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!