Variations on a Theme of Detail-work

Variation 1: Some of my students have given up chocolate, computer playtime and junk food for Lent. I've decided to give up procrastinating, namely, procrastinating on my bookkeeping.Inputting regular expenses and payments is no problem, so long as I don't let it pile up. The thing is, I do let it pile up. Then, mistakes happen. More like - 33 mistakes that need to be fixed before I hand over things to my accountant to file my income tax return.

On one hand, it's fun to be a sleuth. On the other hand, I wish I hadn't procrastinated so much. My head hurts from going through past entries to find out where the breakdown occurred. I fixed three this evening. The jury is still out whether Quickbooks is my friend or my foe.

Variation 2: One of my Iaido buddies - a pretty smart 15-year old - asked me to take a look at his arrangement of Handel's Sarabande in d minor. He took this keyboard piece and arranged it for string orchestra. Joe asked me to tweak it a bit. I enjoyed playing with the variations - adding more dialogue between the instruments so much so that I remembered how much fun it is to arrange.

Variation 3: One of my students has come up with a beautiful song, which is stuck in her musical ear. Her theoretical knowledge isn't at the same level as her musical ear, so I'm helping her transcribe it before she performs at the upcoming music festivals. Talk about a feat in ear training - rhythmic, harmonic and melodic dictation all rolled up into one. I haven't worked this hard since university on a dictation exercise!

Author's note: Click here to learn more about "theme & variations".

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

On Sturm und Drang

"Sturm und drang" - "storm and stress" - these words not only apply to music, but to other aspects of life.

It's amazing how much "sturm und drang" in one's personal life affects other areas. Things are settling down on the home front. One of my room-mates moved out earlier in the month. Let's just say that things really didn't work out. The house has regained its tranquil feel. I no longer have the urge to play the most dissonant music on the planet at triple fortissimo (although it was great stress relief). Maestro and my remaining room-mate have a spring to their step once again. I've been playing perky songs.

Most of my students are heading into festival/exam season in a pretty good position, with most of their repertoire and technical requirements memorized. Each year, we get better at timing. The main challenge now is to help the students take their music to the next level of musicianship and expression without them peaking too soon before performance day. There are a couple of students who could go either way. If they buckle down now, they will do fine on the exam. If they don't...the road will be very stormy and stressful indeed.

For the first time in APTA Festival history, the organizers are offering a Teacher performance class. I've been humming and hawing whether to learn something new or enter one of my senior student's songs, which I must practice anyway. I've got a few days to decide. With another busy year on the ARMTA Calgary Board ahead of me, I will most likely pick something that will provide enough of a challenge without undue stress.

Thankfully the Calgary Iaido Club has decided to host a seminar on Niten Ichi Ryu instead of both the seminar and the national Iaido Tournament. As exciting as the latter would have been to host, it would have been a challenge for us to make it work for this year.

All in all, life if back to a manageable level of sturm und drang.

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Enter Troppo Crazy Season - #2

It's that time again - when students and teachers ride a six month non-stop roller coaster - with dreams of summer so far away. My new room-mates are seeing first-hand just how nutty my life is. It goes almost without saying that I won't be able to update my blog as much as I'd like to for the next little while.

I began the winter term with an ARMTA Calgary Executive Board meeting. We have some exciting projects on the go. Our neighbourhood Chamber Chats, which launched in September, have been a hit. Calgary has grown so quickly that it is becoming more challenging to bring teachers together. We divided the city into six regions and created regional groups in the hopes that the teachers within the groups could network and support each other with joint recitals, master classes and mock exams. We have another round of Chamber Chats scheduled for the coming week.

Also on tap this month is our Honours' Recital, which I'm chairing. Students of member teachers who attained high marks on their 2006 music exams will be honoured at the end of the month for their hard work. I've been busy fanagling scholarship money. I know, I seem to recall saying that I'd never fundraise again after the CFMTA Peak Performance Conference & Celebration, but I just can't seem to get out of it.

My student recital is next weekend. Thankfully, my parents have been taking care of the post-recital "Snack & Chat". However, it's up to me to remind everyone to bring a plate of goodies to share and get the "recital box" ready. I also have to do up the recital program. Keep your fingers crossed that my students don't change their songs at the last minute. I was trying to prepare a new song for the recital. Reluctantly, I had to admit that it would not be up to performance standard for next week. I pulled out my old ARCT repertoire to dust off an old song. I was delighted to see that in next to no time, I had Danza del viejo boyero back under my fingers in a night.

The entry deadline for the High River & District Music Festival is next week, so I had to get all the forms ready for the six students who can enter. Talk about detail oriented work.

No luck finding a successor for the Advertising Coordinator position for ARMTA Calgary. Those of us on the Nominating Committee will have to sort that out before the AGM. I'm torn, a part of me hopes that our current President decides to stay on an extra year to push through some of these new initiatives we've launched. However, part of me looks forward to the day my commitment on the board will be over. If she completes her term and hands the mantle to me, then we're both done sooner. Hard to say which would be the better path. Whatever happens determines whether it's just easier for me to hold onto the Advertising Coordinator role since I've done it for about three years.

It's a good thing that those of us on the Website Maintenance committee for ARMTA just have regular updates to do. As one of my colleagues and I maintain our own websites, it's not a big deal to add some of the info from our site onto ARMTA's.

It was a relief to come out Saturday's Calgary Iaido Club Tournament meeting with only two tasks, as opposed to the 15+ that each committee member on the ARMTA Board winds up with. Taking minutes and filling out grant applications - I can handle that - especially with proofers to double-check my work.

All I can say is that I'm glad my room-mates and I launched our little "adventure club" for family and friends. Maestro and I will need a healthy dose of fun and adventure to survive this term's roller coaster.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Happy Holidays from Musespeak.com

Both teachers and students are counting the days before Christmas Break. Yes - us teachers are really looking forward to not teaching for a couple of weeks. Some of the administrative tasks can't be put off for that long, but at least they can be crammed into a couple of days, leaving plenty of time to catch up with family and friends. My break doesn't begin until late tomorrow evening because of teaching an a Christmas party gig. I can't wait till I'm done (did I say that already?).

Maestro and I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Music Teachers Helper

Lord knows we teachers need all the help we can get. Private music teachers have anywhere from five students to over 60. That means we need to keep track of each student's curriculum, payments, etc. etc. Some families require more communication than others. Some are more technologically savvy than others. I've got my trusty Quickbooks, Palm Pilot, website and e-mail that I use for communicating with my students' families and keeping track of things. But for those teachers who don't have these resources, Music Teachers Helper can assist with scheduling, invoicing, bookkeeping and more.

There is even a blog for teachers.

Thanks to my colleague Heidi for this link.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.