Just come back from a school concert that the local primary schools joined in with. I volunteered myself for a piano solo and ended up accompanying one of the schools... It was a nice evening for people.

Trying to organise numerous bands to play at our Highland games... fun!

Have music, will play is your motto.

Your sight-reading skills continue to utterly outstand me...

Aww thanks

Sadly, hunting for an old set of theory papers to sell cut price to a pupil. Just starting marking A level science papers, so musical activities on hold for a bit, apart from teaching.... and turning pages when hubby plays the organ for a wedding on Saturday..... and singing the psalm on Sunday, and being the stand-in organist for the last 2 hymns on Sunday... hmmm, not going to be much time for the marking then!

Giving a first lesson to a brand new French pupil in her 30s. Very nice, very keen, and got her reading music and plucking 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in tune with a nice left-hand position by the end of the hour. She went off very happy.

Then a lesson with a very sweet 10-year-old who only wants to do jazz at the moment so she learnt the harder version of 'Rock Around the Clock' today and started improvising in the key of C for the first time. Did well. Then some listenign games involving singing and clapping which went well.

Then a lesson with another favourite (but aren't they all) 13-year-old working towards Grade 3. We played Pachelbel Canon and did it in a round, which was really enjoyable for both of us. She started out being a bit muddled about the rhythms but got it sorted by the end of the lesson.

Then spent all evening completing an arrangement of 'I Will Survive' for one of my string groups. I'm doing it with Band-In-A-Box plus notation software and it sounds completely mad but fun; I hope they'll like it. It was their idea and stemmed from the fact that at the end of a very long and tiring day a few weeks ago I found a Gloria Gaynor CD in the pile and idly put it on. Next thing I knew me and two teenagers were disco dancing round the room, much to the amusement of the caretaker and the deputy Head of Music who happened to be passing by. Now they want me to arrange it for them to play (as a 13-strong string group) so that's what I've been doing for the last few evenings, hoping to have it ready for Friday.

Taught all day.... but no theory class tonight... YIPPEE... week off as 3 did an exam last Saturady.... back to theory next week.... Actually one of my practical pupils express sadness at the lack of theory class... very strange....

just got my report card! yay!
i passed it!

and in 4.30 pm will have a piano lesson

Yes, the strangest things happen after exams. One of my pupils took a practical exam and when I saw her the next lesson, her mother said that she had come home and sat and played the piano for 45 minutes non-stop, and then another 20 minutes the next morning before school. (This would be a record I hasten to explain, I think her practising is about 15 minutes a day tops). Her mother was aghast because daughter has clarinet exam very soon, and mother thought she should have been playing the clarinet (which she should, of course, perhaps as well as spending hours on the piano! )


Well done, m_b_r

Well done!

Today for me : graded exams for pupils, and a large amount of teaching...

After my exam the other day, I had an hour or two to kill before my normal lesson, so I sat in the car and sightread my way through all the other pieces in my G4 books, and started learning a new scale

And I love theory too!

good luck with it all Barry

Er - 'astound'???

Although, on reflection, I think you've just invented a new use of the word...

"Sleepy Lagoon" ... got all the parts but no score... so that's today's job.
Thank goodness for Sibelius

Just done 2 A level papers.

Later on: cello, flute and piano practising.

Another lunchtime with the Monster Recorder Mob. Eleven players of mixed age and ability, years one to three. Plus three visitors who are thinking of learning recorder next term and want to know what it's like.

So that's fifteen of us in one cramped little room......I was expecting half an hour of mayhem.

The mob were, for once, astoundingly well behaved. We managed to play three pieces, including one in parts, during the lesson. I was feeling really good about it.

And then one of them stood up and said "Mrs Jay, you've been very good today. Here's a sticker for your book" - which she handed over. The rest clapped.

And that was another good day

I did wonder, but all compliments gratefully accepted

I did mean 'astound'. The thing that sits inside my head that's laughably called 'barry-clari's brain' failed spectacularly again...

Aww - it is an extra-special compliment that nobody has ever given me before and I will treasure it always

Well c*p, I like to be original...

Let's make up new meanings for words!!!!

you seem to be able to do it without even trying!

thanks susie and barry

just played piano on hotel ^^

I have just played the piano from 10.00am until 6.30pm with 40 mins for lunch and two 15 min coffee breaks - surely there should be some law against this...
(ballet exams - in case you were wondering )

awww
give yourself a good break now...
are there any more, or is that session done with?

Hope you were paid.

Great to see your now working. Hope all is a lot better.

Well done for getting through it. Hope you have suitably rewarded yourself.

That's it now until next term

Too right I was paid! Everything is under control but I am still taking WAY more medication than I would like to

Well, y'know...

lots of practice, together with scores and parts culminating in an orchestral rehearsal

Playing for some of the local primary schools music festival
(Our choir won - accompanied by me! )

Thank you!

well done
hope your daughter did well... sure she did

sorry that was a question... ??
did she do well?





orchestral rehearsal.... there is music in other places lol

Playing piano duets with Andante in C, despite my dreadfully rusty playing and unreliable sight-reading...

With comments such as "Are you going to play that chord, Katyjay...just I have to go home in a couple of hours...." or "oi! That's MY page"

Or the bit where I was playing something E major ish while the music and Andante were tending to the Eb......

It didn't help that we had started what looked like an approachable Mozart duet without noticing it ran to four pages each. Or that both parts played a middle C at the same time, but one for a crotchet, the other a quaver. Or that we kept getting the giggles...

Funnily enough, I can really imagine this scenario...

Delius

I did a tiny bit of flute practice. Should probably go and do some more. Played alto flute for the first time in...err... a while

Taught.... daughter's violin exam (very stressful....but it went well.....I really quite enjoy my pupils' exams , but your own child's is something different....) didn't do any practice. Oh dear......

Trying to sort out stuff for garden party on Sunday. (Some of it will be very closely related to sight reading in public... )
Might get round to printing feedback envelopes for Adult Learners Concert.
Orchestra rehearsal.

Have we got the wonderful name labels again? They were rather good last year

a concert of youngsters all making music
ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 8... ages about 9 to 16. A good evening.

About to embark on a 12-hour performathon...!

Flute practice, piano practice (mostly Mozart), cello practise. I need to do all three!

Thinking of who's coming to the Northern Ireland forum do, I'm arranging an alternative finale, as I'm not sure my first piece will work with who we have.

It's almost done.

It has a very nice flute part

.....I'm intrigued ...& possibly worried! Tell me more.......please

And me...

OK

Thinking of who's going to be there, my original finale I'm not sure will work.

So I've (almost) done an arrangement of the Irish Washerwoman, which features a fairly prominent flute part, as we've definitely got some good flautists (ie you two) coming along.

It's not particularly hard, but it is prominent. And you'll be fab

Another afternoon of "extreme sight-reading" - this time it was the local singing teacher's recital showcase for her pupils. All sorts of stuff - from Mozart's "Alleluia" to Ronan Keating's "When you say nothing at all". Not a single one rehearsed beforehand

Parts sorted organised for orchestra
buffet planned for orchestra 'social' - I think that counts as a Musical Activity.