Another one for the C.V.

Day 56 - Clueless in Concert and the presentation

I popped home, had some lunch with Chris and got roped into helping him with his cider. I tend to be associated with scraping the bottle of the barrel so felt at home getting the last dregs into their containers. Back to the Corn Exchange and I arrived to help Rohan set up the little harps. Nine harps on stage looks fabulous. I was seated right on the edge of the stage, a bit scary for someone who usually likes to hide behind the flutes!

Gradually more and more musicians arrived, still buzzing from their exams. Eventually we were herded into our positions and the rehearsal began with the brass Fanfare conducted by Russell Keable. I say Fanfare but it was more like a funfair suffering from a power cut! It was hilarious although not as funny as the delicate woodwind piece, Peter Britton's arrangement of a Couperin piece. Peter was trying so hard to be serious while players laughed at the squawks, squeaks and bassoon noises that emerged. I understand the piece was difficult but the trick of keeping counting and just come in where you can was non-existant! Russell came back stating that the woodwind piece had been produced to make the brass sound good. There were so many other very funny moments and I can't recall them all now. As a string player (I never thought I'd ever say that) I performed Satie's Gymnopedie. This went rather well and here Russell was able to give some advice to the violins, something to do with bow technique which made a huge difference to the quality of the sound. In the Fenland Fantasy all went well until the harp glissando. Russell stopped and all attention was on the nine of us. He asked us to make the gliss a bit longer. We obliged but he then told us to make more of it and go up and down a few times saying "you can't want to play the harp without doing any dramatic glissando!" He got us to do the bar again, and kept us going for far longer than necessary. The rest of the orchestra cheered and we carried on. GOAT Music went as well as could be expected (not very!) and we had a break while Prime Brass rehearsed.

Onto the concert and I met Chris out in the foyer and saw a few of my own pupils and colleagues arriving. While Chris seated himself somewhere near the back I wondered where Jess, Margaret and Mark, Margaret's husband, had got to as they said they were coming too. As we went on stage I heard some commotion and the three of them in true groupie style were on the front row as close to me as they could get!! I waved at them, something I tell my band pupils not to do as it is very unprofessional!

GOAT Orchestra

The Fanfare went quite well and the applause was warm and encouraging. The Couperin began as well as it had finished in the rehearsal and the laughter from not only the audience, but the rest of the orchestra and the woodwind players themselves was so funny. Peter had given one of the early piano (soft) tunes to the oboes and a professional will tell you that soft playing without warming up is very difficult. It wasn't so much the raucous blend of reedy sounds that amused me, nor the contrast of delicate flute sound with heavy saxophone imitation, but the fact that one oboist just couldn't help laughing throughout the entire performance. Every time she thought she had calmed down the oboe would go up to her lips and then her shoulders would bob up and down helplessly. Then she gave up! Gymonpedie was fine apart from some unusual glockenspiel moments.

Performance of Gymnopedie

It was then onto speeches, a good mix of hilarity and seriousness as we learnt about the Grade-1-a-thon and the work of the Spinal Injuries Association. Guy and Maurice did a brilliant performance of Mozart's Rondo from one of the Horn Concertos, even swapping instruments at one point! A Fenland Fantasy was good and as a harp section we all agreed that we would go for the big glissando moment. We pulled it off marvellously!

The amazing lever harp section

The presentation of 140 grade 1 certificates was always going to be a bit ambitious so it was announced that the highest scorer in each section would collect the certificates on behalf of the rest of their section. They were presented by John Holmes, chief examiner or the Associated Board who provided 12 of their 'most patient examiners'. We were told everyone had passed with many scoring distinctions and a fair few of these up in the 140s. Waiting excitedly for the harp results John delayed things by commenting how rare it was to see nine harps, harping on about a performance of Parsifal he was going to see the following week and how he doubted there would be nine harps there! After what seemed like an age he announced the name... and I heard my name called out. Wow, I was top but was it a distinction...? As I stepped up to collect the envelope I heard a cheer from the front row of the audience (thanks fans!). I knew the top mark had also been written on the envelope and wanted to look straight away but had to get the balance of being polite to John by looking him in the eye, shaking his hand and thanking him, and seeing the result as quickly as possible. As soon as I turned back I looked down and saw the little number... 145! I gasped! I'd done it! Not only a distinction but a fantastic one exceeding all my expectations. I quickly calculated how much Mum owed me.

Presentation ceremony

I distributed the certificates and mark sheets to the waiting harpists. In the end all the lever harps ended up with distinctions and the pedal harps were distinctions and one or two very high merits. The results were still going around. I remember Janet, head of music at my Monday morning senior school was top of the flutes and Maurice was top of the horns. We finished with GOAT Music and took a bow.

Final bow

Prime Brass came out to recalibrate the audiences ears and remind them what proper music sounds like. They were fantastic and Guy's solo in Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust was beautifully played. The rest of the evening was a blur as we swapped results and offered congratulations. I got my chauffeur back as Chris drove me and the harp to my car which I'd left on the outskirts of the city.

I went to bed without doing the blog but got up early enough this (Monday) morning to print out a lovely picture of Janet playing the flute during the rehearsal (the one time when she wasn't laughing) to stick on her office door with an appropriate comment ready for when she arrived.

Janet (in the red scarf) - GOAT 2011's Top Flautist

Janet is no stranger to prestigious awards and she was delighted with how it had all gone. She felt honoured to be sitting next to some fine musicians, but on reflection she did note that messing around with a new instrument was what she was used to. Working in education she never really has to play anything to a very high standard, just tells others to play at a high standard! She summed it up nicely when she said "welcome to my world!" The Grade-1-a-thon may be over but the fund raising still continues. The justgiving pages will be open for anther three months. Some people owe me money for my distinction and there is still the opportunity to donate further. Many of us are continuing and I will still dedicate a practise session to you if you donate. I have one person in the queue already. The blog will continue but not quite as frequently. My exam may be over but my journey is only just beginning. Tune in soon for more adventures of my and my harp!

Day 56 - The exam

My sleep was disturbed by a frightful dream in which I'd completely missed my exam. My day didn't start too well when I realised I was going to lose my chauffeur. It was clear that Chris preferred his bed on a Sunday morning rather than a trip with me and the harp to Cambridge so with no one handy to replace him I had to drive myself. The afternoon run to the Corn Exchange was looking unlikely as well as Chris said he wanted to bottle his cider. Such are the highs and lows in 24 hours of show business. I did a little run through of the pieces then packed away the harp and collected my other essentials for the morning. Becky, fellow coach at Palace Band and sponsor from Day 26, recommends that players eat a banana beforehand as they are great for releasing energy slowly and can help you keep calm. I also packed a Cream Egg for after the exam as my advice is if it goes horribly wrong then chocolate will make it all better again! Music, tuner, slip of paper with programme order, lucky mascot (distant relation postcard) and I was ready.

