Music & Beth

Saturday's class went surprisingly well.

I give Beth 8/10 for attentiveness and competence. Huge improvement over Term One when she would slide off the piano bench after 30 minutes and lose concentration.

Hope she keeps it up.

She's had a month-long break because of the Easter hols and ANZAC Day, and of course, she slacked in her daily practice, so her playing was a bit of a shocker (at home anyway). There's nothing worse than trying to get a highly strung, unmotivated child to do what she has to do. She actually regressed and made mistakes because she likes to play by memory instead of by reading the notes, then when I pointed out her errors, she threw a tantrum. Grrr...

That's one of the cons of learning music the Yamaha way. Emphasis is on listening and solfege, so kids don't get to learn how to read notes properly.

We've had a change of venue from Westgrove PS to The Grange, and the kids now get to put up their artwork on the walls of the classroom. Wow, a school would let outsiders do that? Can't imagine it happening elsewhere.

Met Cass at the Plaza this morning and congratulated her on Emily's winning the Yamaha/Melissa Perrin Scholarship.

I don't think Beth will ever win a music scholarship. I'll be happy as long as she continues with lessons and doesn't give up. The Mozart Effect is so important for the building of that part of the brain.

J on the other hand is already displaying impressive musical ability and responsiveness. I think she might be a more likely candidate to go far in learning music. I hope to start her on Yamaha lessons next year.