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.