Necessary gear for grade 1

It was a beautiful day and I arrived at the same time as Maureen and Robyn, two of the other lever harpists. We chatted about how we were and how we felt. Maureen had realised that when you get nervous your fingers get slippy, something that we'd not been affected by until now. We discussed how much we disliked Rondo, apart from Robyn who’d made the sensible decision to pick an alternative piece early on. The place was buzzing with musicians, some having done their exams and some warming up. Amelia was already warming up on her harp with Rohan. Rohan's own percussion exam had been ok although the tuned percussion stuff had not gone quite as well as she'd have hoped. Rohan had planned our exams with military precision and when the examiner was having a tea break moved all of our harps into the exam room. We warmed up on Rohan's spare lever harp when it was our turn next and otherwise hung around chatting to others. After arriving very early this morning Maurice had to go back home as they'd left one of the door lists behind. Arriving back at West Road at 8.27am he then had 3 minutes in which to warm himself and his horn up then go in. Thanea, I learned, had not been happy with the oboe so switched to the cello at some point early on. She then stuck with both instruments and took one grade 1 on Friday and one this morning! I hope her sponsors realise they will have to give her double donations now!

Harps and harpists warm up

Of us harpists Amelia went in first. After what seemed like an age she came out looking very relieved. She said there were tiny slips but she was pleased. Rohan disappeared into the exam room and brought out Amelia's harp, setting up Maureen's in front of the music stand. In went Maureen. I had a little warm up and then saw Thanea racing towards me with one of the clarinettists. “Steph! We've got a broken clarinet!” she cried! The clarinettist, Layla, said “I was just playing it this morning and it came apart in my hands!” “I've heard that before from many of my pupils” I replied. Anne was around so had a look as well. A key had fallen off of the top joint. It's a common problem and one I have seen many times before. We checked the case to see if the screw had fallen out but both of the necessary screws were still attached to the joint. The top screw had worked loose allowing the key to fall off. Easily sorted. I fixed the key back into position and Anne pulled out a tiny screwdriver to screw the offending screw back in. Layla thanked us with a hug and went off cheerfully to do her exam. I say cheerfully but I couldn't help wondering if that was the last of her excuses to get out of doing the exam. Maureen came out of the exam room and Rohan disappeared in to get my harp sorted. Maureen said Rondo didn't go to plan and she had to restart it a couple of times. There were a few too many slips so she asked the examiner if she could play it again. The examiner thought for a bit then said “ok, go on then!” Maureen said it went much better on the second time. It was then my turn and in I went. I said hello and handed my slip to the examiner. We didn't have to do that but I thought I'd make a good impression by being prepared. I began with scales. C major first, nice and easy because my harp was already set in C. Then B flat major. Ok, two flats, B flat and E flat so that means, er, which levers need to be up, er, move the A, no that's not A, and then a tumble-weed floated across my brain. I should have practised this more. I had another look at the levers but couldn't quite distinguish which were which. I was about to start and realised I'd moved a G lever. I moved it back and set off. The last two notes were wrong and I grimaced and carried on! “Would you like to do that one again?” she asked. “Yes please!” I flipped the erroneous levers and did it again. The rest of the scales were fine and the pieces all went very nicely. I didn't get too nervous but remembered thinking during one of the pieces that this was it, I was now in the exam but then remembered not to put myself off and get back to concentrating on the pieces. The sight-reading was easy-peasy and I was able to play it twice in the 30 seconds. The aural was also fine and apart from possibly beginning the pulse test twice as fast sorted it out and think that was fine. It went by very quickly and Jan, the examiner, asked me what my regular instrument was. She said if she had taken up the grade 1 challenge she would have picked the harp. I thanked her and left with a big smile on my face. Rohan greeted me as I came out. I told her it was fine apart from B flat major and she raised her hand as if to swipe my stupidity! She went in to bring my harp out and I packed it away whilst chatting to others who had since arrived. I was delighted to have found a new chauffeur! Rohan offered to take all the harps to the Corn Exchange and we left them all neatly lined up for her.

Eany, Meenie, Miney and Moe

 As I was saying goodbye to a few people Rohan told me she had another photo opportunity. A game called Harp Tetris! 

Rohan finishes loading her car

One pedal harp and five lever harps.

Day 55 - The final practice performance and thoughts for the future

Just one day to go and so my practice this morning was focussed on last minute preparation practising the pieces in order, playing through scales, orchestra pieces and then just keeping the fingers moving by going through lots of other tunes. These 25 minutes are dedicated to Cathy, a cellist and colleague at the county music service. Cathy is a great player and last year we worked together for a week in a group performing Carnival of the Animals for schools in the Cambridge area. Cathy and I are working on a similar project this year, along with Margaret, Jess and Janine (see blogs ad passim) and as well as some great ensemble playing we will also have a lot of fun and plenty of laughs. Preparation for that will be one of the things my attentions will be turned to once my grade 1 and 'Clueless in Concert' are over.

Following my 15 seconds of fame yesterday I have gone up in the world as the harp and I now have a chauffeur! The last warm-up gig before the exam and concert tomorrow was at Chris's parents, Judith and Martin, and I was able to rely on Chris to take us both there and back. Chris opened the door for the harp which slid easily along the luxurious back seats of the Lexus (much more stylish than my little Yaris!). However I then had to open my own door so will need to have words with the chauffeur at some point. After a lovely meal and profiteroles made by Judith I performed my exam pieces in order although starting with Rondo after having a glass of wine was probably not the best move. After one restart all went well and I did an encore of Merry-Go-Round and Lullaby both of which I now have from memory and just need the music as a guide. Since I have started learning the harp Judith has been inspired to get her guitar out and has started playing some familiar tunes again. She said she can relate to some of the points I have made about frustration when it doesn't go well and how performances always include at least one error, no matter how minor! She also realises that you really do need to play every day to keep the fingers used to plucking the strings.

The rest of the day passed without any additional sponsors but I managed another 10 minutes in the evening. I have really enjoyed keeping the diary of all my harping activities and have decided that the blog will continue along with my interest but not on a daily basis as that has been as exhausting as the playing! I might aim to write something weekly, or whenever anything interesting happens. The justgiving site will be open for another month or so and if anyone wants to sponsor me after the exam I can dedicate any future practice sessions to anyone who wishes to donate. After all, I might need the motivation! I am hoping to go to a concert next weekend to see a harpist called Lucy Bunce who will be performing with Trevor Barlow (see blogs ad passim again) and I will be keeping my eyes open for other players as well. Six degrees of separation becomes just two when you only consider the music world and a friend gave me a tip-off that I actually know the partner of Claire Jones, the harpist to the Prince of Wales (as mentioned fleetingly on Day 53). I have ordered Claire's CD and will keep my eyes open in case she happens to be appearing in this area. I am looking forward to getting some new pieces and progressing through the grades with Rohan's expert guidance. I also hope to arrange pieces to play with my flautist friends. Dave, our neighbour, has said that the local youth theatre group may be interested in a performance. Dave's wife and Eleanor's mum Debbie was working yesterday and was extremely disappointed to miss the children's concert so I'll invite them over soon. In the meantime I am excited and ever-so-slightly nervous about tomorrow. In some ways I'll be glad when it's over but will no doubt miss the excitement and build up of the last two months.

