Dear String Players,
I am looking forward very much to welcoming you to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in September.
Situated in the vibrant and culturally rich capital city of Cardiff, RWCMD offers a supportive and friendly environment in which you can explore, experiment and develop your full artistic potential. You will work with inspirational professors, performing in a variety of contexts, locations and styles, and experiencing many new and challenging opportunities that will feed your development as collaborative and employable musicians.
The start of the new term is busy but fun, and it’s then that you will find out about your classes in more detail. You will take part in collaborative freshers’ events so that you can get to know your new colleagues socially and musically, you will be put into chamber ensembles, and you will start to get to know the many staff who will be here to help you develop and get the most out of your time here. You will also enjoy a programme of social events through the Students’ Union and, as with many thousands of students before you, start to feel part of the RWCMD family. This busy time will really throw you in at the deep end, but you will quickly make new connections and will be closely supported along the way.
This is not an easy course, and you will be learning new and often complex skills, as well as developing your self-reliance and your resilience. But, rest assured, as you develop your technical control and pursue your imagination and musical ideas, our staff will work with you to create a safe, supportive space in which to work and experiment.
Any preparation you can do in advance of your arrival will give you a good head start in your studies. The following is not an exhaustive list but gives some solid recommendations for things you can do to prepare for your course:
- Dip into as many music magazines as you can get access to: things such as The Strad, BBC Music Magazine etc.
- If you have access to a library, have a look for important reference books that will inform you about matters of style, musical periods, historically-informed issues etc. Books like the Cambridge Guides, and Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians are particularly useful here.
- Most of us head to the internet as our first port of call to find things out but remember that it is often hard to assess the reliability of articles (there is some very questionable information out there!). Read things by established authors and try looking for things via Google Scholar rather than the standard Google, since this will show you generally more reliable specialist articles. Make sure that you retain a critical and questioning outlook and if you are confused then feel free to email me to ask – simon.jones@rwcmd.ac.uk
- Practice thoughtfully and try your best to fill in any gaps in your experience or knowledge before you arrive. For example, scales are essential so if you are less than fluent then this is certainly something to work on. Listen carefully to your tuning and your sound, play slowly and don’t rush it. Steady and regular practice is the way forward.
- Discuss with me who your teacher will be next year, then try to get some lessons with them in advance of the new term. This can help you feel more confident when you arrive.
- Listen to music!! Please listen as much as you can to all kinds of different music. Live concerts are, of course, the ideal but the radio and streaming services allow you to listen to almost anything at any time that you choose. Listen discerningly – so choose your recordings and artists carefully and know who you are listening to and why.
The more you can get into the habit of independent work and research, the more you are likely to get out of your time here.
If anyone wants to ask anything then you can email me on simon.jones@rwcmd.ac.uk
I look forward to meeting you all properly soon.
Best wishes
Dr Simon Jones
Head of String Performance | Pennaeth Perfformio Llinynnau