Who knew cutlery could be so entertaining? We had lots of fun with Jo May who taught us to play the spoons! Jo trained and worked as an orchestral percussionist before a trip to the Sidmouth Folk Festival got her interested in that genre and she became a freelancer, with spoons added to her repertoire!
She took us through all kinds of spoons: wooden, plastic, metal, joined together, straight sided or bent slightly. It was amazing to find that such a simple instrument can be easy or difficult to play depending on the chosen spoon! Having selected our spoons, Jo showed us how to hold them comfortably to get the right sound, and then took us through a number of different techniques including various ways to tap plus dramatic rolls down the fingers and thumb.
It can be quite tough on the fingers (and legs if you're over enthusiastic with your play!), so Jo made sure we shook out and flexed our fingers to relax them and built in several rests where she either explained the next technique, or showed some of the other percussion she plays.
Our finale was a grand performance of 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?' which pulled together everything we'd learned. Some of us even managed to sing along! As Roseanne said afterwards 'It was a whole new level of fabulous bonkers!'
Jo has a fabulous set of tutorials on her YouTube channel A chance for us to get some practise in for when we meet up in the park next month?
Elsewhere this month Our Town scrutinised the Art in the Park then the real thing in the museum, and the Walkie Talkies ventured to Sherston for one of the well-documented walks laid out on their parish website. The Happy Hookers tried waffle stitch - which is well suited to its name, and the Book Club reviewed 'Just My Luck' by Adele Parks. Flexi-club enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see 'Dream Horse', a heart warming true story.
Finally, a huge box of bras was sent off to Against Breast Cancer to help with the good work they do.