As I approach the Music School At The Normandie, it's that time of day which in some countries would be Siesta Time. John Arnold is hoarse from teaching three daily courses in Contemporary Keyboard at the school's mid-year workshops, over the past week, but he soldiers on with the five participants attending the 1.30 p.m. workshop, having already completed one at 9 a.m. and the 5.30 p.m. still to come.
And as the course enters the second of three weeks tomorrow, Monday, Arnold still has room for those who play already and want a better understanding, like in a band, church, choir or steelpan; those who play an instrument but do not understand harmony and how notes are put together, such as, singers, choral conductors, arrangers of pan sides; or those who just want to make music and enjoy themselves at home.
This is the second year at the Normandie School, which re-opens on September 10, for this man of music who as a graduate of the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management has taught Business at Signal Hill Secondary Comprehensive in Tobago since 1981. The place of his birth and the place he has no intention of leaving to live anywhere else, although he has travelled widely as a musician and did live in Trinidad for two years while completing his A levels at the Polytechnic after leaving Bishop's High School in Tobago.
As we chat, a cacophony of sounds emits from the keyboardists who are learning how to build modern chords and how to accompany in the various styles of reggae, jazz or ballad. "In terms of what we are doing here it is not simply just a case of playing by ear or purely off the cuff in terms of what they hear. We have a structured way of learning to play a keyboard by understanding what you are doing even though you play by ear. They must learn rudiments so that their understanding of the music is a little more holistic. And by the end of the course 90% will have finished playing the keyboard and must play a piece on their own, a composition of their own and accompany a singer."
Arnold, whose formal music training amounts to piano lessons up to Classical Grade VI with Uris Elliott, Gwyneth Armstrong and Enola Arnold, continuing with the late Professor Newman Alexander "a giant musician who was very responsible for the latter part of my training in terms of understanding harmony and accompaniment and through him I have had books so I have taught myself basically apart from all the first lessons" , has also done four months at Berklee College of Music - "a summer thing for people who are already musicians and who work in a certain way as a musician, a simple summer workshop programme for people who play."
And although the current workshop is also run in Tobago at Easter over a two week period, Arnold gives no individual keyboard lessons "I do not have time. Signal Hill Alumni Choir takes all my time, we have just come back from performing at the Llangollen Eisteddfod in Wales where we placed second out of 47 countries in the Folk Song Category to a Ukrainian choir. We performed "Come leh we go fish in the sea" and "Jumbie In The Road."
The choir's Founder/Director is still on a high: "It was a learning experience and was really, really nice, we had a good reception especially from the media. Even beyond the competition the kind of camaraderie between nations, impromptu singing with the South Africans, playing folk drums with the Turks and Sardinians, dancing with the people of South Korea. A whole melting pot that made people appreciate the diversity in everybody's culture. You realised that what you did you did it well but everybody in their own world do it well also. And that is where the respect comes as you want people to listen to what you are doing because you think you are good but you have to listen to them even when you think it is sounding weird."
"We were the only totally black group as the people from Zambia and Nigeria did not get their visas in time to come. And South Africa was mixed with black and white. As well we were the only country from this side of the world out of 47 countries. So we wore many hats for ten days. We must not forget the Tobago Academy of the Performing Arts with whom we collaborated in Wales, they beat 13 other countries to become world champions in the Folk Dance category under Annette Alfred, Cultural Officer II with the THA. I thought it was exceptional for a first time to make a mark with all kinds of awesome, awesome choirs at the biggest venue I have seen."
Taking a choir and musicians to Wales was costly but Arnold appreciates the support from the Tobago House of Assembly, Central Government, Unit Trust, National Gas, TIDCO, T&TEC, and reduced fares from BWIA.
Arnold does everything except sing as he had vocal chord surgery some years ago, accompanies along with two others and arranges, "there is no conducting as we move and sing and that is how Signal Hill does it, the adjudicator in Wales spoke about it and found it amazing how they move and this does not affect their singing." On his return to Tobago next month, it is straight to work on Signal Hill's new Christmas CD "Celebrate Christmas" featuring Los Alumnos de San Juan which was produced but not released last year "too much elections, the media were only dealing with elections" ; and two concerts in Trinidad at the end of October .