This morning, Saturday, I was up early and off to the Yamaha Music Education Centre to observe two classes: Music Wonderland (3 year olds) at 9 am and the Junior Music Class (6ish year olds) at 11:15. Both were...different. I still can't get used to the fixed do system, and when singing in F major I kept wanting to sing F as do. The younger class was mostly singing and hand movements, with story telling to accompany orchestral arrangements and body movements to correlate with themed songs. The older class mostly sang in solfege and identified notes in solfege, but did little actual note-identifying, i.e. "this is C" or "this is b-flat." Instead, C was always "do" and B-flat was always "tee-flat." I'm still not sure how I feel about the Yamaha methodology. Sarah Grace was six years old when I stopped teaching her, and while she didn't know solfege, she always knew what key she was playing in, which sharps and flats were in the piece, the time signature, dynamics and the value and letter-name of each and every note. If half of the kids in the older class had individual instruction, I'm confident that they could accomplish likewise. The group teaching may slow down some of the students, but I suppose that's a decision the parents make when enrolling them in the Yamaha program. Arguably, however, if they are going to spend over $500 a semester for music lessons, wouldn't they want to just go ahead and get private lessons? I'm not sure what the cost difference is. One parent sat with the student for both groups, but was more interactive with the child in the younger group.
The next step in the recruitment process, the audition and interview, is THURSDAY...coming up!! I have to prepare two contrasting pieces of a certain level, sight-sing, play and sing a prescribed piece, sight-read music and harmonize a few bars. I'm only worried about the singing, as I'm still getting over strep throat. NO drinking until after the audition! It's been ages since I've drank anyway, so one more week won't hurt. I'm a bit saddened that I can't celebrate with a drink or two on my birthday, but I know it will be worth it if I end up getting this job. I can't seem to shake off this sickness! Every few hours a cough will bounce from my throat out of nowhere, often taking me by surprise. I'm still sniffling, yet I can breathe through my nose. And my voice is juuust a little bit lower than normal. I'm so close to being back to 100%, but my body doesn't seem to want to get there. It stubbornly stays around 95%, and I need to be at 100% for my audition.
Marty drove me to the Yamaha Centre in Baulkham Hills, and went to see his dad at work while I was in class. He picked me up afterwards and we went to Castle Hill Shopping Centre, the ex-largest shopping centre in NSW. (What's the largest? Not sure.) It was HUGE. I used my David Jones $120 gift card to buy a new purple dress, to be worn on my birthday :) Marty bought me shoes and a handbag, both lovely, and I also bought a few tops and a dress at a store called Soul. Marty bought some shoes and shorts, as well. We had salads for lunch, and I went home exhausted. I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour, and woke up just in time to spruce up for dinner. Emily and I headed back to good ole' Coogee Bay Road, where we found a lovely Italian restaurant at which to dine. Home to change, then SWISS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM for dessert...hands down THEE best ice cream I've ever had in my life! That stuff should be illegal...seriously! Soooo delicious. Then back home for a quiet rest of the evening, and here I am. Tomorrow=R&R on my Railroad to RECOVERY!!! I need my singing and teaching voice to be in tip-top shape for Thursday. More birthday celebrations to come :)
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