Long lost ancestor

As well as receiving donations I have also been sent other little harp related gifts including this postcard from Caroline. Caroline thinks this may be a distant relation of mine as we have similar hair and a distant glazed look in our eyes!

Day 54 - A children's concert and a television broadcast

I crawled out of bed and put the telly on just in time to see myself plucking away on the screen. The broadcast that I caught just at the end of breakfast news was very brief so I had to wait until the lunchtime news to see the whole lot. The messages that poured in (both of them) suggested that I featured prominently so it was a nervous wait. However I had something else to take my mind off of things. These days most orchestras and professional ensembles have to do more than just perform to paying audiences in order to survive and many of them have entire departments devoted to educational projects. Aware that my exam preparation had not yet included a younger audience I invited a couple of the neighbours and their children round for a recital and hands-on experience with the harp. I was aware that this might be my toughest crowd yet so I armed myself with a carefully thought-out programme and some home-made biscuits. Just after 11 Tilly and Evie arrived with mum Jo, followed by Dave with daughter Eleanor and friend Paris. After providing drinks and biscuits I began with Lavender's Blue as this one is well known. I then did The Ball and finished with Azaleas in Houston. The girls and parents were very well behaved and all sat listening without making a sound (although this may have been because their mouths were full of biscuits) and applauded when I finished. I asked if they'd like to have a go on the harp but they all shook their heads. Jo decided she'd like a go and I showed her how to pluck the strings. She enjoyed the sound and feel but even this wasn't enough to persuade the girls to give it a go. Dave also played for a bit and found the notes for Ode to Joy. One by one the four girls decided they did want to try it. They were all tentative at first but soon got into it. I started teaching the notes for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Tilly was soon able to play it without needing me to point to the strings. As they gained in confidence it was difficult to get them off and we ended up with a queue. As one girl finished she would jump off of the chair and go round to the back of the queue while the next one jumped onto the chair! They might still be there now if the parents hadn't dragged them away to get lunch ready or go roller blading!

The harp and I settled down in front of the telly after lunch to watch the news and there we both were!

Me and the harp watch ourselves on the box. Mum's other half Paul said the 'behind bars' look suits me!

We were indeed the opening shot and typically the short snippet I was playing was the hardest bit in the whole of that piece! After moving around the orchestra we then saw Guy talking about the event followed by Elizabeth. This is what Guy looks like when he is on the telly.

Guy and his guitar

Just 1 minute 30 seconds but a good bit of publicity and maybe it will bring a few more people to the concert on Sunday. For those of you not lucky enough to live in the Anglia region the clip can be seen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-12581343

Onto my next practise session and this one is dedicated to Ian, a guitarist and teacher who was a fellow peri teacher at a high school in Bishop's Stortford. Many a chat was conducted in the practice room corridor while we waited for students to turn up. Around the time I was doing my dissertation Ian was also working towards an MA and chose to look at the 'Plight of the Peri'. As peripatetic music teachers we are a very strange breed and not fully understood by other members of the education profession and Ian's short film aimed to answer some of the questions surrounding our occupation. Ian's practice session was another lengthy one, lasting around 40 minutes, and featured everything again. Scales and exam pieces were fine, GOAT Music feels much better now that I have heard it with some of the other players, and other newer pieces felt much better. I have another queue of sponsors now so practised again this evening. I had another anonymous sponsor so perhaps this is my Russian patron (rather than a small clerical error like the one made by Emma on Day 37). I did another twenty minutes for my mysterious guest and finished with a little practise on La fôret mysterieuse.

Day 53 - The Mighty Quo and a gig for the BBC

While Mum was taking me to classical concerts and buying me classical cassette tapes to further my musical development I was receiving an alternative musical education from my Dad. Mum would drop me and Viki off at Dad's on Saturday afternoons after music centre or youth orchestra and as we arrived we could usually hear music of some kind blaring out from the hi-fi system. More often than not it was an LP (that's a 'long playing' record for readers under the age of 25) from his immense record collection and it varied from week to week. Usually it was Iron Maiden or ACDC but when I played Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition with County Training Orchestra Dad pulled out Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Pictures at an Exhibition album. When Viki started the flute we learnt about Focus and Jethro Tull. Viki eventually developed a preference for Guns n' Roses and Bon Jovi while I showed an interest in the synthesised sounds of Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream. However the group that we both became fans of, and the one that Dad has his greatest regard for, was Status Quo. You may joke about those three chords but the Quo managed to create a lot of good music with them. Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt have been together for over 40 years, much longer than many top string quartets and they are not only fine musicians but top entertainers as well. We've seen them in concert several times and it is usually a great show. I've never seen such a wide range of people in any other audience, from stylish young girls to ageing rockers (or was that just me and Dad!), an equal mix of male and female, young and old, denim-clad and anything-other-than-denim-clad. It seem odd mentioning the Quo alongside all the harp posts but when you consider that Prince Charles is also a big Status Quo fan (you can hear the crowd calling "Charlie, Charlie" on one of the live albums) and then remember he has his own harpist then there is a pretty strong connection. And perhaps without the Quo my own musical talents might be lacking. After all, that head banging and air guitar practise to Down Down and Whatever You Want on those Saturday afternoons must have improved my pulse and rhythm skills considerably! Dad has made a very generous donation so today's practise is dedicated to Dad and Sue, his wife, who has been successful in making him turn the volume down, or at least wear headphones. I played for over an hour and this session was an important one as I'd had the email informing me the recording for BBC Look East would be taking place this afternoon at 4pm. We were to play Jeremy Thurlow's GOAT Music so I included that in my practice. I also worked out the order for my grade 1 exam and will be starting with Rondo, just to get it out of the way first, then Azaleas and finishing with the lighter piece The Ball. I finished my session by downloading a simple difficult piano version of Rockin' All Over The World. Not sure if the gentle angelic tones of the harp suit the rhythmic rock character of the mighty Quo but Dad will be pleased to know I gave it a go!

Shortly before 4pm around 20 musicians, some looking slightly nervous, wandered into the Guildhall in Cambridge. We set ourselves up in the Large Hall, which was a challenge as we had to remember not to go to our usual orchestral positions. I went behind the violins and did a few very quiet plucks.

While our reporter Waseem Mirza set up we had a run through of GOAT Music. Usually in a difficult situation I like to say that this has Potential with a capital P to offer some kind of encouragement but I'm just glad I didn't have to comment at that stage. I heard bits of the tune but the overwhelming sound of feet tapping and counting out loud to keep time was my strongest impression of the first run through. Maurice (does the man have no end to his talents?) put down his horn and conducted us for the next go. I have to confess I forgot to look at him but the overall sound was much better. We all seemed to get more confident although I got a little worried when a microphone appeared almost under my nose. So now I had to remember not to swear as well.

