Today was hard. Being unwell, it took until just after midday to get vertical today. From then until 3pm I focussed on being able to teach from 3 - 7pm. It was hard, but the best decision I made today.
I had excited little possums with big smiles at 3pm - Miss K is getting very clever with 2 hands, Miss S is just flourishing under some steady but patient confidence-building & teaching her some independent problem-solving. She's starting to initiate extending herself which is so exciting for me! It was a hard slog when she was scared to try. Now, slowly & carefully learning how to break a problem down is starting to pay off. I'm so proud of her!
Miss S (oh that beautiful just 14yo) decided it was time for The Swan today (Carnival of the Animals). She was learning the 'bridge' - the middle bit. At the end I wanted her to make the swan 'swoon', then recover with 'smelling salts' (LOL this is the young lady who says that Shakespeare is 'so romantic!'). We had to discuss what a 'swoon' was & why a lady 'swooned' in the past (tight whalebone corsets etc with a graceful faint). Then she had to know what 'smelling salts' were.....LOL!!! Oh dear!! But anyway....finally she got the message that I really wanted a ritenuto with a diminuendo combined with the careful placement of the last 2 dotted minims! Miss S just kills me laughing & she was SUCH good therapy for me today! I wish I could record her every lesson as I forget all the 'gems' that come from her beautiful lips!
Mrs M was worried about being in the 'naughty girl corner' for not practising! I told her I had it all ready for her. Instead she shocked me with her playing of a Ragtime Eccoiaisse!! It was the best I've heard her play! In fact, I gave her an 'EPIC' stamp on her music which just thrilled her to bits! So funny! We often forget that as adults a little reward is just as pleasurable as when we're children!
Mrs M (the other one) came &, as usual, started giggling before she even started to play her 'Alpine Melody'. Poor thing....I usually have adult students seeing themselves in a 'glass half-empty' light. She just needed tonight what she needs every lesson....some clarity & a suggestion of another way to see her perceived problem. I'm really happy with Mrs M as she's a fast learner. Tonight she was very excited to take home a copy of Alouette! It's a duet version so....oh dear.....I better just run through it myself I suppose. LOL Doing a duet with a student while teaching & watching their part & my part & counting or singing at the same time as following their tempo with breaks in flow is like being an octopus with 50 legs!! LOL I love it - wouldn't have it any other way.
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