Play It Again is a documentary television series on BBC One, featuring celebrities trying to learn to play musical instruments. The series is produced Diverse Production and started on 25 March 2007 and is narrated by Tamsin Greig.
Jo progresses in a series of steps starting with playing a piece for a church service, then she plays the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ the magnificent Blackpool Tower Ballroom, guided by resident organist, Phil Kelsall ("From Russia with Love") where she does not perform well, She also accompanies the "Ave Maria" for a wedding service before her ultimate challenge, which was to play Bach's "Toccata" in D minor in front of 8,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall. After a faltering start she managed to finish the piece with no further mistakes. Jo was given a tutor for regular lessons and also met up with Jools Holland for some tips on the Hammond organ. She began by thinking that she could practise in between all of her other commitments, but soon found that she had to devote much more time to rehearsing than she had expected.
Frank began with tutor, Pete Stanley, he learned enough to play along with a Birmingham-based banjo group and to entertain some brummie pensioners although more with his wit than playing skills. He also took his banjo to the World Cup in Germany where he used it for one of his podcasts and also busked in Munich. Frank also joined Hayseed Dixie on stage at one of their gigs and played "Dueling Banjos" with them with modest success. He could not get along with his tutor and stopped seeing him before his final challenge, which was to enter a bluegrass competition in America. He met John Dowling, a previous winner of that competition, who took over teaching him. His entry was marred by nerves and he performed below expectations at the vital moment.
Aled began with tutor Erik Stams an American drum teacher at Drumtech college in West London. Aled played Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz as his exam piece before his first really hard test. Erik is a big fan of Led Zeppelin and so a Led Zeppelin tribute band was sought to provide Aled with his next challenge. Aled met up with Led Zep Too and got a masterclass in John Bonham style drumming from their drummer. He undertook to learn "Rock and Roll" and "Whole Lotta Love" however the latter was soon dropped as it was too hard. After only two proper rehearsals with the band he was introduced to a rowdy but appreciative audience in a music pub in Camden. He played slowly but well and the audience were won over by the fact that he could play at all. He was then being lined up to play with a major rock act for his final test but instead, after missing several lessons, he himself arranged to play with Chris de Burgh. Although this finale was in front of fifteen thousand people it was much less physically or technically demanding than his earlier performance and he managed to pull it off to everyone's satisfaction.
Oddie attempts to realise his dream of becoming a rock guitarist. Initially teacher Bridget Mermikides tries to teach him using traditional methods but he rebels: instead he turns to old friends Albert Lee, Dave Davies and Mark Knopfler for advice and strikes out on his own. He succeeds in the target of playing lead guitar for his daughter Rosie's band at her 21st birthday party, and even manages to impress his erstwhile teacher.
Events
Play It Again is also trying to get people interested in playing music. The BBC have organised several free events, between 21 April and 15 July 2007 around the UK. These events, directed by British composer Tim Steiner are open to any one and offer participants the chance to perform with one of the BBC orchestras and BBC Singers.
Members of the public can sign-up to play an instrument or, if not playing, to sing or to play a percussion instrument.
Each event lasts for a morning or afternoon and is based on an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, specifically the number "Tonight", which is appropriately titled "Not Tonight". The musical score for 'Not Tonight' is split into 4 lines for each instrument part. These range in difficulty from 1 - easiest to 4 - hardest. The arrangement is deliberately aimed at being inclusive to accommodate a wide range of musical expertise from complete beginner so all of the public can take part. Each of the musical parts has a least one BBC Friend from the orchestra to help and guide their guests from the public.
In the first part of the event the public performers are treated to a mini-concert performance by the BBC Orchestra and Tim Steiner then uses the orchestra to illustrate the musical themes and the roles played by sections of the orchestra. At the end of the first section the public are split into their specific groups based on instrument, these being instrumental; saxophone; singer; percussion; others (generally guitar-like including electric, acoustic, classical but also anything of a similar family such as banjo or mandela[check spelling]).
In the second part of the event the individual sections are rehearsed separately. Those classified as "instrumental" rehearse with the BBC Orchestra. Lines 1 to 4 are rehearsed together with some improvisation at times. All of it is done with much humour on the part of Tim Steiner and everyone involved.
There is then a break for refreshments at which everyone gets the chance to compare notes with other members of the public and to find out about the instruments being brought in and the varying musical experience of others.
In the final part all the individually rehearsed sections of the super orchestra (which might be almost 300-strong with the 70-strong BBC orchestra) are brought together and rehearsed as a group. This culminates in a short public performance of the "Not Tonight" number.
The format of the individual parts of an event can be heard in the HUMS Aloud podcast under External Links.
Book
A book accompanying the series was released on 7 March 2007, by Chris Horrie.
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestration in that the latter process is limited to the assignment of notes to instruments for performance by an orchestra, concert band, or other musical ensemble. Arranging "involves adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or modulations, and endings. Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety". In jazz, a memorized (unwritten) arrangement of a new or pre-existing composition is known as a head arrangement.