We were asked to play through the piece three or four times. Two of the three cameras were stationary while the other went around with Waseem filming us individually. Guess who was first… Me! As he poked the camera through my strings I tried very hard not to do my cheesy grin or mouth the numbers 1,2,3,4 as I was counting. As a nice touch he followed my hand as I did the glissando and captured a few right notes as well as wrong ones. After our fourth performance he moved further out into the hall before doing an interview with Elizabeth, from the SIA, while we rehearsed quietly (I SAID QUIETLY) in the background then he moved up to the balcony to get a great opening shot. Each playing got considerably better and there were some impressive sounds from all sections. I chatted with Amy, a singer who is doing very well on the tenor saxophone. I offered her a few tips and taught her G sharp. I also met Sue, one of the pedal harpists. Sue wasn't able to bring her harp as it doesn't fit in her car so she played her regular instrument. I won't tell you which one though in case you watch the broadcast. She is doing two of the same exam pieces as me and has also found Rondo to be difficult. However she has enjoyed it and is thinking about getting a lever harp afterwards to carry on. As we were leaving Guy was with his guitar about to be interviewed. We have been told that the report should be broadcast during tomorrow's (Friday's) breakfast news and then throughout the day on Look East. Most of my family and a great many friends are in the eastern region so should be able to see it.

Excerpt from John Holt's 'Never Too Late'

I'm not sure if I need permission to copy out a large chunk of a chapter but here anyhow is an insight into the mind of an amateur cellist at an orchestra rehearsal. Similar thoughts will probably going through the minds of myself and my fellow grade-1-a-bees on Sunday afternoon and evening:

"The conductor holds up his baton and we begin. It is a new piece, new for us, new certainly to me. I have a faint hope that since we are reading it through for the first time the conductor will take it at a slightly slower tempo, which will give me the chance to catch a few more of the notes. No such luck. We take it at full speed, faster, even, than many professional orchestra. Most of the players are considerably better than I am, and certainly better music readers; even if the music sounds a bit ragged, they are catching most of the notes. Ahead of me I can see the fingers and bow of our number three cellist flying over the instrument. No problems for her. For me it is a wild scramble. It is hard for me even to make my eyes move fast enough across the lines of notes, let alone play those notes. My mind is full of frantic thoughts. Here come some strange quarter notes, I can play them at least. But now a strange-looking passage. Are these octaves? How in the world do I finger this section? How do I play it when I don't even know what it sounds like? Ah, three measures of rest. At least I can count this, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, play! Oops! Too soon; I am a beat ahead of the cellists in front of me. How in the world could I have miscounted those measures of rest? Could they have made a mistake? No. No time to worry about it; here come a bunch of sixteenth notes. I'll never make them at this tempo. Try to catch the first note in each group of four, the way they all tell you. That's a lot easier said than done. Damn! I've lost my place. How come those guys can read this stuff right off the paper? I'll try to catch the other cellists when they come out of this passage. There! Back with them again. Out of the corner of my eye I see that my partner has lost his place. With left index finger I point it out to him on the music, moving the finger along for a measure or two until he gets the swing of it. Now an easy exposed passage for us, a chance to make some nice sounds. Oops! I'm not with the folks in front. What happened? No time now to think about it. What in the world is this coming up? Try to imitate what the people in front are playing. Look at the notes, don't skim them, don't give up. Lost my place again, can't tell where the others are. Look ahead, there's some low notes, watch them, see when their bows go down to the C string. There! Now! Back with them for a while anyway. Whew! The conductor is stopping, wants to do something again. Quick look at that bad passage, how can I finger that? No time, here we go again, have to work that out at home.

"And so on until break, five minutes or so, and then on until 9:25, when we stop. We pack up stands, music, instruments, talking and gossiping a little more freely after playing. I feel full of excitement and tension, the way I used to years ago after playing a close and fast game of Ping-Pong – it always took me an hour or so to wind down. The leaders of the orchestra do their best to break up our little gossip sessions: “Come on, everybody, we're supposed to be out of here by now.” Someone offers me a ride to the Square. Once there I go down into the subway, take the train back to Charles Street, walk home. Twenty past ten. Still time for a little practice before I go to bed. Let's take a look at that hard passage, work it out with a metronome. An hour later I am playing it – at just half the proper tempo. Enough for today."

 

Day 52 - Distinction bonus scheme

My day started with a lesson with Maggs from Day 27 who is working towards her grade 5 clarinet. She really enjoys her playing but gets nervous playing in front of others, even in a lesson situation! Maggs knows it will pass but finds it can impair her enjoyment. She plays really well and with some concentration on certain aspects she should do really well. As we were finishing I read her a passage from John Holt's Never Too Late.  I'll copy that out tomorrow as a separate post but it is well worth reading to understand the working of the mind when under pressure in a rehearsal.

True to his word I had a donation from Derek and my 40 minutes of practise today is dedicated to him. In addition to being a capable pianist, clarinettist and saxophonist Derek is also a great artist and graphic designer. He has provided illustrations and cover designs for Palace Band programmes in the past. He is also a fabulous baker and occasionally provides the cakes for band rehearsals. Derek's session went through everything again, keeping the orchestra pieces up to standard, checking the exam pieces, going through new pieces and working on scales. I did the scales with the metronome and went through as many as I could changing the levers to get the different keys. I bought the revised grade 1 aural tests book and CD recently so I went through one of those. These were very easy but I needed to go through the routine so I am fully on top of these.

This evening I went to Northampton as Mum was visiting Nanny. Nanny heard me play on her birthday (Day 33) but Mum has yet to hear me play so I went round there to give another recital. I played my exam pieces plus a few others and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I was rewarded with a massive chocolate eclair! Mum now has a bonus scheme: £10 if I get a distinction and £1 for each mark above 130 so if I get 135 I get £15. We haven't discussed what would happen if I get less than 130 (or if I fail!) and I worry she might ask for money back so I'll just have to keep working hard or not tell her if I don't pass.

Day 51 - What the school holidays are really for

Half term means I can do lots of activities that I wouldn't normally get the chance to do during a normal working week. Top of the list is a lie-in and I easily managed that today. However I did get up just in time to do a practise session from 10.30 to 11. I prefer to practise in the afternoon or evening but as my exam will be at 10.45 I need to get used to these early starts! The fingers take a bit of warming up but as long as I remember to take Rondo at a slightly slower pace I should be able to keep everything under control. It was then off for lunch at Jess's with Janine (from Day 43), Margaret and Jess (both at the Wreck-cital). Jess did a lovely lasagne and I played a couple of my pieces afterwards. I am growing fond of the idea of becoming a peripatetic harpist, playing my five minute recital in return for a meal and a spot of company! While Jess finished clearing up Janine and Margaret tested me on my scales. Naturally they chose E flat major first as they thought it was the hardest one. Of course you should know by now this is the easiest as you don't need any levers on. They enjoyed my little performance and Lullaby went quite well. I still need the music but almost have this from memory now.

Margaret had bought along a video clip that she had taken of a harpist busking in the subway at South Kensington underground station. His harp was taller than mine so he played standing up. His pillar looked more like a banister pole than an ornate, beautifully shaped harp pillar. He was playing a Latin piece which was different and really entertaining.

