No Lesson at Easter

My first-thing Saturday morning student comes nearly every week.  Of the year.  The Saturdays closest to Christmas and New Year are usually taken off, but apart from that - unless I'm away - he has a lesson.  He's now 15, and his mum always comes to the lesson too.  At the end of every lesson, his mum asks "Same time next week?" and usually my reply is yes.  But last week:

Boy's mum: Same time next week?
Me: Ooh - actually, no, don't come next week.
Boy's mum [surprised/concerned]: Oh - why not?
Boy [in that "I can't believe I have to explain this to you" tone of voice]: Mum, it's Easter.  She wants a holiday!

Like, duh.

The Trial of Cross Country

Today, the middle and senior girls had their cross country carnival.  Yesterday, I was talking with a grade 6 girl about it.

Me: Have fun tomorrow!
Girl [groaning]: Ugh...
Me [mock surprise]: Really?  You don't want to do cross country tomorrow?
Girl: Well.  I think it's a bit much... Really... To ask grade 6 girls... To run... Three kilometres!... All the way to [suburb] ... State School!... ... And back!  ... I'm not looking forward to it.
Me: Love the way that sentence just kept going and going...
Girl: And then, when we get back, we have to prance around! [lip sync competition]
Me: Team spirit?
Girl rolls her eyes and groans.  Again.

The Music Office Door

First thing this morning, I saw the violist from the junior quartet.  She had in her hand the 'contract' all the students in ensembles are required to sign (will turn up to all rehearsals and performances, and follow the director's instructions).

Viola: Ummm... What do I do with this?
Me: You know the music office door?
Viola: Ye- um... no...
Me: You know the music office?
Viola: Yes.
Me: And it has a front door?
Viola: Oh, yeah.
Me: That's the music office door.
Viola: Ohhhh...
Me: And it has the letterbox on the front.  You lift the lid, and you put in the contract.
Viola: Oh...  Okay.

There were varying levels of penny-dropping and confusion, from her, and varying levels of worry from me.

Random Comment #2 - The Nutcracker

Later in rehearsal for the Continuing Quartet, we were working on Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker.  I was sorting out a passage in the violins for a bit, and could hear the cello and viola talking quietly about something.  As soon as I had finished with the violins, I heard this:

Cello [quite loudly and dramatically]: Well, I crack nuts!
Me [turning back to her, raised eyebrow]: Um...?
Cello [floundering]: Oh - well, I - um - oh, you know, I -
Viola [imitating me from earlier]: Random comment number two for today.
Cello: I don't mean I crack nuts... You know... Like... not like ... Oh.  I meant the - yeah, the nuts you can eat.  As in, the nutcracker - like where this music is from.  You know.  The ballet, and the nutcracker, and the little soldier thing.
Me: Yeah, that's what I thought you meant...

All this was accompanied by giggles from at least one of the other girls.  I feel I should point out here that they all get on as friends, and they do work really hard when not coming out with random comments and misunderstandings.

Random Comment #1 - Chin Rests

Continuing Quartet this morning.  We stopped playing for something, and before anything could be said, we had this:

Viola [sniffing her chin rest]: Ooh, my chin rest smells really nice.
Me [a bit stunned]: Um... Okay... Random comment number one for the day...
Violin 2: Ooh, mine smells nice too.  Like wood.
Violin 1: So does mine.  Well, of course they all do, really.
Cello [with her nose at the shoulder of her cello]: That's not fair.  I don't have one!
Viola: You don't have anywhere to put it.
Cello: I guess ... It would have to go here [points to the shoulder of the cello].  Can you imagine that??

Cello then puts her chin on the imaginary chin rest and pretends to play.  She looked like she was trying to sniff the bridge of the cello, with her left hand above her hair and bow arm sticking out like a broken wing.  It didn't last long, of course, as the giggles turned to hilarity.

Necklaces

11-yr-old girl.

Last week:

Girl: Um... [looks anxious] Is your necklace... Well, is it meant to look like squished up lady bugs?
Me: Oh - do you think so?
Girl: Yeah, that's like the body, and those bits are like the shells, with the dots, you know?
Me [taking it off]: I see your point.
Girl: Why are you taking it off?
Me: Because I need you to focus on violin, and if you keep looking at me and all you can see is squished lady bug, we're not going to get very far.

This week:

Girl: Your earrings look like - they are! - red roses.  That's so pretty.  And - wow! - is that? Is that a red rose on your necklace?
Me: Yes.
Girl: Ooh... That's so pretty!  Much nicer than the squished beetles you had on last week.

Thanks, kid.  Anyone want to buy a handmade necklace that looks like it might possibly be squished lady bugs...?

Birthday Swap

9-yr-old boy. 

Boy: Oh... That concert isn't on my birthday is it?
Me: When's your birthday?  It's in May, right?
Boy: Yep.  May the 24th. 
Me: And you're turning... 9?
Boy: 10. 
Me: Well, that explains why you're so tall.
Boy: Oh ... Wait... My dad and I are swapping.
Me: You're swapping?
Boy [starting to giggle]: Yep.  He's going to be turning 10, I'm going to be turning 39.
Me: 39?!
Boy: Yep, I'll be 39.  So... Actually... My birthday is now going to be April... No... March 30.
Me: Wow.  So you'll be the oldest person in your class!
Boy [big grin]: Yep!

