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 and/or requests can be sent to notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com.

Timestamps:
0:00: Introduction to the episode

1:36: Weekly Catch up

6:44: Nostalgic memory on the emails

10:12: My nursery rhymes book collection

13:54: RING A RING O' ROSES

16:56: MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY

18:36: THREE BLIND MICE

20:24: BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP

23:28: HUMPTY DUMPTY

24:40: JACK AND JILL

26:46: ORANGES AND LEMONS

28:51: GOOSEY GOOSEY GANDER

32:48: ROCK-A-BYE BABY

33:50: LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN

31:10: Round up and goodbyes

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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 notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com.

Timestamps:
0:00: Introduction to the episode

1:38: Weekly Catch up

3:08: Glastonbury times and show news

6:36: Lord of the Rings messages and comments

11:55: Songs for anxious adults message

13:48: Q&A - Are Panda Pops “woke”?

16:13: Q&A - How is the book project going?

17:10: Q&A - Favourite tour venue?

18:17: Mega song request special

19:15: O Jesus I have promised

20:16: Water of Life

21:46: You Raise Me Up

23:05: BINGO

24:20: The Bell of Creation

25:05: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs

27:05: He Who Would Valiant Be

27:55: The School Rules Song

28:46: Football Crazy

29:59: Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

31:10: Round up and goodbyes

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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 voice to the songs of the Shire, Lothlórien, and beyond.

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.

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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: Obscure question on email

7:00: I Vow to Thee intro

11:30: How did this hymn come about?

12:35: Who wrote the words?

15:31: Poem reading plus extra verse!

18:08: History of lyricist Cecil Spring Rice

21:06: Link to Gustav Holst

25:10: Second tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams “Abinger”

29:00: The controversial patriotism of I Vow to Thee

35:30: Links between Holst and Parry

36:15: Rugby anthem and World in Union

38:30: I Vow to Thee, My Country SINGALONG

41:20: Teaser for next week’s episode

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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 musically. I really hope you enjoy this episode and I would love to know any memories of singing it plus any comments or thoughts about what I have to say!

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: Jerusalem poem reading

0:50: Catch up

4:10: Education and positive music news

7:20: Intro to Jerusalem

10:03: A vicar’s PM about Jerusalem

11:58: How did the hymn Jerusalem come about? William Blake, Robert Bridges and Hubert Parry

17:23: What makes the Jerusalem introduction so stirring?

22:02: Why Jerusalem is musically English

25:14: How the hymn became the anthem of the Women’s Institute

27:16: Becoming used by political movements

29:24: Is Jerusalem even a hymn?

33:16: Memories from social media

37:21: Jerusalem singalong

38:50: Final thoughts and wrap up

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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 😅 hope they bring back some happy memories, either way.

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: Introduction, emails and catch up!

05:19: If you’re happy (and you know it)

06:14: I’d like to teach the world to sing

07:17: I whistle a happy tune

08:24: Yellow submarine

09:04: Sing a rainbow

09:53: The super-supper march

11:08: My ship sailed from China

12:28: Daisy Bell

13:31: The bonny blue-eyed sailor

14:23: Li’l Liza Jane

14:49: Clementine

16:01: Sparrow Twitters

16:33: Little brown jug

17:02: I’m Henery the eighth

18:23: There’s a hole in my bucket

18:42: There was an old witch

19:05: Ten in a bed

19:13: Lily the pink

20:14: Bananas in pyjamas

20:49: The great meat pie

21:57: Michael Finnegan

22:13: The train is a-coming

22:44: Wheels keep turning

23:33: Morningtown ride

24:30: She’ll be coming round the mountain

25:17: The Wombling song

25:45: Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!

26:52: Battle song of the Zartians

27:20: The wind blow east

27:54: One potato, two potato

28:47: The guard song

29:23: The fireman

29:42: When Father papered the parlour

30:11: The animals went in two by two

30:38: Going to the zoo

31:06: The hippopotamus song

31:40: Tiger, Tiger, orange and black

32:12: Where, oh where has my little dog gone?

32:39: Daddy wouldn’t buy me a bow-wow

33:04: Five little frogs

33:24: Frog went a-courtin’

33:50: Down in Demerara

34:19: Ferdinando, the donkey

34:49: Apusski dusky

35:50: Gobbolino, the witch‘s cat

36:35: A windmill in old Amsterdam

37:45: Maggon, the bad-tempered dragon

38:22: Risha, rasha, rusha

38:50: Final thoughts and wrap up

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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/@MakeWeirdMusic

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: Introducing Anthony and the start of Make Weird Music

3:00: Eccentricity in British music and the school assembly in UK and US

9:55: Music in US schools and the universal language of the piano

23:20: The importance of improvisation vs exams

32:20: Can we get weirdness into the classroom?

37:10: Advice on starting out as a content creator

45:15: British vs American mindsets

54:00: Anthony’s best of British culture and the start of Primary School Bangers

01:05:50: Final thoughts and wrap up

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school

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 examples throughout our hour-long conversation. We discover his epic renditions of Shine Jesus Shine from his school days, how the Cockney singalong began and enjoying the heritage of British songs. Also, he reveals the one song that everyone around the world knows!

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: Introducing Tom Carradine

02:00: Tom’s route from biochemistry to Cockney singalong via Musical Theatre

10:00: Does Tom include Musical Theatre tunes in his singalong? Mary Poppins link to Cockney songs

12:35: Playing piano in assembly and Any Dream Will Do

16:15: Mr Fogg’s and international audience members

18:15: The one song that everyone knows around the world!

19:55: The Great American songbook vs Cockney tunes

23:40: Pearly Kings and Queens and domestic piano playing

27:00: Cockney humour and My Old Man Said Follow the Van

30:17: Tom’s singalongs and newer singalong classics

36:20: Why did Tom decide on the Cockney tradition as he’s NOT a Cockney!

38:07: Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay school songbook

39:50: I lift up my finger. Forgotten school assembly tune

41:38: Why Cockneys “have a banana”, rhyming slang and Wilton’s Music Hall

50:47: Celebrating St George’s Day and bringing a positive spin to the English song tradition

55:18: Is singing national songs appropriate? Jerusalem and sea shanties

01:00:00: Changing the show for children and the benefits of a singalong

01:07:30: Tom’s favourite school assembly tune

Streets of London singalong

01:10:20: Streets of London singalong

01:12:20: Final thoughts and wrap up

Find Tom Carradine online: https://www.tomcarradine.com/

Send us a text

~~~

I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/

~~~

Follow me on socials at:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBPartridgeOfficial/

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge

YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge

Send me a message: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com

~~~

Find the podcast on all streaming services and leave a review if you've enjoyed it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ta8ch0BjnuV6GDgGv7BN2?si=5270e69bbb9a431e

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-school/id1790674992

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/054bf11f-a134-42c7-9114-f1398cc3fbe8/notes-from-school