I went home and had a lovely afternoon with Derek (who has promised to become a sponsor soon!), a clarinet and soprano saxophone player with the Palace Band. He brought along a piece that he has written and hopes to arrange for the band at some point. I've mentioned many amateur musicians and the instruments they play and while some of them improvise from time to time Derek is the first I can think of who has written something original. It was lovely stuff starting with some rich jazz chords and the hint of a Satie Gymnopedie followed by a Latin influenced middle section which will have some opportunity for improvisation. Derek has a clear idea of what he wants so we discussed ideas and suggestions to develop it into an ensemble piece. He left me with a copy of what he has written so far and I had a little go on the harp. I thought it worked quite nicely but Derek is the composer so I'll let him be the final judge! After tea I got another 30 minutes in on Lullaby, exam pieces and GOAT Music. There is one passage in GOAT Music where the composer Jeremy Thurlow has asked to change the C lever to C sharp for three glissandi (sliding your finger from the bottom string to the top string of the harp). Rohan has advised leaving it out as it's too much but I have worked out a sneaky way of changing to C sharp. As my right hand does the glissando my left hand keeps one step in front changing the C levers along the way. It might just work!

Day 50 - Into the final week

Most of the talk is now definitely on the exam and concert day which is less than a week away and my own thoughts have begun to think about what to do after Sunday's exam and concert. My research into adult learners was not particularly ground-breaking and came up with a lot of similarities between child and adult learners. However it did suggest that the main difference between the two groups was the rate of progress. Adults starting out were very clear with what they wanted and knew much of the music they would be playing and what it should sound like. Many got to a grade 5 level fairly easily but then realised it needed more practise to get higher so were happy staying around that level. The children took longer to get through the first few grades but then continued up to a higher level without realising it was getting harder. Of course this is a generalisation and there are exceptions but I have begun to think where I will be in a few months or years time. I am hoping to keep practising and progressing but do wonder if it does start to get more difficult will I be happy remaining at a level neither going forwards nor backwards. For now there is still much to learn and I am looking forward to some new challenges after Sunday.

There is still one more week to go and this morning I went to Northampton to do two mini performances. The first was for my Grandma who is currently in a respite care home. She is going deaf so I had to sit quite close and play loudly and I think she enjoyed it! I then went round to Dad's as it was his birthday. Dad got his camera out and I played to him and his wife Sue for a good ten minutes, performing my exam pieces and my other recent repertoire. Merry-go-round didn't go quite as well as I'd have hoped. I forgot my music stand so had to rest the music lower down and kept getting lost! I also had to cope with Bosun, a lively border collie barking during Rondo but he quietened down when he realised I wouldn't be stopping no matter how much noise he made! I played my own arrangement of Happy Birthday and left Dad and Sue to enjoy the rest of their day off.

This afternoon's practice was for Gisela, a clarinettist with Palace Band. As well as playing with the band Gisela performs with several chamber groups. I did half an hour on orchestra pieces, new pieces and scales. I do feel ready to learn some new pieces but will try to keep focussed on the current music until Sunday. I finished the day playing with the County Youth Wind Orchestra at West Road Concert Hall. This is a fairly young band but they all played extremely well. I do know that several of the players are planning on coming to the Clueless in Concert. To have you peers attending is nerve wracking enough but to have your pupils just puts even more pressure on! I'd best keep practising!

Day 49 - Performance for the Palace Band

Members of the Palace Band have been incredibly generous so I took the harp along to this morning's rehearsal. Just before the tea break I treated them to a performance of The Ball, Rondo and Azaleas. They listened attentively and applauded heartily. They then asked lots of questions about the strings, tuning, ease of learning the technique, will I continue, how much does one cost, where are the pedals, and so on. One member even commented on the impressive dynamic range and wondered how I could do this after such a short amount of time learning. I leapt upon this and said that dynamics were not that difficult but it just required a bit of thought. Hint hint to the band! They all appeared to be very interested and I gained another two sponsors. I left the harp out and a few of them had a closer look while a couple of daring members had a pluck.

Afterwards I headed to another rehearsal in Cambridge with the County Youth Wind Orchestra (CYWO) who have a concert tomorrow evening. While the average age is somewhat lower than the Palace Band's, the rehearsals are very similar and a mixture of hard work, enjoyment of the music and a sense of fun are apparent. Players from both groups need to be constantly reminded of the dynamics and to watch the conductor, especially in the last bar!

My practice this evening was for Margaret, clarinettist with the Palace Band. Margaret started learning in a large class some years ago and joined the Palace Band around the same time that I did. She has recently bought herself a bass clarinet to further her musical interests. I can't let a tribute to Margaret go by without mentioning her faithful companions - husband David and Ziggy the dog! David and Ziggy often attend end of course concerts and we know from Ziggy's tail wag that his favourite composer is Bach! Margaret's session was for 40 minutes (during Top Gear again) and after a quick breeze through the exam pieces I spent some time on the orchestra pieces. I have been playing GOAT Music with the metronome but on the day I will have to watch Russell Keable, the conductor rather than listen to a beat. I switched the metronome onto silent and put it on the edge of the music stand so that I could see it out of the corner of my eye. The swish of the arrow back and forwards gave me a pulse and I tried to keep one eye on that, one eye on the music and one eye on the harp strings. It's not easy but at least I know what I'm aiming for - three eyes. I did some work on Merry-go-Round as I am going to include this in my repertoire for tomorrow's mini-performance alongside my established repertoire. More about that tomorrow and to give you a clue I finished with an attempt at Happy Birthday!

Harpo Reeve performs Azaleas in Houston

Day 48 - Anxiety dreams

When I first got interested in psychology one of my first points of reference was Sigmund Freud. However I lost some interest when I realised he had no interest in music either in his work or as something to do or listen to in his spare time. How can someone with that much passion for the human mind not care to consider how music might play a part in it?! He also missed out on a large body of research involving musicians' dreams which might have filled up another volume of his work! Most performing musicians suffer from anxiety dreams usually as a concert or important event is looming, or just from time to time to keep us on our toes. They are often reoccurring and my usual one is aiming to get to a concert to find myself held up by cancelled train or unsure whether to turn left or right, or being asked to do a random task by a friend. I know I need to press on and get there but find it hard to tell the friend I am helping that I must go. The dream then morphs into something else although that nagging feeling that I should be playing somewhere remains. This can be easily explained as I dislike arriving late and usually plan my journeys meticulously, especially if they involve public transport or anywhere within the M25. Fellow Palace Band conductor Caroline, usually a flautist, has often told of the dream in which she is on stage ready to play. The conductor steps up, she looks down and realises there is a French horn in her hands, an instrument of which she knows nothing! This always raises a laugh, and is especially apt given that for 140 of us this will be reality next Sunday. I had one with the harp a few weeks before the first lesson. In reality I know that my harp is tuned to E flat. That means that when all the levers are in neutral position it can play an E flat major scale. However in my dream I found myself with a large group of harpists. Someone resembling Rohan was helping us get prepared and as we all settled down she went to the piano and played an A for us to tune. I thought to myself, it's E flat surly and looked around to see all the other harpists happily tuning in A. I don't know how I knew they were in A but in my dream I just knew! No one seemed to notice my concern. I wanted to speak up and ask why mine was E flat but kept quiet and worried until I woke up in a cold sweat! Then this morning I had another. I was playing the harp with someone (not sure who but they had an uncanny resemblance to Rohan!) attempting to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I couldn't do it and, even worse, I couldn't understand why I couldn't do it. I assume this is my sub-conscious warning me not to get complacent and that I should do some more practise ready for next Sunday.