Five Husbands - Care Factor

The week after the sneak peak into my future, 11-yr-old girl who thinks I have five husbands came into her lesson.

Girl: Soooo....?  How's Tim?
Me: Good...
Girl: How's Andrew?
Me: Good... Still straight...
Girl: How's Harry?
Me: Good.... He's still straight, too...
[awkward pause]
Me: Are you going to ask me about the- You've forgotten their names, haven't you?!
Girl: No, I just don't care about Sebastian and Tom any more.

Maybe I'll be down to a more normal number of husbands (you know, just one!) sooner than I thought.

Pretty Eyes

10-yr-old girl, very dramatic and energetic.  I hadn't normally worn any mascara when she came for a lesson, so when I did:

Girl [wide-eyed and breathless]: Wow... Your eyes are really pretty...
Me: Thanks.
Girl: What colour are they?
Me: You're looking right at them, you tell me.
Girl stares a bit closer, then (not quite so breathless): Oh.  Your eyes are really weird.  They're like this weird, like, green colour.

Rubbish Bag Skirt

Another from the continuing quartet this week.  Another random, no warning, right in the middle of rehearsal, comment.

Viola: Ooh, I want to wear something for you.
Me: Ah.. What?
Viola [a bit louder and slower]: I want to wear something for you.
Me: You mean, other than your school uniform...?
Viola [nodding and smiling]: Yep.  It's a rubbish bag skirt.
Me [eyebrow raised]: Okay...

At the end of rehearsal, she pulled out a plastic bag, which was filled with a whole lot of plastic bags.  Not just any, though - white, pink, yellow - all pastel colours, and they've been attached to a band of elastic to form a skirt.  Viola starts pulling the skirt up over her school uniform.

Me: Wow! You weren't kidding.
Viola: Nope.  It's for cultural capers. [Which is, as far as I can gather, a lip-sync competition].

Cello starts singing - and then it got a little crazy with old songs and new songs and singing and dance moves.  Yes, Gangnam style, from the most straitlaced girl in the quartet.

Pizz

Grade 6 quartet this morning.  The piece we worked on for most of this morning has a pattern of repeated quavers that is shared between all the parts, and we played it in various ways to determine if we wanted smooth or not, how to slur if we were slurring, and then we tried a section pizzicato (plucked).  It sounded fabulous that way, so the pencil was shared around (I was the only one who brought one today) so the girls could write pizz in their parts.  While the cellist was writing, the violins were fiddling around with their parts. 

Cello gasped, head snapped up, then: Oh no.  Oh.  Um. 
Me: Oh - what is it?
Cello: Oh no.  How - how do you spell pizz?
Me: P-I-Z-Z
Cello:  Oh no.  I used an 'S'.  Two of them!
Me: So you've written-
Cello [both of us starting to giggle]: Yep.  Piss.  It's in my part now!  [a bit louder] Does anyone have a rubber?  This is important.
Viola: Why?
Cello: Because... because I wrote 'piss' in my part.  I need to change them to 'Z's! 
Viola: Ooh, that's a swear word!
Cello: No it's not, not really.  It's just a naughty word for pee.
Violin 2: Well, it's rude if you put 'off' after it.

Thankfully, Viola had a rubber handy, and the situation was rectified.

Why Because

16-yr-old girl, who last week dealt with C# major and its key signature of all sharps. 

Me: Why does C# major have all sharps?
Girl: Because it's C# major.
Me: But why?
Girl: Because it has all sharps.
Me: You've just told me that C# major has all sharps because it's C# major. 
Girl [slightly apologetically]: I know...  That's what I usually do in exams if I don't know the answer, I just rewrite the question in a slightly different way so it sounds like I know what I'm talking about.

Honest.  She then tried to tell me this is the scale you learn first on violin, even though last week she was scared just looking at the key signature.

Teenage Birthdays

15-year old girl, whose dad comes to every lesson.

Dad: Next week, L is in exam block, so we won't be coming to a lesson then... And the week after that is her birthday.  She tells me it's in her contract [smiles] that she doesn't do lessons on her birthday.
Me [smiling]: Oh, I understand.  I totally agree with that, actually.  So how old will you be turning?
Girl: 16. [Grimace] Ancient.
Me: What's that?  Ancient?
Girl: Yeah.  16 is ancient.  I will be ancient.

Five Husbands - Sneak Peak (3)

Girl Who Thinks I Have Five Husbands gave me a sneak peak of the future (find part 1 here and part 2 here).  After the first 3 bombshells, she then gave a summary:

Girl [subdued, serious]: So... You should stick with Tim.  He's - he's a good one...
Me [smiling]: Uh huh.
Girl [grinning]: And keep your eye on Andrew and Harry!  Don't let them spend too much time together, now.
Me: Um, okay.  But I don't think I could really stop them, if that's what they really want.
Girl [in a bossy-boots sort of way]: It doesn't matter.  No alone time for them!

