talent of our islanders, keep the music flowing and use it in a positive way to engage & unite our communities to lift our spirits during the difficult times. At the start of the lockdown in 2020, staff from the Instrumental Music Service, through the Education Skills & Children’s Services department, and together with our Multimedia Unit worked on the development of an e-Cèilidh project to meet these aims.

From this evolved e-Cèilidh nan Òg. The response to requests for contributions was so large that the e-Cèilidh nan Òg event was redesigned into six separate events which ran between May and October 2020. The emphasis for e-Cèilidh nan Òg was on inclusiveness, maximising participation, having fun and celebrating our Gaelic language & culture.

Following a successful application to Bord nan Gaidhlig, a funding award was made to the Comhairle to assist with the costs of producing a physical resource & further digital resources as a legacy of the e-Cèilidh nan Òg project.  This consisted of music and songs from the e-Cèilidh nan Òg broadcasts together with some of the songs and music commissioned for the Dileab: Air a’ Chuan concert at Celtic Connections in January 2020, which celebrated the cultural theme of Scotland’s Year of Coasts & Waters.

The e-Book contains sheet music and lyrics, suitable for performance by pupils in primary school onwards, and includes melody lines and chord notation allowing for performance on a wide range of instruments, including chanter/bagpipes and both solo and group performance. To accompany the sheet music, further downloadable digital resources have been produced. These consist of tutorial & play-along videos and backing tracks. The inclusion of backing tracks allows for the music to be played or sung solo.

In addition, all the instrumental items have been transposed for B flat & E flat brass & woodwind instruments and a link to these is included at the end of the book.

Information on each item is also included to give users of the e-Book an understanding of the background, cultural, historical and local significance of the material. In addition, cross curricular lesson plans have been produced to allow pupils and teachers to explore themes connected with the music. These lesson plans are available for Early, First & Second Level and will allow for whole class/school topic based mini- projects to be developed to meet areas of CfE.

More information on the e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Òg projects, and Dìleab  can be found by clicking on the logos or the following links and details of how to access the eBook will be available on the event page and this blog after the event:

e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Òg

Dìleab

A’ Chomhairle gu bhith a’ cur air bhog goireas e-leabhair mar phàirt de thachartasan Seachdain na Gàidhlig

Tha Comhairle nan Eilean Siar a’ dèanamh fiughair ri bhith a’ cur air bhog goireas leabhair didseataich a chaidh a dhèanamh le Seirbheis Ciùil Eilean Siar, aig tachartas beò air-loidhne air Dihaoine 25mh Màrt aig 11m. Gheibhear chun an tachartais an seo:

e-Book launch event

’S i Evelyn Coull-NicLeòid a bhios na bean an taighe agus bidh measgachadh ann de cheòl is seinn ga ghabhail beò agus ga chlàradh ro làimh, le Willie Caimbeul agus sgoilearan bho Sgoil Lacasdail agus Bun-sgoil Steòrnabhaigh.

Tha dualchas cultarail beairteach aig na h-Eileanan Siar agus chan eil gainnead de thàlant am measg na tha a’ fuireach anns na coimhearsnachdan againn, eadar Rubha Robhanais agus Barraigh. A bharrachd air sin, tha iomadh neach-ciùil a bhuineas dha na h-Eileanan a-nis a’ fuireach air tìr-mòr no nas fhaide air falbh. Bhiodh pailteas ciùil a’ dol anns na h-Eileanan Siar gach latha: leasanan ciùil, cuirmean-ciùil, seiseanan, còmhlain, còisirean amsaa. Nuair a nochd an Coròna-bhìoras ge-tà, thàinig stad air a h-uile càil a tha seo. A dh’aindeoin sin, tha luchd-ciùil fhathast trang le bhith a’ cluich, a’ seinn agus a’ sgrìobhadh fhuinn agus òrain anns na dachaighean aca agus tha leasanan ciùil airson nan sgoiltean againn air leantainn air-loidhne.