Worried by this warning I practised straight after breakfast, at 11.30am. Well it's Saturday and I'm on my holidays. Another 45 minutes on all exam pieces, orchestral repertoire and other pieces, all feeling fine and fun. There has been some activity at the SIA office as Look East, our regional BBC News team might want to do a feature in the week. We have had an email asking if we might be able to get to the Corn Exchange at some point in the week. It is half term for me so I could be free. As you may have guessed I prefer to remain in the background and shy away whenever there is a hint of fame or publicity but I volunteered myself just in case they need the numbers. I'll let you know if that goes ahead.

I did small bursts of practise in the afternoon, a piece here and there, nothing too strenuous probably only about 10 minutes in total. I also got my technical assistant (Chris) to use his new camera to record a performance of Azaleas in Houston (as demanded by my Mum). At the time of writing it is still uploading but I'm off for a final performance of Fiddler on the Roof now so that may appear tomorrow.

Day 47 - Orchestral harpists and a special surprise

I have a slightly later start on a Friday so managed to get 20 minutes in this morning. An absent pupil meant that I could catch up with my Harp and Harpists book by Roslyn Rensch that I had packed along with Clarinet Basics and Selected Grade 1 Flute Pieces. Even after the double action pedal harp was developed care was still needed when writing for the harp as time to change pedals and do certain trills was not always allowed by the composer. Berlioz was considered a master of harp writing and in his Treaty on Instrumentation and Orchestration he discussed effective ways to write for the harp. He was inspired to write challenging harp parts after hearing an English born harpist by the name of Elias Parish Alvars. Alvars was a particularly impressive player and Berlioz heard him play on a number of occasions. However other harpists couldn't match Alvar's technique and many found the parts for Symphonie Fantastique and Harold in Italy too hard. Berlioz felt his harp parts were too easy but at a performance of Harold in Italy in Brunswick the harpist there played the part fine in rehearsal but had a panic attack during the concert and just stopped playing during a very important moment accompanying the solo viola! While writing my blog I have Symphonie Fantastique playing. The best movement to hear from the harpist's point of view is The Ball. You may recall that I am playing The Ball for my grade 1 but where mine represents a spherical bouncy thing Berlioz's one is a Waltz at a party and much more glamorous. There are two harp parts and Berlioz even suggests at least two players on each part.

After school I checked my emails and was delighted to have received a message, through Caroline, from much admired harpist Sioned Williams! I imagine Sioned will have played Symphonie Fantastique many times in her position as principal harpist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She is not too well at the moment so I really appreciate her communication and I wish her a speedy recovery. She has made a donation therefore I have great pleasure in dedicating this afternoon's practise to Sioned. I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable sessions I have had, possibly because of my esteemed sponsor but perhaps also because I am now officially on half term! I lost track of time but think it was over an hour. I started with a few scales then moved on to the orchestral pieces. The GOAT Music is really coming on but the trick will be to play in time with the conductor and rest of the orchestra and not stop at every mistake. I set the metronome to the required speed (crotchet at 132 which is quite quick) and I found most of it worked. The six bars in the middle are still too hard but there may be a way of sharing that out with the others on the day. If we play alternate bars the sound is still there and we each get longer to prepare for the next entry. The end is also unpredictable but hopefully by the time we get there everyone will be playing loudly and our wrong notes will not be noticed. I just hope no one else has the same game plan! I played my exam pieces, still working on dynamic contrast, and went through some of the other grade 1 pieces Rohan has provided 'for fun' and there are some lovely ones in here. I was instantly attracted to Lullaby and The Merry-go-Round, both by Anne Macdearmid. I can play them fairly well and may aim to put them into one of my mini performances in the week. They are not quite up to the standard of my current exam pieces so I will definitely be sticking with Azaleas in Houston, The Ball (the one by Bouchaud, not Berlioz) and Rondo.

It was then off to Sawston Youth Drama to play the clarinet in their production of Fiddler on the Roof. Mazeltov!

Day 46 - Pilgrim harps

Half term draws just that little bit nearer which is great, but my Grade 1 exam and the 'Clueless in Concert' performance is also now just around the corner. After the exam I will carry on playing the harp, perhaps not with quite the same dedication as I have shown over the last 7 weeks but hopefully with as much enjoyment. I am currently hiring my harp from Pilgrims. I had a call from them today as my current three month hire period finishes on the 27th (the day of my exam!) and they were ringing to let me know what the options were. I could continue hiring but I am also tempted to buy a harp and could buy brand new or second hand so they went through the deals I could consider. The workshops are in a lovely setting near Godstone, Surrey. Unfortunately you have to go all the way round the M25 to get there but once there you are in the middle of the countryside. The main room is full of harps, which shouldn't be surprising but it is an amazing sight for someone who only has woodwind instruments lying around.

The practice was for myself this evening as I have had no new sponsors and it was very laid back again. I had been concerned that my posture might not be right but after getting the thumbs up from Rohan (get it? thumbs up?!) on Tuesday I felt more relaxed. I went through a few old pieces and just had fun listening to the sound. I went on for about 25 minutes not realising the time until my next pupil arrived. I have fixed two more little performances on top of the others I have planned for half term week so preparation is still going to plan.

Rohan, Steph and the two harps

Day 45 - Post concert analysis

I managed a relaxed 30 minutes this evening and the session was dedicated to Fleur, a flautist and recent piccolist in Walden Winds. Fleur is another of the flautists I am hoping to play with in the future and she may even have got us a gig as there is a big anniversary in her family later in the year that will need some classy entertainment. Failing to come up with anyone else Fleur thought of me! Fleur is also a really good photographer so perhaps I'll get her to do my publicity shots for my first CD release. After the concert last night Rohan gave me a few pointers about my performance. She said on the whole hand position, thumbs and elbows looked good although there was still a bit of tension in my shoulders so I can think about that. She enjoyed the pieces (although I sometimes tell pupils that if I think encouragement will be more beneficial than honesty) and she suggested making more of the dynamics in Rondo and being less hard with the glissando in the Ball. Rohan demonstrated how the thumb should just glide effortlessly down the strings. That way I would also be less likely to make my thumb sore. Like a diligent pupil (coz I know Rohan will probably read this!) I considered all her points in my practice today. The dynamics in Rondo range from piano (soft), through mezzo forte (fairly strong), forte (strong) to fortissimo (very strong). To get the range I needed to plan four different levels so played the first phrase at each of the levels to see if I could get a clear difference. I can currently get two levels - next to non-existant and super strong - so will need to refine my technique to get a couple more levels in between. Feeling confident after yesterday's performance I then moved onto some older pieces and had a look at some of the other grade 1 pieces just to see if there was anything else that could take the place of Rondo. I think I will stick with Betty Paret's little ditty now though and will include it in my next performance which is for the Palace Band on Sunday. 

