The origins of Tawbis Studios Music (part one!)

It occurred to me over the Christmas break that I talk a lot on this site and on our Facebook page about the jewellery side of the business, but not so much about the music side, so I thought it might be a good idea to start to talk a little bit more in 2021 about all things tuneful.

I'm also conscious that I don't tend to really say much about myself on this site, so thought this might be a nice opportunity to step up and give you some insight into my background and who I am.

So in this post, I'll be telling you a bit about my musical background, and in the next post we'll take a look at the benefits of learning to play and/or read music, and how I approach the various music-related services that we offer at Tawbis Studios.

I have always loved the shapes and forms involved in music and it often influences my jewellery making

The first thing to say is that I'm incredibly fortunate to come from a very musical family. Although we are working class through-and-through, both of my paternal grandparents were amateur musicians: my grandmother played the piano and my grandfather (who sadly died before I was born) played the violin.

Despite that, my father didn't have any formal lessons as a child - as the youngest member of a household of nine in a three bedroom house, I suspect there wasn't the space or time and he was probably too busy out playing football anyway! Instead he taught himself to play the piano and could play almost anything by ear but didn’t learn to read music until he was an adult. His main motivation in learning to read music was to be able to play Scott Joplin and boy was he successful in that - the strains of him sitting playing the most complex Scott Joplin rags like a pro were a big feature of my childhood.

Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime

My mother then took up the piano as well, but not until she was in her 60s: it turns out she'd always wanted to learn as she was conscious of being the only one in the family that had never played but was nervous about it. She had no reason to be nervous - she kept getting distinctions in her Associated Board exams. Go Mum!

So while being taught from an early age can obviously be an advantage, my parents are both evidence of the