Original photographs Copyright © Joe McGowan 2019
Follow Joe...
It was not until 2000, on his return to the UK, that Joe turned to writing more seriously. He wrote a number of articles (some on alternative learning methods) for various magazines including the Readers' Digest, and also began experimenting with short stories. In 2001 his supernatural tale, ‘A Day to Remember’, was published by New Fiction in a book of collected short stories titled Serendipity. Inspired by this, Joe continued writing in the short story and poetry genres and in the years that followed had more stories and a few poems published in other collections; these include ‘Castle by Candlelight’, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘The Witches’.
Joe began writing professionally in 1991 when he was asked to become a reviewer for Classical Guitar magazine at the invitation of the late Chris Kilvington, the magazine's reviews editor at the time.
He held this position until 1999 when he went to work in Lanzarote where he taught music and performed in the guitar duo Cross Culture.
On his return to the UK the following year, Joe began to take his writing a bit more seriously and produced a number of education-related
Testimonials for ‘How to Pass Standard Grade Music’
The Times Education Supplement (TES) Scotland and Saltire Society Academic Book of the Year Award, 2005
This award was given to the author and publisher of the academic book deemed most original or noteworthy by the panel of judges who included education professionals.
Two separate reviews of ‘How to Pass Standard Grade Music‘ were printed in the Times Education Supplement in 2005 where the book's value as a music resource is acknowledged.
‘At last music students have a Standard Grade textbook giving detailed knowledge of the exam requirements, with some great music excerpts on the accompanying CD.’
The book is praised for being '...a valuable resource that could be used independently of teachers' and '...a lively interactive experience.'
'... Here is [a book] that is taking it all the way to being used independently and has audio material to bring it to life.'
The suitability of the text for students working on their own is also noted:
‘…ideal as part of an individualised study plan or for home revision.’
And the reviewer's summation was justified by the book's popularity, reflected in sales throughout the duration of the Standard Grade exams:
'...an excellent extra resource for anyone studying Standard Grade music.'
Around the same period - and inspired by some of his teenage music students - Joe felt that young people would benefit from a motivational text to help guide them in certain areas where essential advice seemed to be lacking. So he outlined his own techniques for self-motivation, carefully selected a variety of relevant quotes from some of history's most inspiring individuals, and applied these to pertinent issues for this age group.
The result was ‘Get Motivated’, a book in eight chapters covering topics including Study and Exam Revision Techniques, Health & Fitness, Accepting Others and Occupation Choices.
The book attracted the attention of an educational publisher who suggested that if a similar text could be written to accommodate the school PSHE curriculum it would make an attractive publishing project for them.
'Castle by Candlelight'
from Pathway to the Unknown
'Sacrifice'
from Beyond the Staircase
'The Witches'
from Just for Kids
Joe obliged with a new book, ‘Personal Solutions for Everyone’, but, unhappy with certain contractual aspects, he decided to solicit the book to some other publishers. Among these, crucially, was Hodder Gibson (an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton) who, whilst having no requirement for a PSHE book at the time, were sufficiently impressed by Joe's book and qualifications to invite him to write a proposal for the music component of a new series of books they would be producing for the Scottish Standard Grade and Higher courses.
The proposal was accepted, and work began on ‘How to Pass Standard Grade Music’.
The success of ‘How to Pass Standard Grade Music’ led to two subsequent book commissions from Hodder Gibson for the Higher Music qualification: ‘How to Pass Higher Music’ (2006) and ‘How to Pass High Music Listening’ (2008).
This was a fortuitous turn of events for both author and publisher since, although the two previous books had to be set aside for the time being, ‘How to Pass Standard Grade Music’ would become a top-selling academic work in its genre, winning the Times Education Supplement and Saltire Society academic book of the year award in 2005 (see below). Furthermore, Joe was retained as music author with Hodder Gibson for whom he has written a further four books to date.
These books represent a considerable creative undertaking as Joe not only wrote their content but also composed original music for some of the exercises and composing workshops, in addition to compiling the 60 minute CDs which accompany each book. He even had some input in the graphic content of every book!
To cater for the changes to the music curriculum that were introduced in 2011, Joe was commissioned to write a new textbook, ‘How to Pass National 5 Music’, followed later by a second edition of this title in 2018.
‘The jm-education Guide to Higher Music’ is the first title to be published (in 2020) by Joe’s online education company, jm-education. Available in both paperback and e-book formats, this book is produced through amazon’s KDP facility to enable curriculum changes to be quickly integrated into the text, thereby ensuring that the book will always remain up-to-date.
Collectively, Joe’s music books cover all the requirements for both the National 5 and Higher courses in the Scottish secondary school music curriculum.
The jm-education Guide to Higher Music
2020 jm-education
Buy
Buy
'A Day to Remember'
from Serendipity
Only Now: The Terry Oldfield Story. Memoirs of a Musician, Fisherman and Free-Thinker. By Terry Oldfield and Joe McGowan
Only Now, The Terry Oldfield Story is a multi-faceted work that takes us on a truly unique journey through a life that has experienced strife and success in equal measure. From an abusive boarding school in childhood and near penury in early adulthood to unlikely success as a commercial composer and global renown as a flautist, this story grips us from the start and holds us to the last page.