Yeah, because losing 2 husbands and only having 3 would be so hard.

Phone Codes

11-yr-old girl.  A week or two before this, I'd left the room quickly for something.  When I returned, she had my phone in her hands, with the screen asking for a code. 

Girl: What's your code?
Me: I'm not going to tell you that.
Girl tries a combination.
Me: You're not going to work it out.  Give me the phone, please.
Girl: No, I can get this!  I just want to... [incorrect, again] Oh.  ... Um, change something cool in your phone...
Enough incorrect attempts that the phone locks.

Part 2:
Girl:  Ooh, can I borrow your phone for something?
Me: Er, no.
Girl: Pleeeeeease???
Me: No.
Girl manages to grab phone from me.
Me: You don't know my code, so that's a bit pointless.
Girl [indignant]: Yes I do.
Me: No, you don't.
Girl: Yes, I do.
Me [starting to laugh, she is so adamant]: Really?  What is it, then?
Girl [wide-eyed, serious]: Well, I can't tell you - I don't know if this is the real you, and not someone pretending to be you.

All I could do was laugh.

Grade 1 Parting

Overheard as I was getting to the station after work today.  Two little girls, looking about grade 1.  Their respective parents didn't say anything while the girls chatted.  I didn't get it all - they were not quite waist-high, with hats on - but here are the perks.

Girl 1 (R): I don't know which one we get out at.
Girl 2 (L): Is it Central?
R: It might be.  Or it might be at City and Roma St Station.
L: Oh.
R: Which platform do you go to?
L: Platform 4.
R: Oh.  We got to platform 1.
L: Oh, okay. ... Bye, R!
R [calling out]: Bye, L!  ... I'll miss you!!
R's mum [gently]: Don't call out so loudly, R.
R: But I just wanted to say goodbye.  I don't get to see her until tomorrow.

Made me smile.

Maths Brain

Doing theory with a 16-yr-old girl (the same one mentioned here).  She hasn't done much for a while, so we backed up a bit to grade 5.  We got to a question which asked for the C# major scale, with the key signature.  Then things got interesting.

Me: Read the question.  We need the key signature of C# major. 
Girl: So, C sharp, right?
Me: Yep.  [pause] What sharps are you going to need?
Girl: ... C... sharp...
Me [thinking this could take a while]: Okay, think back years and years, to when you did grade 1 theory...
Girl: I'll try...
Me: ...and you did C major scale first. 
Girl: Uh huh.
Me: Why did they make you do C major first?
Girl: Um... because it's only one octave? [nope] because it's only got one sharp?
Me: Does is really?
Girl: Oh - does it have 2 sharps?
Me: Ah, no.  [skip a few similar, incorrect, statements] C major has no sharps or flats.  It's all natural.
Girl [light bulb, I thought]: Ohhh...
Me: So, switch on your maths brain -
Girl [eyebrow raised]: But I don't have a maths brain, haven't you realised that yet?
Me: Oh yeah... If C major was all natural, you have to make every note sharper.  C sharp, and D sharp, and E sharp [etc]
Girl: No wonder they didn't make us do that in grade 1 - that's scary even now!

YouTube

Continuing Quartet.  We're working on a couple of pieces, one of which is Carnival of Venice. 

Cello: Oh, my goodness!  I was listening to this on YouTube, because my mum was, like [in a very serious 'tell it like it is' voice] Um, you suck... [back to normal] and -
Me [a bit indignant]: Oh!
Cello [dejected]: Well, yeah.  She's kinda right.  [perkier] So, I was listening to it, and it sounds awesome!!  All [she sings in a carnival-like manner] doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo [etc]

I wonder how this generation would go without YouTube...

Five Husbands - A Necklace

During the week, I wore a multi-strand necklace I made myself during the Australia Day weather event.  The girl who thinks I have five husbands saw me.

Girl: Ooh, that's such a pretty necklace.
Me: Thank you.
Girl [touching the necklace]: Did you make it yourself?
Me: Ye-
Girl: Or did one of your husbands make it?  Andrew?  Tim?
Me: What do you think?
Girl counts the strands (there are 9), then: Okay, you must have made it together.  Good work.
Me: Thanks...

Thongs

Junior Quartet on Tuesday.  Packing up at the end.  This takes forever and usually includes the line "Can't we just do music all day?" (Did I mention I love my job?).  I have no idea how this began, or even if there was a why.

Viola: Oh, did you know, in England, thongs is another name for underwear?  [giggles all around] So if you're wearing thongs, it means something totally different.
Violin 1: What do they call thongs, then?
Viola [pronounced carefully, with a 'this is so weird' subtext]: Flip flops.
Cello: They call them flip flops in America, too.
Violin 2: They call them something weird in New Zealand.  Oh... um...
Me: Jandals.
Violin 2: Yeah.  Jandals. Why can't everyone just call them thongs?  That would be easier.  On everyone.
Viola: I know!  Now when I say I'm wearing thongs... Well...

Giggles.