Day 44 - The Wreck-cital

I managed a good two minutes on the harp this morning before school. I had planned more but didn't get up early enough. I went through Rondo just to make sure it was ok for this evening. Time was short this evening as well but I did manage another 20 minutes of final concert preparation and O Sanctissima. This session was dedicated to sax player and fellow sax quartet member Mike. We have often joked that if Mike was in charge of music education all of his lessons would consist of recordings and videos of the great jazz players followed by mass jam sessions. And with his enthusiasm and knowledge this would be no bad thing! Mike is a great player and quartet rehearsals at his house finish with cheese and biscuits - very cultured! After Mike's session I packed the harp away and set off for Oakington. Rohan was already there tuning her own harp. She then had a look over my harp in the way an aunty looks over a young neice or nephew and set about tuning it for me! We had a quick run through of the Victorian Kitchen Garden pieces and a piece called The Nightingale by an American harpist. Audience and particpants began arriving and just after 7.00 Jane volunteered to 'perform' first. A brilliant violinist and leader of Hunts Phil, the orchestra I play with on Thursdays, Jane looked quite different with a horn in her hands. She announced her first piece, asked to check her first note, checked her first note then began. I thought the first three phrases were pretty good but in phrase four she had a breakdown and erupted with laughter, as did the audience. Jane apologised and started again managing just the first two phrases this time. A third attempt saw her get half way through then she took a big gasp and said "it sounded better at home" a phrase we have all heard before from our own pupils. The rest went as well as could be expected. She then played Hot Chilli, a great little rhumba and the determination to play the cha-cha-cha with accents in the middle was daring and hilarious! After the final cha-cha-cha the audience cheered and applauded Jane who then made a quick exit out the back! She returned after the horn was safely back in the case and I took my place on the stage. Although I was quite confident the need to bring plenty of humour in overtook and a few jokes were shared with the audience. The Ball went well and I remembered all the little details. I announced Rondo as 'the bane of my life' and this then went suprisingly well. I took it a little slower than usual which helped and then finished with Azaleas in Houston. There were a few buzzes from fingers touching vibrating strings but again this went well. I took an exaggerated bow and sat down. Next up was Lyn, a flautist who played the cello. She had a good tone and apart from a few dodgy notes she played both of her pieces with son James on piano very nicely. James then played the clarinet with Lyn accompanying. James included some impressive embellishments in his two pieces. Peter, a pianist, conductor and arranger of one of the orchestra pieces also played the cello. Peter managed to look incredibly professional and brought in his accompanist clearly. Andrea, a clarinettist and music therapist played the bassoon and then horn player Helen performed on the violin. Rohan and Anne played their own xylophone pieces and followed that with some duets, nicely performed. They are a natural duo team although I sensed that their rehearsals may have involved elbows being dug into ribs as they competed for space! Sensing the unease in the audience we moved onto our proper instruments and I played the Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite movements Prelude and Summer. It was lovely playing with Rohan and I thoroughly enjoyed the blend of harp and clarinet sounds.

Anne and Lyn's flute duet was great as was James on the piano then we were treated to two new pieces from a student in the audience. I didn't catch the name but will ask Anne tomorrow. Andrea on clarinet and Peter on piano played Music Box No. 1 then several players including Peter back on the cello played Wandering Albatross. It had to be restarted and Rohan was called upon to conduct. This was better but still didn't stop the composer, sitting on the back row, from giggling throughout. It was a highly entertaining evening and my groupies Jess and Margaret sitting with Chris said they had enjoyed it. They already have their tickets for the 'Clueless in Concert' on the 27th but now they have a taste of what they are in for I hope they are not currently on ebay trying to flog them to an unsuspecting punter! Anne had provided hot chocolate and biscuits afterwards and we all chatted about our experiences so far. Jane explained that ideally she needs a half hour warm up on the horn then she has a five minute window where everything goes well then that's it for the day! She also noted that having the instrument out all the time makes it easier to actually do some practise and this is something all of us suggest pupils should do if they say they forget to practise. We have all realised that when we get into difficulties we can't bluff it as we would normally do on our main instruments. Everyone is having a great time and the Wreck-cital was a great opportunity to share experiences and make ourselves feel a little better about our impending performances. Thanks to Anne and husband Mike for organising such a great evening!

Day 43 - The aural tests and last minute Wreck-cital preparation

I end today feeling rather smug as I finally got some aural practise done courtesy of Nicola, one of my more advanced clarinet pupils and a proficient pianist. I have sponsored Nicola for her own good causes in the past but, assuming it would be frowned upon to persuade a student to part with their dinner money for my own cause, asked Nicola if she could help me in a more practical way. After her lesson in a few spare minutes Nicola played some of the aural tests from Aural Time!, the Grade 1 practice book. Test A is a pulse exercise and she played a piece in 3 time with a good pulse which I followed and clearly showed in my clapping. Test B - Echo Singing and test C - Spot the Difference were also fine. In the final test D the examiner plays a piece of music and the candidate answers questions on the dynamics (loud or soft) and articulation (smooth or detached). Nicola sight-read a piece then asked the first question: “Where were the staccato notes?” The “Ahh…” that followed suggested that Nicola hadn't paid too much attention to the staccatos in her interpretation. As it happened I'd only really been listening to the dynamics so after my two guesses which were both wrong Nicola played the piece again. This time the staccatos were beautifully played in the third phrase. We then tried another one and I correctly identified the piano opening with crescendo and diminuendo. My thanks to Nicola and I am sure she will be pleased to know I will bear her efforts in mind when I write her end of year report!

With a free evening and tomorrow's major performance to think about I did a lengthy session on the harp shortly after getting in from school. It was dedicated to Janine, a flute playing friend and teaching colleague. Janine and husband Ben organised the Nosferatu showing that I went to see on Day 14. They have two young daughters, Beth and Maya and both are showing an interest in music. Beth has started learning the piano but has a keen desire to learn the double bass which is amusing as she is currently only half the size of a half size double bass! Janine's session was a serious 40 minutes and started with scales and some improvised exercises around the pentatonic scale to help get the feel of the GOAT Music piece. After gradually building up the notes of the first few phrases I found myself getting the hang of it and it's not too bad. However as with other pieces most of it is manageable but there are six bars that I don't like as they have an awkward stretch using all eight fingers and have very short rests with little time to prepare for the next. Putting that one aside until another day I went back to Rondo, the other piece I would happily put off until another day. The first play through was rubbish but as I went through again I moved my attention away from my dodgy right hand quavers and focussed on the tone quality in the left hand. This freed up the right hand and the quavers were much smoother. A-ha! Finally it was starting to take shape in the way I wanted it to. After tea I did another 20 minutes for Beth and Maya and did orchestra music, O Sanctissima and some older pieces. I had a few more goes at Rondo and decided to include this in my repertoire for tomorrow. My programme will be The Ball (as a confident opener), followed by Rondo, (in the middle because audiences tend to remember just the beginning and end of a performance), then finish with Azaleas In Houston (the best 'harp' one with it's flowing arpeggios). I then practised my clarinet and reminded myself how the Prelude from the Victorian Kitchen Garden went. I haven't done a recital piece on the clarinet for ages so hope my lack of preparation will not show too much tomorrow!

