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Notes from School

James B Partridge

27 episodes

2 months ago

The school term has ended and in fitting fashion, this will be the final episode of this season of Notes from School. I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined by two members of the legendary vocal group The King’s Singers. I have loved listening to this group since I was a teenager and it's honestly fascinating to hear all about life in the group. I speak to Chris Bruerton and Jules Gregory all about their journeys into the group all the way through to how important singing is for physical and me...

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Music Commentary

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The school term has ended and in fitting fashion, this will be the final episode of this season of Notes from School. I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined by two members of the legendary vocal group The King’s Singers. I have loved listening to this group since I was a teenager and it's honestly fascinating to hear all about life in the group. I speak to Chris Bruerton and Jules Gregory all about their journeys into the group all the way through to how important singing is for physical and me...

Show more...

Music Commentary

Episodes (20/27)

Notes from School

Ep 26: The Endless Harmony of The King's Singers with Chris Bruerton and Julian Gregory

The school term has ended and in fitting fashion, this will be the final episode of this season of Notes from School. I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined by two members of the legendary vocal group The King’s Singers. I have loved listening to this group since I was a teenager and it's honestly fascinating to hear all about life in the group. I speak to Chris Bruerton and Jules Gregory all about their journeys into the group all the way through to how important singing is for physical and me...

3 months ago

1 hour 4 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 25: Help Me! I’m a Teacher at the End of Term with Mr Firth

Fingers on lips! The digital school assembly of Notes from School this week invites in the internet’s favourite Year 2 teacher and creator of the podcast Help Me! I’m a Teacher!: the brilliant Mr Firth. On a very hot school night, I gave Mr Firth a Zoom call which hopefully didn’t trigger too many traumatic memories from the dark days of the online teaching during lockdown. During our nearly hour-long chat we talk about surviving the end of term with humour intact, juggling classroom ch...

3 months ago

53 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 24: Redefining the Recorder with Sarah Jeffery (Team Recorder)

In this episode of Notes from School, I meet the fantastic Sarah Jeffery. She is a professional recorder player, professor at Royal College of Music and the creator behind the wildly popular YouTube channel Team Recorder. From when I started this podcast, I really wanted to do an episode about the iconic primary school instrument and how it does in fact have a fascinating life beyond those early school days! During our chat we discuss: 👉 How Sarah is changing the way the world sees (and...

3 months ago

46 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 23: Post-Glasto catch-up with Dan Partridge

After a week’s recovery, Notes from School is back with the return of Dan Partridge to catch up on the madness of the Glastonbury experience! If you’re missing the festival then hopefully you’ll enjoy this catch-up. If you’re sick of hearing about it then this will be the last you hear me chat about it 🤣 If you have enjoyed the episode please feel free to leave a comment or review. All questions and/or requests can be sent to notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Instagram: ...

4 months ago

37 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 22: Glastonbury hype and chat with Dan Partridge

This week I have invited my brother, and musical theatre star, Dan Partridge onto the Notes from School podcast. We chat about everything Glastonbury Festival, from our favourite acts and areas to the experience of performing there in 2024. I try not to make Dan to sad as he is on tour this summer and can’t make the festival… Apologies also for the lack of episode last week. I recorded a whole special episode tribute to Brian Wilson passing and the Beach Boys but I dropped my hard drive and l...

4 months ago

40 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 21: The Disturbing History of Nursery Rhymes

What do "Ring a Ring o’ Roses" and "Three Blind Mice" have in common? They're MUCH darker than you remember. In this episode of Notes from School, I take a look at the surprising (and occasionally horrifying) history behind classic nursery rhymes. Expect plague, beheadings, and wool-based tax policy, the perfect themes to get kids singing! If you have enjoyed the episode please feel free to leave a comment or review. Timestamps below if you want to skip to any bit in particular. All questions...

5 months ago

40 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 20: Mega Song Request and Q&A special!

We’ve hit the 20th episode milestone! To celebrate, this week is a bumper crop of song requests, as well as a short Q&A section. If you have any song requests for future episodes or suggestions for topics to cover then feel free to comment or write in. Hope you enjoy the songs today! If you have enjoyed the episode please feel free to leave a comment or review. Timestamps below if you want to skip to any bit in particular. All questions and/or requests can be sent to notesfromschoolpodcas...

5 months ago

32 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 19: Tolkien’s Forgotten Song Cycle, “The Road Goes Ever On”.

What do Hobbits hum and Elves sing? Join me for this week’s assembly as Tolkien’s poetry meets Donald Swann’s piano in a musical walk through Middle-Earth. In this week’s episode of Notes from School, I explore “The Road Goes Ever On”, the enchanting song cycle that sets Tolkien’s poetry to music. Forget the classic LOTR soundtrack briefly and discover how Tolkien would have actually HEARD these songs. I’ll sing you some of each tune from the song cycle and you’ll hear how Donald Swann gave v...

5 months ago

37 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 18: I Vow to Thee, My Country

Following on from last week’s episode, today’s assembly is focussed on the classic tune: I Vow to Thee, My Country. I’ll be exploring the history and tension behind one of Britain’s most emotional hymns. If you have enjoyed the episode please feel free to leave a comment or review. Timestamps below if you want to skip to any bit in particular. All questions and/or requests can be sent to notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com. Timestamps: 0:00: Intro to the topics today 2:20: Catch up 5:19: ...

