I love that song! I used to sing it in duet with Hubby when we were younger. It really is rather soppy though!

On the way home tonight, walking through London Bridge station from Northern Line to overground - usually a horrible transition in rush hour with people all trying to go in different directions. This evening because it's 30 years since the Jubilee Line opened the staff were collecting for Great Ormond Street and there was a kind of scratch gospel choir (not sure if it was made up of staff) singing and generally being joyful. I love gospel choirs, the musid and energy always raise my spirits.

my 10 week old boy, Harry.
smiling at me for the first time tonight.

How lovely

Band practice

How romantic! I do love soppy songs

You will learn, David, that that usually means they have just achieved something!

I know - I've experienced this with the first.

great smileys - very apt

Soppy...but I also love that song and having just read these comments am now listening to it on youtube

A linear algebra lecture and managing to operate a washing machine without shrinking my towels.

Some really strange things make you happy!

I'm still chuckling to myself over things that happened last night.

I'm oddly happy that we have 2 traffic cones and a 'caution wet floor' sign in our kitchen... along with a huge wooden bench.

But I'm more happy because mwl1 is coming to stay tonight.

I'm happy because a lot of my orchids are spiking. Blooms very soon

I'm also happy because the OU got back to me about some questions I had, and gave me my student number

Reuniting myself with my recorders and bashing (stumbling is probably a more appropriate word) through some duets with the flautist from next door and discovering that someone on my landing is a friendly cellist who likes Bach and Vivaldi. And I met Nicki-flute.

Not bad for a Sunday afternoon really.

Was that for the first time? Nicki's a thoroughly lovely person

A few times a week I sight-read my way through a stack of new (tom em) piano stuff, just so that I don't forget how to sight read.

Today it led me to discover Massenet's Nocturne, (Characteristic pieces, Op 10 No 1).

What a beautiful, beautiful piece.

Quite simple. Easy to play. But gorgeous.

I love music ...

Yes, although I saw her in passing the other day, but didn't have time to stop and talk. She gave me a flute choir cake even though she knows full well that I'm not a flautist. It had a treble clef on - that made me quite happy.

She's very, very good at cookery. You'll have to see if she'll make you a chocolate brownie. They are legendary

My five month old dark tortie kitten (Number 2 out of 3) has just discovered that she likes keeping me company in my study. Of course the "bémol" as they say in France, is that she particularly likes sitting on the piano stool. Well, I' ve been promising myself a duet stool for some little while.....

The thought of hearing an Emma Johnson recital in Leeds next Tuesday. Even though Im not a clarinettist.

Stanford, Faure, Mendelssohn etc

Enjoy! One of my favourite clarinettists, and one of the best live musicians there is

Seeing my Mum!!!! Not seen her since May so it was nice. Just a short visit as my stepfather's still recovering from a heart attack but it was still nice.

Finally managing to record a semi-acceptable performance of a piece on video

When being videoed, it's as if someone is standing there, constantly prodding me!

I finally plucked up the courage to record myself playing my clarinet and was delighted with what I heard!! That's not to say that I am a fantastic player by any stretch but I would not have believed it was me if someone had played it me! I'm also really thrilled that I've done my first really successful piece of improvisation today - another thing which a short time ago, I thought was beyond me!

And yes, I know exactly what you mean, Solari!! It will be quite some time before I do the same thing with my piano!

Seeing my dog play with a toy for the first time since he went blind! Found it and now won't leave it alone Oh I'm too soppy , sorry

That's lovely and not soppy at all!!

It's so annoying - I can usually play fine while the camera is off... lol. To record anything requires several takes if I'm lucky!

I also rush through things when recording as I just want to get it over and done with...

Thanks had to share it it made me the happiest I've been in a long time

That sounds a lot like me taking piano exams!! Top tip though - for some reason, I always play better if it's only the sound I'm recording!




I've just seen your fab profile pic!

I think the fact that you're having to set the recording going beforehand upsets things mentally as it's not a natural thing to do before you start playing!

ha ha thanks. it's my current catchphrase

Receiving e-mails from both my children on the same evening. I know they're busy, but isn't it great when they write home?

The thought of hearing Emma tomorrow !
She is playing:-

Debussy Rhapsodie
Schumann Romances Op94
Saint Saens Sonata
Poulenc Sonata
Stravinsky Three Pieces
Tailleferre Arabesque
Milhaud Scaramouche

Pianist is Jean Marie Cottet. (All for ?13.50!)

I'm really pleased with my little girl- she just got into the county Youth Orchestra- and she's too young to be in it! She was so nervous at the audition. She has a lot on her plate at the moment and she is really pleased. She is only in year 6 so I think she has done really well!

That's nice Clari Nicki.
My eldest told my youngest how much she loved her voluntarily on the way home from Windband.

How lovely!!!!

An early morning jog along the seafront made me very happy this morning.

Bright weather outside and a decent cup of coffee.

I'm just happy!

A nice programme there! The Saint Saens is one of my favourites . The Tailleferre has come to prominence recently, since it got added to the ABRSM grade 7 syllabus...

That's good to hear, Floss.

Getting up at what felt like the crack of dawn to walk across the river, up to the cathedral for a music lecture, then being told that the book to read for this week is one I already have, so doesn't involve being found in any way. The slight problem is that it turns out I managed to leave it at home, but hopefully my mum'll send it in the next couple of days.

I'm working from home today... but I had no work as yet!!!!!! So have been on the piano for most of the day!!!! He he

I saw "Play me, I'm yours" in London streets on French television yesterday evening. I'd read about it on the forums and it really made me smile to see those people enjoying the piano out in the street!! They are going to do it at Paris Plage" next summer. Don't know what state the instruments will be in afterwards but I daresay it has brought a smile to the faces of quite a few in London.

Resting and catching up with stuff after a hectic two weeks that included running courses in Bristol (for Sing Up!), Barnsley (for the Music Service) and at the Royal Northern (for Zone Music Education).

VERY nerve-wracking and exhausting but I think it all went well. Just recovering from the nervous exhaustion and ALL THAT DRIVING!!!!

Thinking about going to Emma Johnson's recital tonight.........

Sold my keyboard on ebay for £103. Including the stand, this meant my keyboard cost under £40 net. Not bad investment since its given my hours of pleasure over the last 9 months.

Music theory classes. SO FUNNY. But probably shouldn't be....

I go with a bunch of friends, and we make up about 3/4 of the class (10-15 in the class) There is a girl in year 7 though, who goes to a nearby private school, and sits with friends. Oh she does make us laugh

She is very bright (we think), and likes people to know it. When the teacher asks specific people questions, she'll whisper the answer really loudly, to make sure that everyone knows that she knows it, but it's quite often wrong... She brings a kitchen timer and places it on her desk, then tells the teacher that we're 3 minutes late finishing.

We were doing simple and compound times today, and triplets and duplets and things. While we were doing dotted thingies for 6,8, and she asked something like "how long would a dotted hemisemidemi etc etc etc etc etc etc etc pause for breath etc etc etc etc etc etc etc quaver be?" cue us lot desperately trying not to laugh.

Later we'd finished writing rhythms, and went on to double dotted notes. The teacher asked me and a couple of others who understood it to explain it to our other friends. We were trying to work out what a double dotted crotchet's value would be. Little miss swotface hadn't finished yet, but came striding over to us and said "if you think you're so clever, then how long would this be?" and had written down a crotchet with 7 dots....

It's so bad of us to laugh... but it's so funny