A Day in the Life of a Music Teacher

Well, today was quite interesting.

After a late night at my parents' (didn't get home until 2am), I awoke early this morning to be ready for my first round of voice students at my new teaching job. I'm now teaching at two music schools, and the second school very promptly filled up my Saturday schedule. Hooray for income!

So, it was to this school that I directed myself at 9:30. My first student was at 10am, but I wanted enough time to settle into the new studio before having to run scales with my newest vic-- erm... I mean, student.

Before I left the house, I very prudently grabbed all of my vocal music, not knowing what my students might want to study, or even if they had books of their own.

At 9:45, I arrived at the studio, my messenger bag filled with books, and a staggeringly large stack of Broadway rep in my arms as well. It was all I could do to pull the door open without falling over.

As I walked in, a nice looking gentleman exclaimed to his young daughter, "Look! Here's your teacher now!"

I smiled brightly over my stack of books and asked, "Voice lessons?"

"Oh, no. Piano."

"Not me, then," I replied cheerily, moving towards the front counter to collect my list of students for the day.

"Hey!" the owner greeted, looking up and brushing back his long, blonde, hippie-like hair. "Your first student is here."

"Oh, awesome!" I looked about, but saw no one besides the little girl and her parents. A nervous flutter started, which I promptly pushed down.

"Yeah," the owner agreed. "Hey, Di! Here's your piano teacher!"

It took everything I had not to show the surprise on my face. "Oh! I forgot my first student was for piano!" I exclaimed, laughing. "Hi, Di! I'm your new piano teacher!"

The seven-year-old girl smiled cutely and gave a little skip of excitement. I grinned, but was feeling very uncertain all of a sudden, especially as the owner happily announced, "All your students today are for piano. Didn't my wife tell you?"

I smiled brightly. "No, but that's okay! Come on, Di! Let's get you to a piano!"

Inwardly I was freaking out a little-- I wasn't expecting to teach piano, I had no method books with me, and how in the world was I supposed to fill 30 minutes in a way that would keep a seven-year-old occupied and interested???

Thanks be to God that I was inspired and I suddenly remembered-- in ridiculous clarity-- my very first piano lesson. So, for 30 minutes, Di and I numbered our fingers, found notes on the keyboard, practiced arching our hands, playing with our fingers independently, and I taught her two rote songs called C-D-E and C-B-A (If anyone ever used the Lila Fletcher piano method books, they'll remember those songs instantly).

At the end of the half-hour, Di blithely skipped upstairs and announced to her Dad that, "Piano is fun!"

One student down, three to go...

Student two turned out to be a 10-year-old boy named Tony, with startlingly vivid blue eyes. He had been playing for awhile, and we had fun reading through a simplified version of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, while talking about chord inversions and how to finger them properly. (Thank you, Keyboard Harmony class!!)

Feeling a bit more confident, I returned Tony to his mom, and happily went out for a cup of tea. I had an hour until my next student, so I walked a few blocks to the awesome independent cafe on the square. Saturday mornings are blissfully low-key at the cafe, which is a nice change from it's night scene. The cafe regularly hosts independent musicians, and artists always have their work on display. Most nights, Friday's especially, the cafe is jammed with people and it's hard enough to order your coffee, let alone find a place to sit.

Today, there were a few students listening to their iPods while studying quietly and sipping on their caffeinated beverage of choice. In one corner, nestled into the plush couches, an elderly couple quietly enjoyed each other's company by drinking tea and reading. Outside on the patio, a black garbed young man alternately took a drag of his cigarette and sipped his espresso, all the while scribbling thoughtfully in a notebook.

Feeling at home amidst this quiet, cheery, Bohemian atmosphere, I approached the counter and ordered a cup of their Organic Irish Breakfast tea and a coffee cake. The dude serving me (and yes, he was a 'dude' in every sense of the word) commented on my name when he took my credit card.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, grinning. "This is going to seem, like, totally random, and unrelated, but your name reminded me of a YouTube video I just saw!"

I laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said, handing me my tea. "Get online and check out Marcel the Shell with Shoes On! It's this awesome and cute stop-action animation video about a shell... named Marcel." Very obligingly he wrote the name of the video on my receipt, and I promised him I would check it out.

I enjoyed my little break at the coffee shop. The coffee cake was very good, but unfortunately, my tea refused to cool off, and I was impatient, so I burnt my tongue taking a sip. Despite that, the tea was still very good. I really like the blend, and I'll definitely be back for more.

11:50 came much too soon, and so I had to walk back to the music school for my last two lessons. The weather was beautiful and very warm for this time of the year, and I enjoyed letting the sun warm my face as I navigated the quiet streets.

