Students
I am fully aware that my blog is missing major appeal factor without pictures to accompany my posts--what can I say? I'm not on top of it. But perhaps it's better that I don't have tons of pictures of myself to plaster all over this blog. That might turn readers away!
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My students crack me up. One of them--a 9 yr old--came in today and told me he had played the violin at his great aunt's wake yesterday, and he was surprised that for the first time, his "hands weren't sweaty!" And we both observed and agreed that playing for a funeral versus playing in a recital are two very different atmospheres, so it's only natural to have those nerves come or go.
A couple students later, an older student (maybe he's 13 or 14) came in and played through some of his youth orchestra's excerpts for a seating audition next week, and he handed me the list of pieces he was supposed to play. At the top I noticed he had written, "Exerps". Ha. I revised the spelling and handed it back to him and he laughed.
I love how different each student's personality is and yet, nearly all put a smile on my face and make me laugh all the time. I guess this is also why it rips my heart apart just a little whenever I lose a student that was doing well. Sometimes I have a good memory for certain things, and other times I have no recollection of people I've met or things I've said or done in the past. I mention this because in the 10 years I've been teaching (off and on and pretty regularly for the last 5 years), I know I must have taught hundreds of students all over the state and I have a really hard time remembering most of them if they studied with me prior to 2007/08 (the year I moved to Columbus), but one student I'll always remember and one that I often wonder about is a little Indian girl I taught named Rhitom. She was very feisty and had sort of a smart mouth, but once she started playing the piano, it was all seriousness. To date, I've never had a student--piano or violin--that progressed as fast as she did; in a year's time, she was playing Beethoven sonatinas and sight reading really well. She always was ready for her lessons and never spent longer than a week learning a new piece. Such a big contrast to the average student I see who will make a piece drag for weeks--sometimes months, even.
But she moved to the West coast and I was sad to see her go. I told her mother to stay in touch so I'd know how her playing was coming along, but she never did. I hope she's still playing!
I have two rehearsals and a concert this weekend, and a few makeup lessons in the morning. On Sunday, the Columbus Marathon is happening and I'm sad that my running buddy is doing it without me. I'm also frightened for her--last time she did a long run was when I did MY long run of a halfie 3 weeks ago....ouch. I wish I could cheer her on but I have my dress rehearsal on that day. I hope she makes it!
Here's to a wonderful Fall weekend. Cheers:)
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My students crack me up. One of them--a 9 yr old--came in today and told me he had played the violin at his great aunt's wake yesterday, and he was surprised that for the first time, his "hands weren't sweaty!" And we both observed and agreed that playing for a funeral versus playing in a recital are two very different atmospheres, so it's only natural to have those nerves come or go.
A couple students later, an older student (maybe he's 13 or 14) came in and played through some of his youth orchestra's excerpts for a seating audition next week, and he handed me the list of pieces he was supposed to play. At the top I noticed he had written, "Exerps". Ha. I revised the spelling and handed it back to him and he laughed.
I love how different each student's personality is and yet, nearly all put a smile on my face and make me laugh all the time. I guess this is also why it rips my heart apart just a little whenever I lose a student that was doing well. Sometimes I have a good memory for certain things, and other times I have no recollection of people I've met or things I've said or done in the past. I mention this because in the 10 years I've been teaching (off and on and pretty regularly for the last 5 years), I know I must have taught hundreds of students all over the state and I have a really hard time remembering most of them if they studied with me prior to 2007/08 (the year I moved to Columbus), but one student I'll always remember and one that I often wonder about is a little Indian girl I taught named Rhitom. She was very feisty and had sort of a smart mouth, but once she started playing the piano, it was all seriousness. To date, I've never had a student--piano or violin--that progressed as fast as she did; in a year's time, she was playing Beethoven sonatinas and sight reading really well. She always was ready for her lessons and never spent longer than a week learning a new piece. Such a big contrast to the average student I see who will make a piece drag for weeks--sometimes months, even.
But she moved to the West coast and I was sad to see her go. I told her mother to stay in touch so I'd know how her playing was coming along, but she never did. I hope she's still playing!
I have two rehearsals and a concert this weekend, and a few makeup lessons in the morning. On Sunday, the Columbus Marathon is happening and I'm sad that my running buddy is doing it without me. I'm also frightened for her--last time she did a long run was when I did MY long run of a halfie 3 weeks ago....ouch. I wish I could cheer her on but I have my dress rehearsal on that day. I hope she makes it!
Here's to a wonderful Fall weekend. Cheers:)
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