First lesson = SUCCESS!!!

My first lesson went smashingly! I taught a lesson to the Year 13s (grade 12) on the roots of blues music today, and although I was a bit nervous for it, it went over REALLY well. I couldn't have asked for a better first lesson, really. I had a very small group today - the year 13 class is only 10 people, and of those 10 people, only 6 were there today. I had planned a lesson that could have gone one of two ways, depending on the enthusiasm of the students: it could have been amazing, or it could have fallen flat on its face. We were studying 2 pre-blues songs - one was a work song or field holler (actually sung by a group of prisoners) called "Berta, Berta," and the other one was a spiritual called "Sheep, Sheep, Don'tcha Know the Road." We did some discussion and a question sheet about the historical context of those songs and how they relate to a unit on the blues, the characteristics of the music, the significance of the lyrics, etc. Then I had the students stand up and stomp their feet on beats 1 and 3, and clap on 2 and 4, just like in the recording of "Sheep, Sheep." The piece was call-and-response, so I sang the lead part and I had the students sing the chorus part. When we got to the last verse I had them improvise a clapping rhythm while the rest of us sang and kept time. It was actually really fun - "Sheep, sheep, don'tcha know the road?" "Yes my Lord, I know the road!" "Don'tcha know the road by the clappin' of his hands?" "Yes my Lord, I know the road!" "Don'tcha know the road by the prayin' of the prayer?" "Yes my Lord, I know the road!" We actually had so much fun with it that when I thanked the students for being such good sports, they were all asking if we could do it again. I am going to have them compose their own 12-bar blues tomorrow though, so they will definitely be getting more performance opportunities. :o)

I'm going to be conducting the orchestra tomorrow morning, so I'd better go do some score study. I also have to finish a lesson plan on New Zealand composer John Psathas' piano solo called "Waiting for the Aeroplane." It's a BEAUTIFUL work, and it makes me wish I played the piano. Actually, I love it so much that I've decided to learn it. There's lots of rhythmic counterpoint between the right hand and the left hand, which makes it kind of difficult to play accurately (especially for a non-pianist like myself), but it's absolutely beautiful. The left hand plays a C-G ostinato in 16th notes for pretty much ever, while the right hand comes in with a melody in Bb minor, in dotted 16th notes. (Sorry for those of you who aren't musicians and don't know what I'm talking about!) I can play the first few pages, and actually would love to buy a copy of the piece and perform it for Disrobed (Greystones talent show fundraiser) or something when I get home to Saskatoon, just so I can say that I performed on the piano. Haha.

I think I forgot to mention this last time, but I will be singing with the Wellington Youth Choir starting next week!!!! They are AMAZING, and they (we!) are doing a concert in Auckland in the first 2 days of September. I am so excited to be a part of this group! It will be great to meet new people, and to keep my singing chops up for my return to Greystones in term 2!!!!

With that, I'll leave you with some pictures of my bedroom in Fiona and Sam's house. Amazingly enough, my room WAS clean last Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure it was messy again by Sunday, but I managed to take a picture of it in its tidy phase. Haha.