Along the way we are treated to previously undisclosed material about the Oldfield family and the birth of Tubular Bells from an entirely new and intimate perspective, as well as anecdotes around Terry’s friendship with Richard Branson, Leonard Cohen, David Attenborough and Bernard Cribbins.
As he relives the memories, we join the middle sibling of the famous Oldfield trio on the world travel and deep spiritual enquiry of his twenties, experiencing the bliss of living simply on a beach in Bhali as well as the tension of spending the night on a dark railway platform at the outbreak of the India-Pakistan war, the hardship of working in a tough Australian copper mine and the vitality of young love as he evolves intellectually and spiritually on the course of manhood.
Music Manuscript Paper Books with Treble and Bass Clefs (6 or 10 staves per page)
Music Manuscript Paper Books
(6, 10, 12 or 14 staves per page)
Music Tab Paper Books for 4, 5 and 6-String Instruments
Music Staff & Tab Paper Books for 4, 5 and 6-String Instruments
Chord Box & Fretboard Grid Books for 4, 5 and 6-String Instruments
Designed and produced by Joe and published by jm-education via amazon KDP in 2022-23, these 21 music resource books cater for musicians, composers, tutors and students of all abilities.
Tenacity, courage and teaching himself to play the flute will see Terry finally achieve his ambition of becoming a successful composer, writing scores for nearly a hundred film and TV productions, including the BAFTA nominated Kingdom of the Ice Bear and EMMY nominated Land of the Tiger and Twilight of the Dreamtime.
Further dramatic events along the way – including a stress-related breakdown, major changes in the music business, and losing his right eye to choroidal melanoma – push Terry onto a different path, one which, though born from pain, ultimately leads to the attainment of his primary goal of achieving success as a solo recording artist and reaching a place of wisdom, peace and harmony living in the eternal moment of Now.
‘Just finished your book, all of it - which is rare for me. It's so beautifully crafted just like your moving music. You’ve led an extraordinary life all the better for the struggles you went through to get there.’
— Sir Richard Branson
In April 2020, when most of the world was in the first of two extended lockdowns in response to the Covid 19 pandemic, Terry Oldfield asked Joe if he would co-write his memoirs with him. A year later the collaborative work - a true ‘lockdown project’ - was completed, and in June 2022, Only Now, The Terry Oldfield Story was published. (see Writing for details).
The Alternative AI Journal
by Joe McGowan
Piano Manuscript Paper With treble & bass clefs
Songwriters’ Manuscript Paper
With lyric guideline
Music Practice Companion
With theory pages
Teachers’ Assignment Logbook
The jm-education Guide to Composing Techniques: Minimalism. ‘Infinite Circles’
by Joe McGowan
Gain the confidence to work with sound loops and compose original computer-based music with this complete and easy-to-follow composing workshop.
From initial ideas to completed piece, this step-by-step workshop guides the student through the processes involved in creating a multi-track instrumental composition based on the style of minimalism using a Digital Audio Workstation as a composing and production tool.
Supported by online video and audio resources, musical references, notation examples and professional tips, this creative journey outlines straightforward techniques and shortcuts for composing a coherent, professional-sounding piece of music - with only a minimum level of musical knowledge required.
An easily-digestible resource that discloses methods for developing musical fragments into larger sections, editing and combining sound loops with original music, and balancing a wide range of electronic & orchestral sounds.
A unique composing workshop for students at Higher/Advanced Higher/A level standard
The jm-education Guide to Composing Techniques: Minimalism. ‘Infinite Circles’
2023 jm-education
Paperback
ASIN : B0CR7YLJT8
A joke book journal containing 52 witty, rude, bawdy and banal alternative definitions for the AI (Artificial Intelligence) acronym, with space for photos/stickers, lined pages, forward planner, social media notes and contact lists. A perfect gift for technophobes and computer nerds alike - or anyone with a sense of humour for the ridiculous!
Make way for the ominously-advancing 21st century technological behemoth that is Artificial Intelligence! Yes, as we look on with clueless fascination while the boffins create algorithms and robots that promise to improve our human lives whilst simultaneously threatening to make them completely redundant, we know only too well what AI stands for. But why, WHY, should the AI acronym be so tightly restricted? Who says Arty Intel must have exclusivity?
Inspired by the 52 wacky alternative definitions in this journal, prepare to throw a curve ball at any smug tech-worshipper who drops the AI acronym more frequently than a baked bean tester drops a fart… ‘AI? Can you be more specific? Do you mean Anthropic Individuality? Ape Ingenuity? Anabolic Inference? Or perhaps Anal Irritant?’
And later, whilst taking time out from your pedantic vigilantism, you can return to the journal and make some notes, list your contacts, plan ahead, write your To Do list or maybe even enter your latest assassinations if you happen to be a contract killer. The beauty of this one-size-fits-all journal is that you can write and stick anything you want in it as you LOL at the AI lunacy along the way.
The Alternative AI Journal
2024 jm-education
Paperback
ASIN : B0CS64CMGZ
Buy
Buy
Buy