School Show

The Wheat in the Barley's wide array of string, wind and percussion instruments have made them a favourite at school concerts around BC. Their tightly arranged instrumentals, sparkling with improvisations, have a compelling rhythm for clapping along, while the songs recall the lives of ordinary working people and migrants to Canada from many points of the globe.

Please read the concert overview provided below from just a few of the schools at which we have performed. The Wheat in the Barley will take your school on a whirlwind trip around the world to lands from which the early pioneers journeyed to Canada in centuries gone by. Experience the music of Ireland, Scotland, France, Russia, the Ukraine, North and South America, and the Middle East---music that has already thrived for centuries longer than the pop music of today.

Students will experience music that their grandparents (and their grandparents) made with their own hands holding their own hand-made instruments, passing their music down to their descendents as their most precious cultural heritage.

The Wheat in the Barley journeys with you from country to country, while swapping instruments along the way, jamming with ancient melodies, and telling stories of immigrants, instruments, music makers, working folks and wandering minstrels from long ago in many lands. Come, join in the adventure!

As soon as the group has been introduced, we launch into Campbell's Farewell to Red Gap, a boisterous Celtic tune of Scottish origin. The students can hear the instruments individually here as they enter, one by one. This tune sets the mood of the concert with its haunting thematic introduction building to a rousing finish. We like to play music from many parts of the world, especially music of the Celtic and Slavic types, which are presented in the next two tunes.

Campbell's Farewell Acres of Clams is a pioneer song from the state of Washington that's actually based on an old Irish folk tune called Rosin the Bow. Steve's version tells the tale of one of BC's early pioneers. An electrifying feature of the live version (not on the CD) is a rollicking fiddle jam also featuring Mark on country blues harmonica and Mickey's hot guitar-picking.

Next up -- a lively Ukrainian circle dance called Arkan that is a great tune for clap-along participation. While introducing the tune, Steve and Nicole show students the violin, bouzouki and mandolin and explain their similarities and differences. As the tune's intensity builds, Steve (Mr Bouzouki) demonstrates some acrobatic Ukrainian high-kick dancing!

Now we head down to South America, with La Partida, a haunting multi-rhythmic tune in 3/4 time from high in the Andes Mountains of South America played on the quena, a simple end-blown wooden flute handmade in Andean countries like Bolivia, similar in design to the Japanese shakuhachi flute. Mark introduces the tune with a show and tell about all the wind instruments laid out beside him, including the silver concert flute (built in the key of C) and its larger cousin the alto flute (in G), pennywhistles in nearly every key, zamponia and panpipes, the recorder and fife, and even an ocarina.

Before we leap into a rollicking version of a traditional Quebec fiddle tune, The Growling Old Man and the Growling Old Woman , or "Growlies" for short, Mickey and Ed talk about and demonstrate the guitar and bass, and the African djembe and Arabic dumbek drums. After a funky introduction on the djembe, flute and accordion, Nicole rips into the traditional melody, in which voices of the "old man" and "old woman" can be heard arguing in the two parts of the melody. Then the different lead instruments - flute, violin, accordion, saxophone and harmonica - all take solos and jam together, which we use to show how traditional music can be adapted into new forms to make it exciting all over again.

Paddy Works on the Railway is an example of an "epic ballad" - a song that tells a long and often tragic story in a number of verses. We introduce it with a brief historical comment about the construction of the transcontinental railways, and that in the 1800's, many people spent a large part of of their lives building them. The audience is also encouraged to join with the whole group in singing the whimsical Irish chorus, "Filly-me-oori-oori-ay (3x), To work upon the railway." (What does it all mean? Singing together can be lots of fun!)

Following this song, we launch into I's the B'y, a rollicking tune that proves the "Newfoundland is the Home of the Blues" — at least in Canada! Mark on harmonica and Steve on guitar lead off with a honkin' blues boogie riff with Mickey and Ed driving the rhythm like a runaway one-lunger fishing boat headed for the rocks! Strap on your lifejacket and hang on -- it'll be a wild ride before it's over! Victor's accordion sounds more like a smoky Hammond organ and Nicole reels her solo in like a wild Atlantic salmon fighting on the line.

Misirlu is an ancient, intriguing tune of middle eastern origin, which is based upon the exotic sounding but very important harmonic minor scale. Mark introduces it with an overview of reed instruments, comparing the sound of his soprano saxophone is to much older instruments such as the bombard from Brittany and its many middle eastern cousins. Mark then demonstrates a snake charmer's instrument from Sri Lanka (a melodic chanter with two drones), explains how reed instruments work. He then shows the harmonica family and the many different scales that various types can produce. Victor shows how his accordion works and compares its design to the harmonica. The Arabic dumbek drum and the Greek bouzouki then begin the hypnotic introduction to this piece, which could be used for belly dancing with its exotic rhythms.

Study Guide (click to download) :

PowerPoint Format (6 Mb download)

Printable PDF Format (8 Mb download)

Displayable PDF Format (60 Mb download)

As a supplement to the group's live performance, and to enhance the learning function of the presentation, we invite you to download our PowerPoint Study Guide well in advance of the day of the concert for an on-screen discussion, or our printable version which includes many student activites and puzzles. Both versions decribe the many instruments used by the musicians, outline the themes of several songs and melodies, and serve as a guide for discussion in class before or after the presentation. For more information, contact us: .