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A weekly assembly with James B Partridge (or Mr Partridge to the naughty Year 6s on the back benches!) where we take a deep dive into the songs and stories from your school days. Each week, the assembly will start with a catch-up session, a Q&A with listener questions (anything goes!) and we will of course finish with a group singalong and deep dive into your favourite songs from school. Make sure you're sat up straight and get ready to sing every Wednesday with Notes from School with James ...
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Ep 19: Tolkien’s Forgotten Song Cycle, “The Road Goes Ever On”.
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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 disc…
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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 …
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Ep 17: Jerusalem, England’s Most Iconic but Controversial Hymn
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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…
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Ep 16: Playing through the entire Apusskidu songbook!
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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, …
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Ep 15: UK meets USA. Make Weird Music with Anthony Garone
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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, confi…
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Ep 14: The Great British songbook with Tom Carradine
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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 i…
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Ep 13: Football, choirs and Bantam of the Opera with James Sills
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This week we invite James Sills into the assembly hall for a great conversation. We chat about the links between football and singing which have combined in his awesome new project called Bantam of the Opera for BBC Sounds. This is a project bringing together Bradford City fans for the year of the city of culture in Bradford. James, Lesley Garett a…
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It’s the Easter holidays! Or it nearly is, depending on what school you’re at. That means it is time to decide on the best ever Easter singalongs, whether we look at some traditional classic hymns or some newer school assembly tunes. Thanks to those that voted for their favourites and let me know if your choice was left off the list! Either way, mo…
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Ep 11: Why live music for children is so important with Polly Ives
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Why is it so important to introduce children to music from an early age? This week I had a slightly different performing experience to usual as my Sunday morning was spent doing my show with a twist: the audience were mostly under the age of 5! Afterwards I had a great chat and interview with Polly Ives who runs Concerteenies which provides live mu…
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Ep 10: The genius of the Toys R Us advert theme
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The questions were thrown open this week on my socials. I had some great obscure song requests come in alongside a prompt to explore the best British advert jingles. I even get some AI opinions on this before I do a deeply educational analysis of the iconic Toys R Us theme which is an “an all-out banger” according the YouTube comments. I had to fig…
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Ep 09: Graham Kendrick on Shine Jesus Shine and the legacy of his songwriting
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It was an absolute delight to spend nearly an hour talking to Graham Kendrick about his songwriting craft, the connection of worship music and of course the ultimate school assembly banger: Shine Jesus Shine! In the timestamps below you can see the topics we discuss and make sure you listen ALL the way to the end as there is a special one-off perfo…
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Ep 08: Ask an opera singer anything! Q&A with Welsh soprano Eleri Gwilym
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Can you really smash glass with singing?! How do you even find out you can sing opera? Find out the stories behind becoming an opera singer, the state of singing in Wales and much more with today’s chat with Eleri Gwilym. She is currently playing Queen of the Night in the Magic Flute by Mozart and has some fascinating insights into the life of bein…
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Cecil Frances Alexander cracked out some absolute belters in her time. Today’s episode dives into one of her most iconic hymns. It’s one that we all know and love: All Things Bright and Beautiful. I look at all the different versions of the melody, explore the lyrics and even have a cameo Radio 1 message about her by Greg James. Which version of th…
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Ep 06: A soundtrack for success with Ella Writer plus I Can Sing a Rainbow
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Following on from last week’s great chat about youth singing and self-confidence, today we now look at how music can help build self-confidence with professional and personal success. In the assembly hall today we are joined by Ella Writer, CEO of coaching company Bright Yellow who imparts some wisdom from her 10+ years experience in consulting for…
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Ep 05: Self-confidence through song with Rachel Staunton
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How can singing in a choir from a young age boost your self confidence? In this week’s assembly we have a special guest! Rachel Staunton is the co-founder and artistic director of London Youth Choir and she joins me on the podcast this week to talk about LYC and the amazing ways it helps support young singers in the London area. She gives tips for …
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Ep 04: What are the top 20 UK wedding hymns?
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It might be February but this week’s assembly is taking us to wedding season. After a big response of answers online, I have put together the Top 20 of hymns sung at weddings in the UK. Some of the tunes might be surprising, some of them absolute classics and some just big tunes from the school hall. Listen to the end to find out which three I had!…
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Ep 03: Rebellious Scottish songs...from Bonnie Shores to School Floors
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Welcome back to the school hall for a trip back in time to 18th Century Scotland. This week’s assembly takes a historical twist as I dive into some classic Scottish folk tunes that would have been sung in schools across the UK. Discover the link between Loch Lomond, Charlie is my Darling, the Skye Boat Song and My Bonnie lies over the ocean. In the…
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Ep 02: Give Me Oil…and a Stretch Armstrong?!
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Welcome back to the school hall for this week’s assembly! Settle down and let’s have fingers on lips while I catch you up on my first gigs of the year, playing at a tech conference and going to the press night of the amazing Kinky Boots featuring my younger brother as the lead. In this week’s Q&A session I uncover a forgotten classic from the Allel…
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How does an online music teacher end up performing nostalgic school assembly songs around the UK at hundreds of shows? Join me, James B Partridge, as I recount my unexpected journey from virtual music lessons to viral TikTok success in the debut episode of "Notes from School." Discover how a simple suggestion to post on TikTok led to an exciting mu…
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Introducing...Notes from School with James B Partridge
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Sit up straight and get ready to sing! Introducing...Notes from School. A weekly assembly with James B Partridge (or Mr Partridge to the naughty Year 6s on the back benches!) where we take a deep dive into the songs and stories from your school days. I'd love to hear your favourite memories, song requests or questions. Send them in to notesfromscho…
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