Tuesday 8th November - sibelius

No, not the composer, just the music-writing software that I use for prepare music for teaching.

I've had a day off work, apart from one piano pupil who has a music exam in a few weeks time and still can't play her pieces (fingers very crossed, although, come to think of it, that doesn't help with the playing very much). When I'm sitting down not doing much, I feel OK. It's when I stand up and start doing things that my legs feel achy and my knees feel wobbly. Plus a sore throat doesn't help with projecting one's voice over and above the sound of thirty children experimenting with which instrument would be best to play for the giant in the castle.

Instead, I've made lots of cups of tea, and drunk quite a few of them too. And I have been working away preparing Christmas Carol sheets for beginner pianists, next level pianists, keyboard groups,

beginner version

and - wait for it - viola players. Yes - today my manager dropped off a viola for me to borrow while I cover for a music teacher colleague's absence.

Giant Viola

I had been allocated some of her cello, keyboard and piano pupils, but there are two stray beginner viola pupils which will have to go without lessons unless I take them on.

I have proved to my satisfaction that I can draw a recognisable version of "Jingle Bells", out of said viola, but my word, it is a huge thing to wrangle after playing a violin. I had hoped to be able to borrow a smaller one, but this is a large (16") full-size model. Oh well. It can stand in for a cello in my cello teaching, maybe. The big challenge now is learning to read the music - using the viola clef -

Viola Duets. I'll just do the easy part...

and remembering to do violin fingering rather than cello fingering. I wonder what the next surprise will be?