Rubbish piano lesson today!!!! Spent it all on one piece I still can't play. Teacher tells me to play it hands separately.... maybe I should listen to her... but my problem is playing it hands together. It's the Suk Gr 6 piece... too much taking one finger off, leaving that one on, but remember to move it then etc. AAARRRGGGHHHHHHH

You're a week earlier than me for half term noodle - so my day is full of teaching

Might see if I can get that one/two bars of Shostakovich for the recital closer to being correct...

See above for today's musical activities!

Rock band practice - not high-brow, I know, but terrific fun. It all went very well. We are all over forty, and pushing 50 I'm afraid to admit, but who cares? We have a party to play for in a few weeks time so the pressure is ON!!!

Flute lesson, and sang at evensong

Quite a lot of practice...

Filling in entry forms - if you can call that a musical activity.

Half-term for me this week (I'm a primary teacher) so I get to spend lots more time than usual with my cello!!!!!!!!
Just love practising!

Fairly quiet today : though clarinet practice is required!

Tomorrow, I'm going to see how much of my Anglesey singing programme is memorised...

Monday evening jazz group tonight - I've even conspired to get home from work early so I'm not going to have the usual mad dash home, pick up sax and out, then spend the first half hour of the session trying to switch my brain from work to music.

Finish memorizing Chopin Study Op 10 No.7, Start Memorizing Moszkowski Study, Op 72 No. 2, Put the hands together in Scriabin's Study Op 8. No. 3, Work on the legato and the exact rhythm in the Grave of Beethoven's Pathetique. Start on the Cortot exercises for Chopin's Study Op. 10 No. 4. Write a less sparse piano arrangement of Time to Say Goodbye than that in the published sheet music (at least get started on it), Practice holding overlapping notes for the right lengths in two passages from Scarlatti sonatas. n SIght read a couple more of Glinka's pieces. Play over a Haydn sonata from memory to see if I can play it free from stumbles and without varying the tempo unintentionally.

I did some work today on the highest C, C# and D on the flute.

Not sure my neighbours were too impressed..

6 hour rehearsal for our show at school...!

Had a trio rehearsal at lunch which went surprisingly well.
This evening I went to the music teachers' concert at school whcih was great, if a bit lacking in strings! And have just finished practising some Handel and Kreisler.

This coming week's musical activities...

even more clarinet practice than usual...

Last rehearsal with my accompanist before Saturday's recital...

Practised with trio at lunch.

Stayed after school and practised piano and violin...I didn't use to like practising at school because everyone hcan hear you, but now I think I prefer it because they have nicer pianos than mine and the rooms have nicer acoustics!

Then practised with my trio a bit more and played in a concert - which, surprisingly, went reasonably well. and some of the other groups were amazing to listen to.

I don't like pianissimo altissimo As, I don't like them, they are horrible, arrgghh, arrgghh, and thrice arrgghh!!!!!!

Relaxation exercises

Moszkowski Etudes

Chopin Etudes

a Liszt Etude

a Scriabin Etude

Borderline as a musical activity I know, but I've just finished writing the programme for March 1st.

Well I have just been lent a copy of Czerny studies on finger dexterity (Op 710 !! ), as well as a recording of the same. Id better have bash at some of them

Last test paper before tomorrow's theory exam.
Bev.

best of luck!

I got to play on a Steinway Grand for my piano lesson today

Taught at school.... but went in to discover the orchestra members (5/7 school pupils) were going to a rehearsal thing at 1pm.... I went in at 10 am..... and all of the lessons are individual 30 mins..... SO I taught 4 of my pupils before lunch.... rang one mum (who I know well ) and said "Shall I teach your daughter through her lunch hour or does she want to come for a lesson at my house tonight before her theory lesson?" So in 10 mins she's coming for her lesson... followed by her group theory lesson!!!
A bit cross I wasn't told in advance... I could have gone in earlier to school.

I suppose I should do some piano practice......... My teacher seems keen I do my Gr 6 next term. I'm not so keen as I haven't learned my scales.

My garklein arrived today (only ordered it yesterday!!). Oooh and it's so cute!!

so another garklein to add to the Anglesey gaggle of garkleins!

Absolutely!

ooh a garklein ! *envy*

Have a pre-schooler this morning ( not something I do all the time so am interested to see how this progresses),

meeting with a mum to discuss 12 year old's less-than-glowing report (at my request), and then four more lessons this afternoon.

I'm teaching today, but I must fit some clarinet practice in too...

Did manage some practice today.

