Over the past two weeks I have come into contact with quite a few other grade-1-a-bees, at rehearsals and through teaching. Enthusiasm levels are still high. Most have been practising every day and I know of one who is practising three times a day. At various rehearsals I see musicians huddled in pairs discussing the finer points of a bow hold, or reed care, getting tips wherever possible. While musicians recognise the weaknesses that they have all have said they are enjoying the practise with one noticing it was nice to be getting better at the instrument rather than just desperately keeping up to standard on their first study instrument. Some have shown concern at their horrendous tone, while others know they have a horrendous tone but have not shown concern. The differences in approach are as great as the characters involved.
My third week started with a 30 minute session shortly after I got home from work although I can just feel the novelty wearing off slightly as I tackle Rondo again. (I have to confess the novelty of the blog is suffering the same fate!) A quarter of the way through and I wonder if I will still make the same mistakes at the end of February. Being back at work teaching small groups and one-to-one is demanding and I do feel quite tired by the end of the day. I thought I had done well to keep on top of my planning by doing lots of preparation at the end of the Christmas holidays but the school lessons have caught up with me and I now have to do preparation for this week. I need to practise my clarinet and sax for other concerts but keep putting it off. My music room is a tip as I am working on several other projects and need bits of music to hand so nothing gets put away properly. The harp stands proudly in the centre overlooking the various repertoire, CDs, instruments and accessories spread across the floor and available surfaces! Actually I did enjoy the harp practise once I got going and played a few easy tunes in F major. Having played most pieces in C major in the first week I got used to seeing C, the red string, as the home note (tonic, key note, 'doh', etc). When I first played in F I found I was getting confused with the note names and kept trying to use the red string of C, rather than the black string of F as my home note. This was confusing for a while but I did manage to shift my way of thinking. Lavenders Blue has reached a moderate standard but refuses to flow as I think it should do. I think that is what concerns me with Rondo and Azaleas in Houston
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