Saturday 23 June 2012

Saturday 23rd June - So unreliable

Actually, I mean my posting, on this blog, is so unreliable at the moment.

That's because at this stage of the school term, everything goes haywire.

To start with, there are the end-of-term concerts in the school Wider Opportunities programmes (we try and put on some kind of concert/celebration/open lesson every term to share what the children have learnt with parents and the rest of the school).

When it is the Summer Term, there is the added hassle of sorting out the checking of all the Wider Opportunities instruments before they are returned to the Music Services; this year I will be checking, cleaning, reporting and maybe doing minor repairs on
60 treble recorders, 20 Lyons C clarinets, 30 Bflat clarinets, 60 keyboards, and 100 djembes.


Hornby 'F' Treble RecorderYamaha YPT-220Clarinet.png

File:Lenke djembe from Mali.jpeg

 












If you allow maybe 5 minutes and 22 seconds for each instrument (ABRSM precision) that comes to an extra I-can't-be-bothered-to-work-out-exactly-how-many hours and minutes and seconds.

We also have to try and liaise with the schools where we will be teaching the Wider Opportunities programmes next year to try and get all the arrangements in place before the end of term.

Then there are the music exams, which entail extra lessons for those uneager beavers who still haven't learnt that awkward bit at the top of page two, or can't face dealing with F major broken cords.

I also get extra work as an accompanist for instrumental exams, which means scheduling rehearsals, and rearranging my normal timetable in order to get to the exam centre; the timings are absurdly precise; 11:17 until 12:19, for example, but they really do try and keep to the timetable. The people who run the trains could do worse than study the administration and logistic skills of the ABRSM Music Exams systems.

Anyway, all the above means that I become unreliable. Normal service will possibly be resumed after 20th July;   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQkU6fHP0fM

No comments:

Post a Comment