Tomorrow : being taught rather than teaching! A bit of singing am, a bit of Kodaly pm.

You get no prizes for working out what my musical activity for Saturday is!

Today there will be much Baroque flute practice.
And practice on a real piano too, thanks to a friend.

EEEEP it's Scary Students' Day!

This 'scary student' 's mind was on occasion elsewhere today. Something to do with tomorrow...

Barry, you did just fine!!! There was the odd bit of ratatouille floating about, but nothing major (except when we went into the minor)...

I managed to invent a few new vegetables too...

Including Durrr and Bleh, if I recall correctly

You forgot 'merrr' katyjay

And don't forget my young student's new names 'blat' and 'farp'...

Liked that...

Well, it was yesterday now but sitting in on some woodwind lessons was really interesting and quite inspiring.

Today I need to sort out all my sheet music.

Soon going to go and do about 4 hours' practice. I am mad I know, but love it.

Four lovely lessons

Just got back from Guildhall where I have to say neither I nor the children were firing on all cylinders... ...have a couple of teenagers this afternoon preparing for their Kodály Elementary exam, then an evening of silly fun going to see the Bootleg Beatles at the Fairfield Halls .

One of my lovely students is a member of the band (he 'does' George Harrison) and so I'm very lucky to get complementary tickets . Bagpuss and I went last year and had a thoroughly fun evening (and were most impressed with the band and whole set-up). This year we're taking Him Indoors along too, which will be quite entertaining in itself as it means dragging him away from the world of Vierne and Reger for a couple of hours .

Did some acompanying

Fairfield Halls.... I used to go there as a kid with my mum and Dad .... I loved the Fairfield Halls.

I've been to some great events there too - mostly in years gone by ! At the risk of going down the 'nostalgia ain't what it used to be ' path - there's not as much going on now - there used to be many more concerts and recitals.

Funnily enough a group of student friends when I was at college got interested in more than just music at Fairfield.

A friend of mine was queueing there one day for some tickets, and in the slowly-moving line got into conversation with a little old lady, who waxed lyrical about the music that was on offer at Fairfield. My friend explained that she was a music student at RCM, studying singing and that she and her friends loved to come to concerts and really appreciated living not far from Fairfield. They had an animated conversation about the merits of classical music.

However - my friend was not buying concert tickets that day.

I imagine the little old lady came down to earth with a bit of a bump when my friend arrived at the ticket window and asked for six tickets for next Tuesday's wrestling !


(sorry - off topic!)

Well, they keep muttering about pulling the Fairfield down, which I think would be a criminal act...it's an icon of its age!

I first went there at the age of 7 because we had our school prizegiving there, and I remember having to walk up onto the stage (which seemed HUUUUGE) to collect my Grade 1 piano certificate.

I remember seeing Elton John there in 1972 (Rocket Man phase) - I paid 50p for a seat in the choir stalls! and also remember queuing at 5.30am for David Bowie tickets (Ziggy Stardust phase!).

Then there were the Arthur Davison Children's Concerts on a Saturday morning...

I've walked out onto that stage several times to conduct my Junior Choir (VERY nervewracking) when we've performed at the Bromley Proms and supported the Croydon Philharmonic Choir and the Band of the White Russian Army.

Him Indoors has played several organ recitals there...

And the Bootlegs made the old place ROCK last night! Bagpuss, Willard, Mrs Willard, Him Indoors and myself were all up bopping and it was, as ever, an excellent and nostalgic show - had a good chat with my student ('George Harrison') in the bar afterwards - a lovely, talented and VERY modest and unassuming guy (and not unpleasing on the eye either ).

The whole place has such character and the most fantastic acoustics.

It's such a shame that it's become quite rundown and that the quality of the acts isn't what it was, either for pop or classical. HI and I went to see the Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra there a couple of weeks ago - a really fab concert, lovely programme (Elgar Cockaigne Overture, Rach 2, Prelude l'après-midi d'une faune, Respighi Pines of Rome) - and barely anyone in the audience . SUCH a shame - a really excellent concert, the tickets were only about £7 each, and so poorly attended...

Well...

a) booked train tickets to go and have a rehearsal for April recital
b) flute choir
c) possibly becoming in charge of a flute choir

a) The clav at yesterday's gig sounded very good, so if we're still using it on April 12th, I think accompanist and you will be very pleasantly surprised.

b) I seem to be playing more flute of late too. Something to do with playing lots of quartet stuff, I guess...

c) you'd be fab in charge of a flute choir Nicki!