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by African Americans in the United States. The banjo is frequently associated with folk, bluegrass and country music, and has also been used in some rock, pop and hip-hop. Several rock bands, such as the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead, have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in Black American traditional music and the folk culture of rural whites before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Along with the fiddle, the banjo is a mainstay of American styles of music, such as bluegrass and old-time music. It is also very frequently used in Dixieland jazz, as well as in Caribbean genres like biguine, calypso and mento.
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Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, when his music had already gone out of fashion with the concert-going public. In contrast with Elgar's earlier Violin Concerto, which is lyrical and passionate, the Cello Concerto is for the most part contemplative and elegiac.
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. A drone may also be any part of a musical instrument used to produce this effect; an archaic term for this is burden such as a "drone [pipe] of a bagpipe", the pedal point in an organ, or the lowest course of a lute. Α burden is also part of a song that is repeated at the end of each stanza, such as the chorus or refrain.
A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in musicals, operas, ballets, and other shows involving music. The terms was also used for orchestras accompanying silent movies when more than a piano was used. In performances of operas and ballets, the pit orchestra is typically similar in size to a symphony orchestra, though it may contain smaller string and brass sections, depending upon the piece. Such orchestras may vary in size from approximately 30 musicians to as many as 90–100 musicians. However, because of financial, spatial, and volume concerns, current musical theatre pit orchestras are considerably smaller.
"White Summer" is a guitar instrumental by English rock guitarist Jimmy Page, that incorporates Indian and Arabic musical influences. Page initially recorded and performed it with the Yardbirds and later included it in many Led Zeppelin concerts.
A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure that all details of the subsequent performance are adequately prepared and coordinated. The term rehearsal typically refers to ensemble activities undertaken by a group of people. For example, when a musician is preparing a piano concerto in their music studio, this is called practising, but when they practice it with an orchestra, this is called a rehearsal. The music rehearsal takes place in a music rehearsal space.
Long-Haired Hare is a 1949 American animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. It was produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures as part of the Looney Tunes series, and was the 60th short to feature Bugs Bunny. In addition to including the homophones "hair" and "hare", the title is also a pun on "longhairs", a characterization of classical music lovers. Nicolai Shutorov provides the singing voice of Giovanni Jones.
The Orchestral Tubular Bells is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells, arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts from the album were featured in the 1979 NASA film, The Space Movie. It peaked at #17 on the UK Albums Chart in 1975.
Escala is an electronic string quartet, from London, England who rose to fame when they performed on and reached the final of the second series of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1 in May 2008.
The YouTube Symphony Orchestra(YTSO) is an orchestra assembled by open auditions hosted by YouTube, the London Symphony Orchestra and several other worldwide partners. Launched on December 1, 2008, it is the first-ever online collaborative orchestra.
"The Intro and The Outro" is a recording by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It appears on their debut album, Gorilla (1967). It is not so much a song as a comic monologue in which the speaker introduces the musicians who ostensibly appear on the recording. The recording fades out before the emcee completes the introductions and without the "orchestra" being able to play anything more than a vamp. The piece was written by Bonzo member Vivian Stanshall, who also provides the vocal. Stanshall first introduces the seven members of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who are credited with their actual instruments, over a vamp that resembles Duke Ellington’s "C Jam Blues".
The Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in Beijing, China, which is composed of eleven classically trained musicians, who interpret elements of Chinese folk music. The intention of the group is to express the changes taking place in contemporary Chinese culture, through the sounds of ancient instruments. It has participated in important national and international music events held in Brisbane, Canberra, Wellington, Christchurch.
Public Service Broadcasting is a London-based musical group consisting of four musicians known mainly by their stage names: J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samplings and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic musical instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and assorted other instruments including a vibraslap; and Mr B on visuals and set design for live performances. The band has toured internationally and in 2015 was announced as a nominee in the Vanguard breakthrough category of the fourth annual Progressive Music Awards, staged by Prog magazine, which they won.
Tim Weed is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter known for virtuosity on the banjo. Raised a Southern California surfer, Weed learned the banjo at age 17 and played professionally at 18. He was in various bands and he worked as a studio musician singing and playing electric guitar in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He lived in Japan for a time producing records for Sony-Epic, and he lived on the island of Maui where he rediscovered the banjo. Weed settled in Tucson, Arizona, for eight years, playing in local bands. Working with luthier Dennis Coon he designed and built a seven-string hybrid of banjo and guitar called the "Sevan". He released a solo banjo album: Milagros; in mid-2005 the music was featured on NPR. In 2008 Weed moved to Northern California where he released an album of Americana, world music and bluegrass songs: Soul House. In 2020 he released a classical album, Light and Dark, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Weed plays concerts and festivals, and he teaches banjo privately.
Our Hunting Fathers, Op. 8, is an orchestral song-cycle by Benjamin Britten, first performed in 1936. Its text, assembled and partly written by W. H. Auden, with a pacifist slant, puzzled audiences at the premiere, and the work has never achieved the popularity of the composer's later orchestral song-cycles, Les Illuminations, the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and the Nocturne.
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Another common formation is a vocalist who does not play an instrument, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer. Instrumentally, these bands can be considered as trios. Sometimes, in addition to electric guitars, electric bass, and drums, also a keyboardist plays.
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