In 2007 Focal Music Ltd., received a grant from the Heritage Lottery to run the ‘Nowt se Strange as Folks’ project. The idea behind the project was to deliver traditional music, song and dance from the North East of England to schools around the area. The project offered free workshops to 32 schools across Northumberland, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Durham and Weardale and was extremely well received. The duration of the project saw some 25 self-employed music teachers making contributions of repertoire and teaching
methods for the classes they delivered; this book is the result.

Almost all of the repertoire within the book is drawn from the FARNE website (www.asaplive.com), an online digital resource which contains a wealth of information and music. This site is maintained by Gateshead Council and their music information service: Explore Music.

The book is intended as an interactive aid for workshop leaders teaching primary school  aged children but is adaptable for all age groups. All the pieces are tried and tested and offer suggestions on how to deliver the workshop and how to take these ideas further.  During the compilation of this book, we revisited the original publications and used these as building blocks to develop the repertoire. We have tried to retain the Geordie dialect where possible but that doesn’t mean only local children can sing these songs! We would like everyone to enjoy what we think is a wonderful collection so feel free to adapt the songs to suit your tastes, voices and accents. You may find some modified melodies, altered vocals or wacky harmony ideas, these are intended to make the repertoire accessible and fun to people who are new to the traditional music of the North East whilst honouring a long and robust tradition.

If you would like a copy of the book please follow the 'Buy the Book' link in the side bar.