11/2/09

So Julius was a no show on Mon which is a bit of a shame. Guess I’ll just have to wait until our next lesson and see how that goes. Orchestra is going really well. Cello’s are definitely the strongest section at the moment! All thanks to Beata! We’re so lucky to have had her here, has made a terrific difference to the cello section. I’ve been learning lots too!
Yesterday was fantastically sunny the whole day. Because Michael has changed our lessons to 11, I was able to see a bit of what the ‘ladies’, who come every Tues morning do. They make arts and crafts to sell. If one person knows how to make say a cushion cover - they will teach the others. The ladies are also from all over the world so there are lots of different things to be learned. Taught Michael, who is getting on well as always. He still needs to work on his tuning, and I sometimes feel bad getting irritated when it’s not right because he’s such a hard worker and wants so much for it to be correct. I guess that’s teaching for you! This was followed by a lesson with Disan, a new student who described himself as a beginner having had only a few lessons with Virginia, the old cello teacher who I think was here about a year ago. So I started him off getting him to sit properly, checking his bow hold, which was actually very good, and making sure everything was working right. Then he started playing and WOW, he was good! There was vibrato, shifting and it was all pretty much in tune. So then I felt like a right idiot starting him on such basic stuff, but it’s always good to recap the basics isn’t it?! Once I’d discovered he was actually quite good, I started him on a study that works on shifting between first and forth position which is quite hard but he should be able to manage it with a bit of practise. So that was a nice surprise! After lunch we had another sectional with Beata. We just spent an hour going over the last couple of movements we didn’t manage last time and a couple of things that didn’t go so well in the rehearsal yesterday. Again, it really has been so useful having her here! AND, maybe even more exciting - she said they were planning on going white water rafting on Friday and did we want to go too?! So we are! Rafting on Friday! I’m so excited - it should be awesome, scary, but awesome. We’re being picked up from somewhere in Kampala at 7.30 AM on Friday morning to be taken to the River where we will spend a while being briefed and the rest of the day cruising/splashing down the Nile. We’ll be staying Fri night and coming back Saturday. Will miss Junior Orch, but will hopefully be back in time for the England vs. Wales rugby match! There was a plan to go out on the town Sat night too (it being Valentines Day and all) but I guess we’ll have to see if any of us have an ounce of energy left from Friday! Anyways I’m very excited. I then finally had a lesson with Francisca (Mr Yiga’s daughter) who is clearly very musical. She has a good technique and can play nicely in tune. Have started her on a string crossing exercise as it came up in a piece she played me, and I think we’ll start working on shifts soon too. I’m finding it really hard to know what pieces to give people, am going to have to have a proper think and investigate about what’s available and right for their standard.
Sam, Carys and I then set off to the cinema to see a documentary type film which Carys’s host had told us about. It was about Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic collaborating with a choreographer who taught 250 kids from quite deprived schools in Germany the dance to Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’. It was really amazing. I love seeing things like that. Though unfortunately there were no English subtitles for the German bits, but there was a lot in English so that was ok. Plus the music is just SO amazing! So that was fun. But it was a pretty long day. As you can see I’m definitely getting busier. As are we all. I counted on the list and there are at least 13 people who have signed up for guitar lessons with Sam at KMS! He’s going to be so busy! And I thought I was feeling a bit stressed with my (what is it now - 7?) pupils! At least there’s no chance of him getting bored!
Today I was suffering from a dodgy stomach which wasn’t great but I took Imodium which does what it says on the packet! So by the afternoon I was feeling better and Siya, who had been keeping me company and looking after me, persuaded me to go with her to pick up the kids from school so at least I got out of the house (I couldn’t go to school in the morning). Decided not to go to choir either so I can rest up lots of our very exciting weekend… Cant wait! X