Day 42 continued - More from the Single Reed day

I only managed 170 minutes of practise this week, my worst yet, although I didn't count the performance time in with that. I was hoping it would be plain sailing now until the exam day but with the new orchestra piece and a decision to be made about Rondo I still have some serious work to do. I may need to encourage some more sponsors for the next two weeks as I will need some motivation to practise even more. At the single reed event I met up with several other grade-1-a-bees including Maurice, co-organiser and pianist-extraordinaire as he was accompanying Jim in two of the sessions. He told us that many of the horn students met up for a 'Split-a-thon' where they played their pieces and tried to split as few notes as possible, or at least split less notes than those they managed to play spot on. Those tackling brass and bowed strings seem to have it harder and fellow clarinettist Heather who is learning the violin said she found it hard to get a decent performance first time through as it takes time finding the pitch and remembering where to move to. It's not just the physical warm up which is important but the mental preparation matters too. Also present amongst the participants was Barbara M, my sponsor from Day 24. I did know that Barbara had been getting into work and reading the latest blog before starting any work, something that my Mum is also doing. This amused me as my very first post mentions procrastination, something I suffer from every so often! One day last week I didn't get the blog posted until 10am the following morning so poor Barbara had to sit at her desk without doing any work until I got around to reporting my practise! I'll try and do better this week!

Day 42 - A day of single reeds

For the budding and enthusiastic amateur the Play Day is a popular event and is a chance to become fully immersed in your instrument, try new challenges and meet and work with illustrious, experienced professionals who know what they're talking about and can pass on all the tricks of the trade. I would love to do something like this on the harp but for today I had to be content with being the illustrious pro that everyone flocks to see. No, wait a minute, that wasn't me, that was James Rae that everyone flocked to see today! I was helping out at today's course which was organised by Trevor Barlow with James Rae as Guest Tutor. Jim is very well known to clarinet, sax and wind players as a wonderful composer and arranger. His jazzy  and popular tunes have kept many pupils enthused and entertained and his more serious works are performed by advanced students and professionals alike. The day was a roaring success but with Trevor's organisation and Jim's warm and inspiring manner these days usually are. I knew it would be a long day as there was a meal booked afterwards so I got up early, finished yesterday's blog and did 10 minutes on the harp before leaving at 8.30am. This session was for John, a great sax playing friend from college, former house mate and another of my inspirations as he is the one who unknowingly gave me the idea for the blog. John also teaches so gets the long summer holiday. Of course like all teachers we do work very hard in those six weeks reviewing our year's work and planning our next but John managed to take time off last summer to walk a good chunk of the South West coast path from Land's End to his family home in Bridport, Dorset. Carrying just his tent, iPhone and a spare pair of socks he started a blog and each evening posted the events of the day which included people he had met, places he had passed (with outlandish names such as Mousehole and Golden Cap) and any interesting and unexpected happenings. There was the Good (seeing dolphins), the Bad (the army of spiders descending from the top of the tent at sunrise) and the Ugly (the photo of that blister - eeuw!) and as time went on some fairly personal reflections. Spending the day on your own with your thoughts for company needs an outlet and the blog was at times revealing. I got quite hooked and enjoyed logging in every day or so to see how far John had got, or to find out if he had got into a skirmish with some German tourists or landed upside down in a ditch (which is what I was secretly hoping but I won't tell him that!). As my own thoughts about the approaching Grade-1-a-thon developed I realised the diary I had been planning to keep anyway would be better on the computer and available for others to read if they wanted. In the first of John's sessions I looked at passages in the GOAT Music! piece and carried on getting a feel for the music. It is very pentatonic (5 note scale) which is awkward because it means you have to miss out strings rather than move to the next. It will need a little bit of playing every day. I then went back to the O Sanctissima which is really nice and almost easily memorable in its structure. This could be an alternative to Rondo but this late on it might be a bit of a risk. I'll give it a few more days and compare it with Rondo in the week. I did a hurried performance of Azaleas in Houston and set off for Cambridge. 13 hours later I managed another 20 minutes for John. I had planned 10 but really got into it. It started with O Sanctissima, moved onto GOAT Music (I've got the first line sorted now) and finished with a run through of The Ball and Azaleas. I'll have a bit more time tomorrow so will go through everything in an orderly way, especially as the Wreck-cital is on Tuesday. Only two weeks to go now.

Day 41 - Never too late

There must have been a frenzy of activity in the GOAT office yesterday as we have had several emails and attachments. However we should bear in mind that there is probably always a frenzy of activity planning this whole venture, it's just that we don't quite see the frantic actions of Thanea, Maurice and Elizabeth and others as we calmly sit (or stand) with our instruments. I now have my time for the day, 10.45 with Examiner 3. The venue for the evening has also changed and will now be at the much larger Corn Exchange rather than the Guildhall. Rohan has also been busy and has put fingerings in for the third orchestral piece. She also gave us a tip for the sight-reading. We should set the levers of our harps to the correct key before we do any playing and there are marks available for getting it right! Despite all the plans for exams, concerts and fun we have in store we have been reminded that the most important thing is the fund raising as this is what this particular event is about. I am already extremely grateful to my sponsors, many of whom have been amateur musicians and there are many more amateurs out there enjoying their hobby. Some have even written about the experience with my favourite being John Holt's Never Too Late. Holt is better known as the author of How Children Fail and spent his working life looking to challenge the school system as he could see that the circumstances in which children learnt best were not happening in the schools he worked in and observed. The reforms he was looking for never came in his lifetime and I wonder if they ever will. Holt also loved music and his biographical account of how he came into music was inspiring, insightful, genuine and above all proof that anyone can learn music.

Poster for Clueless in Concert

I had to pop into Cambridge this morning so on the way home I bought a tuner then back at home spent a good few minutes tuning the harp. I started with middle C which was quite flat and turned the lever a quarter of a millimetre. I plucked it again and it was now a quarter tone sharp! Too much. By turning the handle even less it went slightly flat again. Eventually the green light came on and I moved to the next string, which was also flat and went through he same tedious process. Most harpists use the tuner for the first few notes then use their ear. I am not like most harpists (oh, in so many ways!) and used the tuner for the whole lot. The session that followed was dedicated to Alan who took up the oboe on retiring from the medical profession. Alan will be pleased to know I have no wish to reveal his age but this is because I can't remember myself, it was that long ago! What does become clear is that it really is never too late to take up a musical instrument! As well as playing with the Palace Band, Alan is also a member of the Learning Orchestra, based in London, which is a fabulous opportunity for mid-grade musicians to play with a full orchestra. In my ten minutes just before lunch I went through the GOAT Music and progressed very quickly thanks to Rohan's suggested fingerings. I then played through another new piece that she has sent, O Sanctissimus which is very nice then finished with The Ball and Azaleas in Houston, just to keep them ticking over until Tuesday and the Wreck-cital. After an afternoon rehearsal in Cambridge I managed another ten minutes for Alan at tea time running through the same pieces as earlier. It was then back to Cambridge for a third time for a lovely concert playing Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.