A YOUNG violinist from Hyde has shared her love for making music by publishing her first book made up of her own compositions.
Ten-year-old budding composer Gracie Simpson has released ‘My Music Book: Pieces for Violin’, which brings together a collection of her own original pieces.
Music has been a passion for Gracie since she first picked up the violin four years ago. But she has also always loved reading – so this project has allowed her to combine both interests.
“It took me a couple of months to write the book,” Gracie told the Correspondent. “I started to compose and I really got into it – I like composing. Chris helped me put it into a book.
“I enjoy reading Tom Gates books. I like the music and I wanted to make a book of my own but I wanted to compose first.”
The Tom Gates series, written by Liz Pichon, are illustrated diaries written by a schoolboy, containing a mix of stories, music, mischief and doodles. Tom, along with his friends, love music and have their own band.
Gracie’s book is mainly written for violin players but the compositions can also be played on the right side of a piano.
With the guidance of her music teacher Chris Caton-Greasley, founder of Stalybridge Music Academy on Melbourne Street, Gracie’s work was carefully brought together into a publishable format.
It’s available to buy in paperback on Amazon for £8.50 here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Music-Book-Pieces-Violin/dp/B0F9WJHTTR/
Chris said: “I guided Gracie as to how to construct the pieces and I suggested the book so we could put all the pieces together. I put it together when I broke my arm – I needed something to do. We’d talked about it but I hadn’t got around to doing it. It gave me the opportunity to pull it all together so prettily and make it work.”
Gracie’s mum Gemma is full of pride at what her daughter has achieved.
“I think it’s amazing and what Chris has done is her music pieces go from stages so they’re not all one level and to me it shows Gracie’s progression over the last 12 months,” she said.
“I’m always saying that I love how Chris teaches people – it’s very bespoke to the student, no matter who that student is. It’s allowed Gracie to express herself through music in such a positive way because Gracie can sometimes struggle with emotions – like most children – and stresses through school and just general life.
“This has been like an outlet – it’s really inspired her to do more.”
For Gracie, music is much more than a hobby – it’s a source of joy and calm.
The youngster said: “Music makes me feel better. I would like to start practicing my scales more because all the music is in scales. So if I get my scales right then I can play practically anything because all the notes are in scales.
“I play the piano as well and recently in one of my lessons with Chris, we talked about doing a piano book next.”