My next two students were two, very cute, Chinese sisters. I never did get the name of the older sister come to think of it... *headdesk*

Thankfully, they used a method book I was familiar with, but it is going to be a challenge teaching them. Their father drops them off at the school, and the sisters sit in on each other's lesson. They are very quiet children, so I didn't have any trouble with disruption. However, the younger sister is significantly more adept at playing the keyboard than the elder one. The older sister doesn't seem to mind this, but already I'm foreseeing potential problems, being that they witness each other's lessons. The younger girl can read notes and rhythm, and is a much quicker learner. It was easy to cover a great deal of material with her in the half hour. Her sister, however, struggles to remember note names, and overall, seems very uncomfortable at the instrument.  Perhaps she was nervous, but I didn't get that vibe from her... The situation is going to require some thought... I really don't want the older girl to get frustrated because she sees her younger sister excelling and moving beyond her, and I don't want the younger sister to feel 'superior' over her older sister, because she's watching her sister struggle with things that come easily to her.

*sigh* St. Cecilia? Help, please?

In any case, I survived my first day as a (surprised and unprepared) piano teacher, and at 1pm I lugged myself and all my books back home. Happily, I'm $50 richer than when I started, and I was informed before I left that I would, indeed, have one voice student next week.

For now, I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of the weekend, and finish the tea that had very unkindly scalded my mouth.

I'm back...

... but not without some troubles.

After a lovely dinner with the relatives, my sister, my cousin and I went to go see Charlie St. Cloud.

It was actually a very good film, all considered. Characters were well developed, the plot moved along well, the cinematography was beautiful, and the acting was really well done. There was an implied sexual encounter and some kissing, but otherwise the film was surprisingly clean. There was no religious blasphemy and there were actually some very pleasing religious overtones, which was kind of surprising. The religious aspect of the story was definitely toned down, but seeing as how it does play a pivotal part in the plot, it still had a large impact on the story as a whole.

It makes me want to go search out the book at the library, which may not be a bad idea, actually...

...blast. A quick search reveals that there is only one copy in the library system, and it is checked out.  So, I guess I'll have to wait. I'm really just curious to see if the Catholicism hinted at in the movie is more prominent in the novel... never mind the fact that often times the book is much better than the film.

Anyway, I'm back from the film, and I have more time for a longer blog post! Yay!

Even still, I'm feeling conspired against. I got on the laptop when I got home to find that the ISP was totally flaking out and wouldn't let me connect. I'll admit that I had a very tiny moment of freaking out, but then I remembered that I had posted the mini-post, and it's hardly my fault if the internet provider decides to be stupid. So, I took a deep breath, offered it up for some poor soul in Purgatory, and did some other work on my netbook.

And what do I find twenty minutes later? The internet has been restored, and I can write this blog post! God is good, is He not?

I feel like I'm kind of floundering with this post, however... It's probably because I have so much to say and also probably because of the nice glass of Catawba wine that I'm currently enjoying. I think I've decided that wine and blogging go very well together, actually. Almost as well as blogging and tea go together... Well, except for the wandering bit, but I suppose that can't be helped.

And before I do any more meandering though the random shuffle of information that is my brain, I am going to bid all and sundry a good night. I shall now finish my wine, read a good book, and go to sleep.

I'll see you all tomorrow, God willing!

In Which Soaring Soprano Is Having...

...tea.

Yes, despite the lateness of the hour, I am having a cup of tea. Ironically, it's English Breakfast. But I suppose that can't be helped, being that it's the only kind of tea I like, currently.

Honestly, I'd have a coffee if I wasn't trying to kill my coffee addiction. Tea is much better for my singing voice. I've been pretty successful so far, too. I've been coffee free for 2 weeks.

But, yeah. It's late... and I'm drinking tea... and Blogging... and eating pizza.

Why?

I don't know, to tell you the truth. I've got so many thoughts zipping around in my brain right now, and I'm not quite sure how to settle them properly. I know I should deal with them one at a time, but if I had to line my thoughts up in a queue, I wouldn't quite know which one should come first...

It's just been one of those days.

I mean, it was a good day by all accounts. God made the day so it had to be good. I had a lovely chat with a friend over a cup of tea in the morning. I had another lovely chat with a different friend over lunch. I found two new shirts and a skirt on sale at the mall (all three of which are pink... Girly much? Och). I had a nice swim in the afternoon, and Mom made a fantastic dinner. I had another long chat with two friends after dinner, which was good. I got home to find that the two books I had ordered had arrived, and now I've got another nice cup of tea to close the day. Oh, and I discovered that one of my stories has been nominated for a writing award. So, yes, it's been a good day.

Maybe it's all the chatting that's got my mind racing... I don't know... I suppose it's something to lay at the foot of the Cross tomorrow morning. I'll let Our Lord help me sort out my thoughts, because Heaven knows I can't right now.

If there's anything that I have to say right at this moment that has any kind of meaning, it's this: Cherish and treasure the friends that God has given you, because true friends are rare and precious blessings, and be sure never to take them for granted.

That is all.

*goes off to finish her tea*