Supporting a child through the early stages of learning an instrument ain't fun. Even at the intermediate stages. There's chasing them to practice. Sitting impassive through painful renditions. Hovering strategically, reminding them to practice the tricky bits not just the easy bits. Ferrying to and fro. Sitting in dark carparks waiting for them to finish the lesson or the ensemble or the orchestra. Forking out for the lessons. Sitting through long, long teatime concerts of them and their peers at a still fairly basic level. And then, one day, sunshine breaks through!
With Firstborn there were special moments of helping her with viola practice, playing in harmony together in the early morning. Special moments, it became clear, which only I appreciated. As we were moving to Kenya the viola mysteriously appeared on the pile to be listed and sold on ebay.
'Pleeeeeease can't I give it up and just do the flute.'
Downcast mother. Oh well then.
But as she's moved up the school, the music concerts given by her year have become more pleasurable. Even far more pleasurable. And last night's one, given by their prep school and the successor high school, was truly enjoyable. An ethereal Kenyan boy soprano, solidly robust in statute, angelic voice. Watching sixteen and seventeen year individual singers, who have found the right song for them, who are so supremely themselves as they perform, who have found a platform to be themselves at their peak, to engage the audience in their interpretation. Immensely moving. As different in nature as slogging away at scales 'to pass grade two' as it can be.
These school concerts feel a little like time-series nature photography. I remember these stars from last year. Engaging, confident, competent, but a tad more diffident then. And now, wow, what a difference a year makes. What a difference these young people will make, whether as singers or elsewhere in the world. I'll remember them. I relish being there to take pride in their success.
'Voice' is one of the big topics in NaNoWriMo, - National Novel Writing Month. Keeping on writing at that draft novel to find your voice, that tone and insight which is profoundly you. It's also at the heart of career guidance for me. What the practitioner catches from the client's words, and reflects back to them, so the client hears it maybe for the first time at a deeper level and gains a deeper insight on themselves and their uniqueness. And, I hadn't realised it till yesterday, at its best, its profoundly at the heart of music teaching too. Helping a pupil find the right piece, the right song, the right technique which catches, embodies, magnifies where they are at. Conveys it to others. Creative, will of the wisp work. Beautiful. Potentially life changing.
Thank you music teachers of the world. I'd guess many are caught in a cage of half hour lessons and grade one scales: 'Don't forget the F sharp', - as many of we careers advisors are caught in servitude of CV checks and duty appointments. But sometimes the sun shines through.
'To listen another's soul to the condition of disclosure & discovery may be almost the greatest service a person can perform for another.'
Douglas Steer
With Firstborn there were special moments of helping her with viola practice, playing in harmony together in the early morning. Special moments, it became clear, which only I appreciated. As we were moving to Kenya the viola mysteriously appeared on the pile to be listed and sold on ebay.
'Pleeeeeease can't I give it up and just do the flute.'
Downcast mother. Oh well then.
But as she's moved up the school, the music concerts given by her year have become more pleasurable. Even far more pleasurable. And last night's one, given by their prep school and the successor high school, was truly enjoyable. An ethereal Kenyan boy soprano, solidly robust in statute, angelic voice. Watching sixteen and seventeen year individual singers, who have found the right song for them, who are so supremely themselves as they perform, who have found a platform to be themselves at their peak, to engage the audience in their interpretation. Immensely moving. As different in nature as slogging away at scales 'to pass grade two' as it can be.
These school concerts feel a little like time-series nature photography. I remember these stars from last year. Engaging, confident, competent, but a tad more diffident then. And now, wow, what a difference a year makes. What a difference these young people will make, whether as singers or elsewhere in the world. I'll remember them. I relish being there to take pride in their success.
'Voice' is one of the big topics in NaNoWriMo, - National Novel Writing Month. Keeping on writing at that draft novel to find your voice, that tone and insight which is profoundly you. It's also at the heart of career guidance for me. What the practitioner catches from the client's words, and reflects back to them, so the client hears it maybe for the first time at a deeper level and gains a deeper insight on themselves and their uniqueness. And, I hadn't realised it till yesterday, at its best, its profoundly at the heart of music teaching too. Helping a pupil find the right piece, the right song, the right technique which catches, embodies, magnifies where they are at. Conveys it to others. Creative, will of the wisp work. Beautiful. Potentially life changing.
Thank you music teachers of the world. I'd guess many are caught in a cage of half hour lessons and grade one scales: 'Don't forget the F sharp', - as many of we careers advisors are caught in servitude of CV checks and duty appointments. But sometimes the sun shines through.
'To listen another's soul to the condition of disclosure & discovery may be almost the greatest service a person can perform for another.'
Douglas Steer
How neat to see the progress in the talent over the year(s). My husband teaches guitar, there's that fine balance of getting someone who really wants to play or those that want to play quickly without really learning or taking the time to do so. Glad your child is sticking with a instrument!
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