Jigsaw Pieces

My young dance teacher pupil - of the Dance evening which was so professional - came today. A trained and professional 'Musicals' singer and dancer for many years, and now in her mid 20's she has decided to sing more seriously, and work on her classical technique. She is one of the most responsive pupils I have ever taught, and even more importantly, possesses one of the most free and unlocked voices I have worked with. Each week is a tangible move forward, she grasps what I am asking, and gives it the same quiet intensity of thought to her work which she so clearly used in her electric choreography and production skills.

She is an adult sponge! She falls into a kind of 'no man's land', which makes the challenge so much more alive and exciting. A mid 20's voice, relatively untutored, yet brimming with performance skills, bursting with artistry, and with a great deal of intellect thrown in for good measure. Some weeks I feel all I am doing is putting in the last jigsaw piece, and thus completing the whole package. It is such easy teaching in one respect, and yet an unknown area in others.

She is taking her Grade 6 exam in November, and to be honest, is above that standard but taking into account all the other 'stuff', aural, sight reading, and the fact she has not taken a singing exam before, I think it is an easier lean into the world of music exams to stay one step below her real ability. It is in many ways like witnessing a small and glistening flower fully unfold. All the petals are on the brink, and only the last one is waiting for the sun. She is such a joy to teach.

On another tack, the days are closing in, and would you believe it, tonight the bulb blew on my piano lamp which clamps to the music stand ! Just as it is getting too dark for me to read with any certainty even 50% of those naughty little black dots, the light goes out in Paradise Music Room ! I need to find something quickly, tomorrow evening 2 of my long distance pupils are coming for their bi monthly lesson, from 6 til around 7.45! By the end of the evening it will be too dim for me to play Twinkle Twinkle Broken Lamp !

The lightning was violent this evening, the hail fell for about 10 minutes, and then the sun shone and produced a rainbow over the bay......my mega voiced young mezzo M could barely sing for the shock of flashing lightning and the timpani thunder, which made her jump at least 20 times, scrambling all the musical jigsaw pieces of 'Madonna and Child' by Eric Thiman, a Christmas song which is meant to be lyrical, supremely peaceful, and with an undisturbed legato line!



That was never going to happen!

Now the wind is whipping around the house, and making that familiar, and yet oddly intriguing soft screamy moan.

I love it.