Yvonne Adair
Yvonne Madeleine Adair (18 March 1897 – 17 December 1989) was a British pianist, teacher and composer. Her educational pieces are still used in music exams today, and some works were published under the name Ella Fairall.
She was born in Guernsey, the daughter of Wesleyan minister Philip George Adair, and grew up in Jersey. She studied at Kent College, Folkestone, and trained at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won bronze and silver medals. Adair taught in London at the Training School for Music Teachers and privately, focusing on rhythm and ear training for children. During World War I she worked in the War Office Intelligence Department. After the war, from 1945, she taught at Sheen Gate House Preparatory School.
Adair wrote original songs, piano pieces and percussion music for learners and small ensembles. Notable works include Sketches from Hans Christian Andersen and Little Dog Tales. In the 1930s–1950s she published rhythmic, didactic games for teaching rhythm, such as The Zoo, which used animal footstep patterns to teach note values. She also wrote teaching books, including The Percussion Band: A Guide for Teachers (1933) and Music Through the Percussion Band (1952), and contributed to Musical Education: A Symposium (1946).
Her later addresses included 1930s Westbourne Terrace in London, Wimbledon in 1950, and 14 Madeira Park in Tunbridge Wells, where she died in 1989 at the Halliwell Nursing Home.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:57 (CET).