5 months ago

44 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 17: Jerusalem, England’s Most Iconic but Controversial Hymn

Jerusalem. It has been one of the most recognisable and iconic English tunes of the past 100 years. But is it as universally loved as we remember and can it even be called a hymn? How has a story about Jesus taking a road trip to Glastonbury led to a First World War patriotic anthem, through the lens of a Georgian revolutionary poet. In this week’s assembly, I do a deep dive into Jerusalem, talking about its history, the association with the WI and even how it can signify the English musicall...

5 months ago

40 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 16: Playing through the entire Apusskidu songbook!

After a few weeks of some great interviews, I thought I would take it back to the assembly hall with a mega episode of singalongs. This week I go through the entire Apusskidu songbook from 1975 which is packed full of tunes for children to sing at school. Some of these are very famous, some are obscure folk melodies, we have some nursery classics, plenty of animal tunes and even a song about aliens. Hope you enjoy the play through, I am sight-reading some of them so apologies for any mistakes...

6 months ago

39 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 15: UK meets USA. Make Weird Music with Anthony Garone

Over the past couple of weeks in April I’ve been in the States on holiday. Clearly, I’m not very good at fully relaxing so I teamed up with Anthony Garone from the YouTube channel Make Weird Music for a great conversation. We discuss topics such as being a content creator on YouTube, music education in the States vs the UK, creative mindsets, confidence and even some of the best British exports to the US. You can find Anthony’s channel here and all it’s weird goodness: https://www.youtube.com...

6 months ago

1 hour 6 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 14: The Great British songbook with Tom Carradine

To celebrate St. George’s Day today, I have Tom Carradine in the assembly hall. He is the mastermind behind the Cockney singalong and has a deep and immersive knowledge of British song from the Victorian music hall to war-time tunes and even obscure classics from the school assembly songbooks. He also is the best dressed and moustachioed musician in the UK. Feel free to check it out on YouTube too. During this epic chat, I hand over the piano keys to Tom so he can dip in and out of musical ex...

6 months ago

1 hour 15 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 13: Football, choirs and Bantam of the Opera with James Sills

This week we invite James Sills into the assembly hall for a great conversation. We chat about the links between football and singing which have combined in his awesome new project called Bantam of the Opera for BBC Sounds. This is a project bringing together Bradford City fans for the year of the city of culture in Bradford. James, Lesley Garett and Chris Kamara are linking up to get the football fans singing! James talks also about the work he did online with Sofa singers plus his journey i...

6 months ago

59 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 12: My Top 10 Easter Bangers!

It’s the Easter holidays! Or it nearly is, depending on what school you’re at. That means it is time to decide on the best ever Easter singalongs, whether we look at some traditional classic hymns or some newer school assembly tunes. Thanks to those that voted for their favourites and let me know if your choice was left off the list! Either way, most of these songs will be stuck in your head. Before we get to the Easter singalongs, there are some great questions and emails which even in...

7 months ago

34 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 11: Why live music for children is so important with Polly Ives

Why is it so important to introduce children to music from an early age? This week I had a slightly different performing experience to usual as my Sunday morning was spent doing my show with a twist: the audience were mostly under the age of 5! Afterwards I had a great chat and interview with Polly Ives who runs Concerteenies which provides live music experiences for parents and young children. In the chat we touch on the importance of early years music experiences and also the future of musi...

7 months ago

32 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 10: The genius of the Toys R Us advert theme

The questions were thrown open this week on my socials. I had some great obscure song requests come in alongside a prompt to explore the best British advert jingles. I even get some AI opinions on this before I do a deeply educational analysis of the iconic Toys R Us theme which is an “an all-out banger” according the YouTube comments. I had to figure out WHY it is so good! Let me know what your favourite advert jingle was, growing up! If you have enjoyed the episode please feel free to...

7 months ago

45 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 09: Graham Kendrick on Shine Jesus Shine and the legacy of his songwriting

It was an absolute delight to spend nearly an hour talking to Graham Kendrick about his songwriting craft, the connection of worship music and of course the ultimate school assembly banger: Shine Jesus Shine! In the timestamps below you can see the topics we discuss and make sure you listen ALL the way to the end as there is a special one-off performance of Shine Jesus Shine live at the Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall on 16th March. I’d love to know your thoughts on the conversation and let me ...

7 months ago

56 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 08: Ask an opera singer anything! Q&A with Welsh soprano Eleri Gwilym

Can you really smash glass with singing?! How do you even find out you can sing opera? Find out the stories behind becoming an opera singer, the state of singing in Wales and much more with today’s chat with Eleri Gwilym. She is currently playing Queen of the Night in the Magic Flute by Mozart and has some fascinating insights into the life of being an opera singer. Thanks for the submitted questions, I hope this podcast clears up some preconceptions about opera and opera singers! Also, wait ...

8 months ago

37 minutes

Notes from School

Ep 07: All Things Bright and Beautiful

Cecil Frances Alexander cracked out some absolute belters in her time. Today’s episode dives into one of her most iconic hymns. It’s one that we all know and love: All Things Bright and Beautiful. I look at all the different versions of the melody, explore the lyrics and even have a cameo Radio 1 message about her by Greg James. Which version of the hymn tune is your favourite? If you have any song requests for future episodes, please do send me a comment, email or message! Timestamps b...

8 months ago

28 minutes