Rod Stradling
St Audries Folk Music Week
Sadly, both the 2020 and 2021 St Audries Folk Music Weeks have been cancelled but we are going to get together in 2022. The next St Audries Folk Music Week, led once again by Rod Stradling, Poppy Weatherall and Helen Schofield starts on Saturday, 3 September 2022. The music will feature familiar tunes, some less familiar folk and Playford-style music (dance tunes from the 17th Century to the present day) and some tunes you may not have played previously. Poppy, Helen and I are looking forward to meeting you there.
We will have a programme of workshops during the day and then various activities in the evenings. More about the type and level of the music. Most evenings include some dancing so that you can see how the music and dance work together. Workshop participants' friends and family attending the week are welcome to join in with the evening social activities. The week starts with a wine reception at about 4.30pm on Saturday and continues until breakfast on the following Saturday morning.
The picture shows some of the 2019 group. You can click on the picture to open a high resolution version of the photograph in your browser window. You can then save it to your own computer. Photograph kindly provided by Pam and Vic Courtice.
The music will be available for download from my main site in good time for you to look it over before the week. Don't forget to let me know if you have booked for the week and also let me know if you would like me to send you a copy of the music pad when you pay your tuition fee. Tuition Fee Payment Options >>
The CDs we recorded in 2007 and 2008 are available for purchase but we will not be doing any recording this time.
Click to Bookmark this Page and then return frequently to keep up to date with the news.
Please contact St Audries Bay about accommodation details for the week.
Tuition Fee Payment Options >>
Please let me know that you have booked or get in contact if you have any questions. If you would like to contact me, please call 01543 257419 or email me from my Home Page.
Rod Stradling (left) has been playing the accordion and concertina for over 40 years. He has played in and led various bands over the years and his current band is Stradivarious. Rod also performs at festivals and other events and teaches at workshops and one-to-one. He is a member of Anker Morris and an English and Scottish Country dancer.
Poppy Weatherall (right), a member of Stradivarious for many years and a graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire but from solid folk roots, plays a wide range of musical styles from classical to ceilidh. In addition to playing her violin she will be singing and, no doubt, participating in as much dancing as she can. More about Poppy >>
Helen Schofield (left) started playing folk music long before she gained her music degree from Manchester University and has been an occasional member of Stradivarious for many years. Helen will be available to inspire the woodwinds but also to help with harmony (and anything else musical that you want to ask her about).
You can pay the tuition fee by;
Bank Transfer using the "Faster Payment" option
Please select an option.
Please contact St Audries Bay about accommodation options and costs.
The music can be downloaded from this web site (as a PDF file) for free for you to print at home but I can provide a printed and bound version of the music by post if you require it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment by Cheque
The tuition fee is £95 per person and is payable directly to me before the start of the week. Please make the cheque out to R. Stradling and send it to me at 12, Broadlands Rise, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS14 9SF. Please include your address and telephone number.
If you cannot download the music and would like me to print and send you a book, please add £9 for a total of £104.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment by Bank Transfer using the "Faster Payment" option
Please contact me by email (from my Home Page) and I will send you my bank details if you wish to make a bank transfer. The Tuition Fee is £95. If you cannot download the music and would like me to print and send you a book, please add £9 for a total of £104. Please let me know your address and telephone number.
More
Please let me know that you have booked or get in contact if you have any questions. If you would like to contact me, please call 01543 257419 or email me from my Home Page.
The music will be available for download (as a PDF file) from my main site (together with various other useful files) in good time for you to print and play through before the week begins. Don't forget to let me know if you have booked for the week and also let me know if you would like me to send you a printed copy of the music pad when you pay your tuition fee. Tuition Fee Payment Options >>
The pad will be over 50 A4 pages so broadband is necessary for the download. I will write the music in Sibelius and make the files available if you have this software. Note that earlier versions of Sibelius will probably not be able to open these files. I will also make some of the tunes available in MIDI format in case you want to hear the music or wish to open them in your own music writing software. You may want to do this if you want to use a transposing instrument. The pad can also be displayed on a tablet and is hyperlinked for quick access to pages from the index.
Is the week right for me?
To get the best from the week you need to be able to read music. You should have plenty of time to go through it before you arrive but we start with suggestions and hints on how everyone can contribute to the music even if some of the tunes are too fast for your fingers to master. We focus on English folk dance music but we also look at Scottish, music from other parts of the UK and International dance music. The aim is to get the music up to dance speed and then we dance to the music in the evenings. Usually we also include some arrangements of classical music for variety. You never have to play alone (unless you want to) and there are often groups who get together to play their favourite music as the week goes by. The music is written in many different keys - as suits the tune - so perhaps a single diatonic instrumentalist would find that some pieces of music would be outside the range of their instrument. As the week progresses we often have workshops for smaller groups that may focus on a particular instrument or style of music. If you have any questions, please get in touch.