Great news this week!  Eight year old Joyce has been promoted from Beginner’s Training Band into Intermediate Band at Cherrybrook Public School after only one and a half terms!  Her family and I are all very excited about Joyce’s quick progress.  Joyce and her parents made some very wise decisions which have helped her make a really good start on flute.  Joyce had two months of individual flute lessons at the end of Year 2 prior to starting in the Band in Year 3.  Joyce’s parents invested in a good quality flute for her, and Joyce has been encouraged to use a curved headjoint, as she is physically quite small.  This makes the flute a lot more comfortable for her to play and helps her develop good posture and hand positions.  We are all looking forward to seeing how Joyce will thrive in this more challenging environment.  Well done Joyce!   

I had this lovely piece of news from the mother of one of my students over the holidays, and thought it was worth sharing.  It is so nice to hear of a young person being confident and keen to use their talents to give others pleasure.  Musicians have a very special gift to share with others – just another reason for learning music!  

“I also wanted to let you know that Charlotte performed at her sister’s preschool on Tuesday and did a great job. The children really enjoyed listening and even danced along when Charlotte played ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’. There is an autistic boy in the group and he was particularly excited and kept saying ‘play more’ every time Charlotte stopped playing.” 

Congratulations to Week Nine Student of the Week – Alyssa Collins.  11 year old Alyssa has worked hard over the last few weeks to improve her scales in preparation for her Grade Two exam at the end of the year.  Alyssa has also been working this term on a quite difficult piece – one that she thought she would never have a chance of being able to play.  This is Vivaldi’s Spring from The Four Seasons which Alyssa really loves.  With consistent work and attention to all the details, it is well on the way to sounding like the real thing.  There are some fast high note runs that turned out to be just the top octave of F Major scale, although they looked much scarier on the page!  Suddenly practising scales seemed to have a purpose!  Alyssa has even practised these runs using harmonics, an advanced technique.  Alyssa seems to like Baroque music as she has now chosen some more Vivaldi pieces to learn for her exam.  I’m impressed by Alyssa’s perseverance and the way she is able to articulate to me what she likes about the music she chooses to learn.  I’m looking forward to an interesting musical journey with you over the next few years, Alyssa!  Well done!