Bha Comhairle nan Eilean Siar airson dòigh a lorg gus na tha de thàlant ceòlmhor am measg nan eileanach againn a thaisbeanadh, airson an ceòl a chumail a’ dol agus ga chleachdadh ann an dòigh a chuidicheadh le bhith a’ brosnachadh agus a’ neartachadh coimhearsnachd agus a bheireadh togail inntinn do dhaoine aig àm duilich. Aig toiseach a’ ghlasaidh-sluaigh ann am 2020, dh’obraich luchd-obrach Seirbheis Ciùil nan Eilean Siar, tro Roinn Foghlam, Sgilean agus Seirbheisean Chloinne agus ann an co-bhonn le Aonad Ioma-mheadhain na Comhairle, ann a bhith a’ leasachadh pròiseact e-Cèilidh gus na h-amasan seo a choileanadh.

Dh’èirich e-Cèilidh nan Òg às à sin. Le meud na bha ag iarraidh a bhith an lùib e-Ceilidh nan Òg, chaidh am pròiseact a leudachadh gu sia tachartasan fa leth a ghabh àite eadar an Cèitean agus an Dàmhair 2020. Bha in-ghabhalachd, a’ leigeil leis a h-uile duine a bha air a shon pàirt a ghabhail, a’ gabhail tlachd agus a’ dèanamh fèill air cànan agus cultar na Gàidhlig, aig cridhe e-Cèilidh nan Òg.

Tro iarrtas soirbheachail gu Bòrd na Gàidhlig, fhuair a’ Chomhairle maoineachadh a chuidich le bhith a’ cruthachadh goireas fiosaigich cho math ri barrachd ghoireasan didseatach mar dhìleab air pròiseact e-Cèilidh nan Òg. Mar phàirt dheth, tha craolaidhean e-Cèilidh nan Òg cho math ri cuid de na h-òrain agus an ceòl a chaidh a sgrìobhadh airson cuirm Dìleab: Air a’ Chuan aig Celtic Connections anns an Fhaoilleach 2020, a bha a’ comharrachadh bliadhna Chladaichean is Uisgeachan na h-Alba.

Anns an e-leabhar, a tha freagarrach do sgoilearan bun-sgoile agus nas sine, gheibhear fuinn le ceòl sgrìobhte, facail nan òran agus còrdan. Mar sin, gabhaidh an cluich air farsaingeachd de dh’ionnsramaidean, nam measg am feadan agus a’ phìob-mhòr, agus bidh e comasach an cluich mar chòmhlan no mar neach-ciùil leat fhèin. Chaidh goireasan didseatach eile a leasachadh a chumas taic ris a’ cheòl sgrìobhte agus a ghabhas luchdachadh a-nuas. Tha seiseanan-oideachaidh ann, bhideothan leis an urrainn dhut cluich aig an aon àm agus cùl-cheòl ma tha thu airson cluich no seinn leat fhèin ach le taic ciùil eile.

Gheibhear barrachd fiosrachaidh mu phròiseactan e-Cèilidh agus e-Cèilidh nan Òg agus Dìleab  tro na ceanglaichean a leanas:

e-Cèilidh agus e-Cèilidh nan Òg

Dìleab

After a difficult year cause by the Covid-19 pandemic meaning that pipers were unable to perform it is fantastic to hear the skirl of the pipes once more.  As restrictions are gradually eased with the Western Isles being placed in level one, pupils have been able to receive live lessons in schools on chanters and bagpipes again rather than e-Chanters.

Another benefit to the easing of restrictions has meant that pipers have been able to meet, rehearse and play in groups outdoors, subject to social distancing and other safety mitigations.

Here’s a round up of what the pipers have been up to recently.

Lewis & Harris Youth Pipe Band

On Saturday the 21^st of May the Lewis and Harris Youth Pipe Band finally managed to get back to practice in person,  for the first time in 14 months, on the Lews Castle Green . Since the pandemic hit they have had online weekly lessons with Piping Instructors Ashley MacDonald and Anna Murray as well as David MacLennan, in order to keep the players going. They are delighted to be back, although socially distant from each other following the Scottish Government advise. The other major milestone for LHYPB was to meet the new drummers along with Eilidh Young, the Comhairle’s apprentice Drumming Instructor in partnership with the Lewis and Harris Youth Pipe Band. Since Eilidh started in January she has also taught the young drummers online.

