Haringey Music Service
The Nelson Way – a Training Session for Strings Teachers in Haringey
On Friday 9th January 2025 fifteen strings teachers assembled in Alexandra Palace, for the inaugural ‘Nelson Way’ teachers’ event. As Head of Strings for Haringey Music Service, this event was one I had keenly anticipated. I know how invaluable Sheila Nelson’s teaching philosophy is having learnt with her myself from an early age into my late teens. I was delighted then when the Sheila Nelson Stringwise Fund offered the support to make this event happen.
The event was led by Deborah Young and Cathy Elliott. As well as being renowned strings teachers themselves, Cathy and Deborah were close colleagues of Sheila over several decades. In recent years they have painstakingly archived Sheila’s teaching materials so that they can be used for future generations.
We began with a video of Sheila teaching at the pioneering Tower Hamlets String Project of the 1980s. Then followed a host of entertaining activities ideal for large group or individual teaching. Areas covered included innovative rhythm games, teaching bow holds, sol fa, whole class repertoire, circular bowing, the difference between passive and active arms and the need for relaxed technique.
The activities were very ‘hands on’ with teachers taking the role of students for much of the time. The morning was fun, challenging and creative, with a lot of laughter and discussion. Diverse repertoire was covered including some from the Essential String Method, written by Sheila with Cathy and others.
For me, the morning brought back happy memories of learning with Sheila. But as Cathy and Deborah emphasised, despite her strong philosophy of teaching, Sheila was opposed to keeping ideas preserved in aspic. Instead, she continually refined and developed her ideas in response to students’ needs.
Our HMS strings team rose to this theme of continual creativity with their excellent contributions and observations. Their feedback was warm and enthusiastic with comments such as ‘inspirational’ and ‘brilliant’. In a few weeks teachers will be invited to give further feedback about how the ideas they encountered have worked on the ground. This valuable research is also kindly supported by the ESTA Bursary Committee and Sheila Nelson Stringwise Fund.
In a year in which Sheila would have turned ninety I like to think she would have been pleased and proud to witness this excellent event. At HMS we hope it is the first of many to come so that teachers can continue to benefit from Sheila’s ideas and creativity.
