Being Overwhelmed - It's OK!

It was only my second time conducting the choir when the hand went up for the third time in about as many minutes.  “Excuse me.”  Always so polite.  “I don’t think that harmony part is right.”  

Teaching Note Reading

A word of warning: This is going to be very treble clef-centric.  Alto, bass, and both treble/bass readers, adjust as necessary.

Teaching an instrument you don't play

Yesterday my phone rang.  On the line was the Musical Director of a local music school.  “What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?” he boomed down the phone.  My eyes narrowed.  I’d heard those words before and I knew to be wary.

“That depends,” I replied.  “Good,” he said, ignoring me.  “Can you take John’s guitar classes please.”

 And that is how I found myself teaching four guitar classes – from beginner to intermediate levels.

Be the person you needed

There’s a meme floating around online at the moment, sometime attributed to that fabulous writer “Unknown” and sometimes to former BuzzFeed writer Ayesha A. Siddiqi that says “Be the personyou needed when you were younger”.  Now, I’m not one to go crazy over these “inspirational” quotes that pop up on my facebook and Instagram feeds, but this one did make me think (so much so that it’s actually my current screen saver).