Members of the public have said how happy it made them feel to hear the youth pipe band and that they could also be heard from Stornoway Town Centre. The youth pipe band hope to be able to go on parade through Stornoway Town this summer when more restrictions ease. Keep an eye out on their own Facebook page for any other updates. In the meantime have a look at the video from their rehearsal on the link below:

Lewis & Harris Youth Pipe Band – Lews Castle Green 28 May 2021

Connecting schools with music and Gaelic

The photograph shows  Alysaa MacLeod from Sgoil Breasclete and Lena MacKenzie from Leverhulme Memorial school, both age 11. They have started to meet each other once a month online to receive their chanter lesson together.

Piping Instructor Ashley MacDonald has arranged this to encourage them both. Currently Alyssa is the only pupil in Sgoil Breasclete taking chanter lessons.  Ashley said “It’s really great to see the girls together, normally you wouldn’t meet other pupils from other schools unless there was an event that they were attending, so this way they both get to hear each other and give each other company too. Perhaps it might ignite a bit of friendly competition between them.  Both pupils are in Gàidhlig Medium and as well as teaching them in Gàidhlig I have set some time after the lesson for them to get to know each other a bit more and for them to engage in some Gàidhlig conversation. Both girls are doing very well and are just finishing off their tune before starting the next one together. They both are huge crofting fans as well, so their conversation consists of, chanter/piping and crofting which I think is fantastic as that is part of our culture here on the Islands, Gàidhlig, Music and crofting.”

We look forward to hearing how the girls progress with chanter and their new friendship.

Barra pipers play for an 80th birthday ceilidh

It was wonderful to see and hear the Fèis Barra and Castlebay Community School pipers playing together to wish Domhnall Padraig Nicholson, who was the school’s volunteer piping tutor for many years, a happy birthday.

Domhnall Padraig celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday 19th May, so to mark the occasion his pipers, under the tuition of Domhnall ‘Ban’ and Esther MacDonald, played a few tunes outside Castlebay School. It was uplifting to hear the pipes again!

Pupils from P6- S6 performed, including Domhnall Eachann Maclean, primary 6,  who is the grandson of Domhnall Padruig.

You can watch a video of the pipers performance here: 80th Birthday Ceilidh

The 34 strong Lewis and Harris Youth Concert Band were absolutely thrilled to be broadcast on the council’s Facebook page on Saturday the 20th of March 2021.  The film which was aired was produced by the band to record their 2020 Scottish Concert Band Festival Finals Programme.  The Scottish Concert Band Festival https://www.scottishconcertbandfestival.com, which is one of the highlights of the band’s year and attended by over 2000 youngsters from all over Scotland, was cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic.

The band’s broadcast, which has viewing figures of 4.9k, can be seen using the following link:

http://bit.ly/LHYCBSCBF2020

An interview on BBC Radio Scotland with Gavin Woods, the musical director of the Lewis & Harris Youth Concert Band can be found below.

Over the last few weeks pipers and trumpeters from the Nicolson Institute and Sir E Scott School took part in a series of Remembrance services at the following venues: Harris War Memorial, Stornoway High Church, Lewis War Memorial, Garrabost War memorial, Martin’s Memorial Church, Nicolson Institute, Merchant Navy Memorial (Ferry terminal) and The Drill Hall.

The trumpeters Tom Blunt, Emily Davidson, Oscar Fish, Karen Logue and pipers Hamish Scott, Jamie Doig, Arron Ingram, Joshua Morrison and Liam Campbell performed the Last Post, Reveille and Flowers of the Forest.

Lord-Lieutenant of the Isles Domhnall Martin said of the young people ‘” It was gratifying to see that, despite the current COVID restrictions, school pupils were able to play an important role in participating as buglers and pipers at the recent Remembrance events.  Their presence at such significant community events adds to the occasion, is much appreciated by the public and provides the pupils with invaluable experience of performing at ceremonial events. They, along with their parents and tutors who encouraged them, are to be congratulated for overcoming the challenges encountered during the lockdown”.

The current situation brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic continues to affect the delivery offered by our team of instrumental music teachers (IMTs).  To accommodate complex rules and regulations, instrumental music service staff have produced a subject specific risk assessment and a staged delivery plan to work alongside individual school arrangements.

