Bring it on

Easy Peasy....


The nerves are out - set free - running scared - beaten down........my two lovely lady pupils who are taking the Recital Certificate and Grade 8 respectively, sang their entire programme to each other today, and did SO well! !

Well done ladies, you gave excellent performances which were full of colour, expression, dynamics, good legato line etc etc, but what mattered most was that you did it.

Friday will now be much easier. Not a doddle, not a walkover, but not the unknown, and however shaky the old legs feel on Friday, they would have been a great deal shakier if you had not broken the pain barrier this evening!

I seem to spend a very extensive proportion of my teaching week calming nerves and giving supportive advice, along with confidence boosting, but tonight you both arrived at that priceless place whereby you did it for yourselves, without my carrying you through it!

If only I could bottle it!

The repertoire is lovely, and there were highlights in each programme. One lady is singing the delightful 'Ridente la Calma', attributed to Mozart, but in actuality most likely pinched by Mozart from Myslivecek ! It was so full of confidence and a sweet lyrical line which flowed well. We can tell, simply by the tone quality that you really enjoy it. I have no idea why that is the case, but our feelings about a song are crucial to the sound we produce. It is so obvious, that I often tell a student to pretend they like it, and eventually it will grow on one, and suddenly what was the 'sag' in a programme becomes a strength.

The marvelously ebullient performance of The Duchesses Song from the Gondoliers will surely make the examiner tremble in his seat ! It had such fun and humour and was brimming with confidence!

I know these ladies very well, and if they read this they will both hotly deny that they have any confidence - fibbers! Confidence comes from knowing what to do, and they are both highly competent singers, and that is what brings confidence - it is not really a personality thing. I try to give the tools, and those who pick them up and work with them will produce and deliver. Those who ignore, or make the choice to reject will have a different outcome.

Done this job for years. It's a great job, except when the ignorers pretend that any failure they may have is the fault of the tool giver. Ladies, you restore my faith in teaching! Well done and bring friday on!