Bandstanding: Gail Turner – ‘Music belongs to everyone

“Music is life – that’s why our hearts have beats!” So says Gail Turner (right), proprietor of The New Zealand Modern School of Music (Auckland) for the last 25 years.

The school was established by the late Allan Gardiner of Blenheim in 1952 and Gail purchased the business in 1996. It had nine teachers then. Now she has 81 teachers throughout Auckland teaching piano, keyboard, guitar, singing, drums, violin and ukelele.

Growing up in Point Chevalier, Gail moved west as a bright young 20 something and is still here. Her musical exposure began young. “My father used to sing on the radio, 1ZB, at The Orange Ballroom off Symonds Street, and in many of the dance halls in those days. My sister and I (as babies) used to be in our little baskets under the table, sleeping or listening to the music. Friends would come on Saturday nights – Jack would bring his guitar, Les would play on the piano and my father would sing and this would go on for hours.”

An uncle was a well known saxophonist. “He and I would spend lots of time together with him playing the saxophone and me on the piano. My sister and I started learning piano aged five – classical and ragtime. We did our Trinity exams and I played several times at the Town Hall in the Auckland Competitions for a friend who had a beautiful voice. The competitions were for young children to perform in front of the public, which was scary at that age! We came first one year and were placed for three years at the ages of 9, 10 and 11.

“I also love dancing and won a couple of competitions years ago – I was a Rock’n’Roll girl and even now a tune will come on and I’ll be twisting down the hallway. I was on TV on Pete Sinclair’s C’mon show. My girlfriend and I would come home from school and make up all sorts of routines – we came second in the Pasadena Intermediate School Competition. I loved ballroom dancing as well: my mother and father were ballroom champions. In those days there was a dance held somewhere in Auckland nearly every Saturday night.”

Business College followed high school, which in turn was followed by marriage. “I didn’t get to play much after we had children, until I saw a sign on a letterbox in Henderson – NZ Modern School of Music. I thought I would investigate. I had only played classical music and was interested in the Modern School style which took a different approach.”

Although taking to her new course of study like a duck to water, it took Gail 12 years to gain her NZMSM Diploma. “The children were little when I started studying and when they went to school I worked doing secretarial work. Every morning I would get up very early, get the children off to school and then run to the piano to practice for half an hour before I went to work. I recall getting a speeding ticket one morning as I was running late – I didn’t want to stop playing the piano!” Gail was back competing in music competitions in her early 40s. “When it was my time to perform I would sit up the front with pupils from 13 – 16 years old. I was the ‘old lady’. The young ones would appear to be cool, calm and collected and I would be so nervous my body used to shake! But one year I won the Allan Gardiner Trophy for the boogie woogie class, which was the highlight of my day. My name is still engraved on that trophy.” When her then teacher moved to Christchurch Gail decided to buy the business and it has since grown so much that she finds little time to play herself. “I keep saying when I retire I will play every day. I was also involved with a choir and I would love to join a choir again as I enjoy singing too. Music is obviously in my body to stay.”

Gail explains the teaching style at the NZMSM is “a contemporary method of writing the music with chord symbols – C chord, G chord, etc. – instead of reading both clefs of music with notes. Pupils can pick up any sheet of music (rock, boogie woogie, Latin American, jazz, ballads, blues) and write their own arrangement. By Grade 5, pupils write their own tune and have to play it back to the examiner. Our exam grades are accepted by Universities and one of our pupils wrote his own musical and took it to London which we were very proud of! We have some extremely talented young musicians.”

Competitions at the NZMSM were upset by Covid-19 this year. “I decided to hold online competitions. Pupils needed to record their piece and post it on Facebook. This was a great success and everyone had fun but it was a lot of hard work. It’s exciting, though, to see teachers who have not had much experience with technology teach online. In no time they seem to enjoy the new experience and it has almost become second nature to them. And it’s great to hear from their pupils how exciting it is to have online lessons. Of course, this is a piece of cake for them as most have more technological experience than adults.”

As the end of year approaches so does Gail’s busiest term. “Our teachers will be focusing on concerts in their home studios and on the Christmas Concerts.” The term wraps on December 18 and the NZMSM kicks off again on February 1.

Gail reckons “music belongs to everyone and is a major part of our lives. We try to encourage everyone to learn music. A lot of older pupils think we only teach children but we love adult pupils. Music is so beneficial – for the mind, body and soul.”

To find out more about The NZ Modern School of Music phone Gail on 0800 696 874 or 027 434 3746, check out Facebook (NZ Modern School of Music Auckland Ltd) or visit the website www.modernmusic. co.nz.

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