Whilst instruments such as fiddle, guitar, keyboard, and melodeon can now resume face to face instruction (please see note 1. below), Scottish Government regulations state that singing, wind, brass, chanter and piping are still prohibited within school buildings.  Whilst these regulations remain in force, instrumental music teachers are using a blended approach to delivery. This includes the use of electronic chanters, music theory, general musicianship, and video tutorials. During this time Gaelic Singing Teachers are supporting schools with SQA course work and GME.

On a positive note, IMTs are delighted to be back teaching in our schools and pupil engagement is high.  Teachers are working hard to plan for future performance/project opportunities whilst individuals and local businesses have played their part by contributing over £7,000 of funds to enable the purchase of electronic chanters.

Further details on tuition arrangements that are being provided during the COVID 19 pandemic can be obtained by contacting individual IMTs through your child’s school.

1. Due to local COVID related travel restrictions between schools, instrumental music tuition in primary schools is being provided using a blend of face to face and online tuition.

The 4th e-Cèilidh nan Òg broadcast, featuring performances from primary school pupils across the islands, will take place this coming Friday 28th August at 7pm.

The programme will be hosted by piping teacher Anna Murray and can be viewed on the e- Cèilidh Facebook page or e- Cèilidh website.

The programme will also include 2 sing-along and 2 play-along items led by CnES Instrumental Music Teachers Iain MacIver, Neil Johnstone & Rhona Johnstone. The lyrics and music for these can be found on the e-Cèilidh website and in the Eilean Siar e-Cèilidh section on this blog.

We hope that you will be able to tune in, but if not the programme will be available for catch up on the website and Facebook, where you will also find the previous programmes.

There are 2 further e-Cèilidh nan Òg programmes scheduled for 25th Septmber & 2nd October.

The Scottish Government guidance issued last week notes that movement of staff between schools, which includes our Instrumental Music Teachers, should be kept to a minimum until further notice.

We are also awaiting further guidance from Scottish Government, on the back of scientific evidence and research, regarding singing and the playing of certain instruments.

We are keen for lessons to resume as soon as possible and will be working hard to formulate a plan for the safe delivery of instrumental lessons to pupils in our primary & secondary schools.

We hope to be able to provide information regarding the continuation of music tuition shortly and this will be communicated to parents & carers of pupils in receipt of instrumental lessons via the usual channels, following discussions with the department, headteachers and staff.

In the meantime, we would encourage all our music pupils to keep practicing to continue the good work which was achieved last session.

Well, what a busy term it has been for the Instrumental Music Service here in the Western Isles.  Here is a brief summary of some of the things our staff and pupils have been involved in.

 Online Teaching

Through eSgoil, utilising the Vscene video conferencing platform and Microsoft Teams provided through Glow, our Instrumental Music Teachers (IMTs) have been able to provide online tuition and we are proud to say that CnES is one of only two local authorities in Scotland who have been able to provide online lessons for pupils from day one of the lockdown.

This has also enabled us to continue to deliver our Youth Music Initiative project work (YMI) which fulfils the Scottish Government targets for pupils to receive a year of instrumental lessons before the end of primary school.  Staff worked hard to upskill and as a result have reported a high level of engagement with pupils.  Our staff have been delighted to have been able to continue teaching throughout the lockdown and to have contributed in some small way to the health and wellbeing of our students by providing a focus, not only with online lessons but also project-based work, some of which is outlined below.  Some teachers have even been able to carry on ensemble activities, this is a particularly difficult task online and those tutors involved are to be congratulated on their hard work.

The impact of the work undertaken is summed up in this comment from a recent survey which was sent out at the end of term to parents/carers and pupils:

“Music lessons were a lifeline for my child during lockdown. They were the first lessons to get up and running (soon after schools closed) which provided an anchor for those scary first few weeks.” 

e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Og

Conceived, administered and produced by Eilean Siar Instrumental Music Service and the Comhairle Multi-Media Unit staff, e-Cèilidh and the primary school version, e-Cèilidh nan Og have provided local professional, community and school musicians with a performance focus throughout the lockdown.  They have also enabled some of our staff to flex their presentation and performance skills in front of the camera.  With total views in excess of 79,0000 for the six e-Cèilidhs and two e-Cèilidh nan Og events they have certainly proved popular with performers and audiences. Several people commented on the e-ceilidh in our survey.

“If possible it would be great to retain the e-ceilidhs on a regular basis as it encourages kids to practice for a purpose and it’s lovely to hear all the other talented people on our islands.”

More information on e-Cèilidh and e-Cèilidh nan Òg  can be found on the dedicated website www.eileansiareceilidh.com as well as in the e-Cèilidh section in this blog site.

Key Worker Tributes

Thursday night tributes took place weekly since lockdown began and have provided our string, wind, brass, piping students and others, with a weekly focus for practice and learning of new repertoire as well as to show our appreciation for the keyworkers during the pandemic.  The performances became important to family, friends and neighbours with many looking forward to garden/street performances.  Students were encouraged to record their performances on video many of which they have proudly displayed on social media.  The large bank of heart-warming videos, which music service staff have been sent, attest to the amount of hard work and practice that has gone on by all of our students during lockdown.

“Having tunes to learn and playing on Thursday nights………has helped to maintain focus and concentration.” 

Partnerships/Local and National Projects

Our staff and pupils took part in various local and national projects, some of which you can read about in our earlier blog posts. These include:

• Lewis and Harris Youth Concert Band & Eccleshall Band Collaboration Video
• Clap for Carers initiative
• Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) -Somewhere over the Rainbow project
• VE Day 75^th anniversary commemorations 

In addition to these events some of our staff and pupils took part in the following:

Make Music Day – Several of our pupils and staff took part in the MEPG project Hey Jude Symphony of a Thousand, which ran over several weeks and with participants coming together to perform and record a special arrangement of Hey Jude, which was broadcast globally as part of Make Music Day, held annually on 21^st June. Hundreds of musicians, teachers and pupils across Scotland sent in recordings of themselves and hundreds more contributed on the day. A video of the performance, conducted by renowned Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, can be viewed below

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music also produced a video for International Make Music Day featuring 700 musicians from across the world, including many of our own students.

ABRSM Make Music Day video

Music Education Partnership Group webinars – Eilean Siar Instrumental Music Service was invited to provide a contributor to present at a high profile webinar organised by the Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) which included on the panel, amongst other musicians and educators, the world-famous violinist Nicola Benedetti.  Following our appearance on the webinar on online pedagogy, our Music Development Officer Rhona Johnstone was then invited to present at a subsequent MEPG webinar on the subject of online teaching platforms and spoke about our use of Vscene to deliver tuition during the lockdown.

Both these webinars can be viewed on the MEPG Facebook page

Poppy Scotland St Valery- Musicians from piping and brass took part in this national project to raise awareness of the St Valery commemoration, ‘The forgotten Dunkirk’.  Music service staff helped organise events at The Nicolson Institute, Drill Hall, Lewis War Memorial and Harris War memorial.

Army Cadet Video -Pipers, string and wind players took part in a national army cadet video.  Music staff helped prepare students by rehearsing their parts with them, these were then sent off and stitched into two videos.

St Valery Army cadet video can be viewed on the following link

St Valery Army Cadet Force video

          Army cadet video still                                                   Eccleshall video still

Armed forces week –  Two students, a piper and trumpeter, took part in two flag ceremonies in Perceval square as part of armed forces week.

Virtual Competitions – Several staff entered pupils in online competitions and pupils have gained much from these.  Piping staff have been heavily involved in the setting up of the brand-new Lewis & Harris Piping Society virtual competition for youth pipers which was also mention in a previous blog post.

We thank all our staff, pupils and parents for encouraging our young musicians to keep themselves occupied with their music, not only entertaining themselves but also their family and friends during lockdown. Here are a couple of final comments from our recent survey.

“These lessons were a lifeline to my child. Some days it was the only reason they got up and dressed”

“It literally was the glue that held my child together. Music is very important to my child’s mental health, it is how they calm themself when anxious or stressed, a creative outlet to express their positive and negative emotions. I cannot thank the music staff enough for their professionalism, dedication and kindness “