Last week of classes

A looong day of piano teaching at the university yesterday. This time of year is always a mix of emotions: excitement at hearing a year's work come to fruition; frustration when a student doesn't follow through on commitments; and general exhaustion after a long semester. (this last would be improved if I'd be more consistent with eating and exercise, but that's a long-term project ...)

I had an exciting breakthrough with a student yesterday. She has worked very hard all year, but today she really began to understand that music needs to be felt physically and emotionally ... not just comprehended intellectually. Her resistance was expressing itself through a stiffness in the core of her body. I got her to play her pieces quite slowly, listening to the vibrations of each note and of the transitions between one note and the next, feeling what happened in her body as she responded to those vibrations. A natural, sincere musicality began to emerge. I hope that she trusts herself enough to follow these instincts ...

Thanks again to Madeline Bruser for her wonderful book. I would love to take part in one of her Vermont music/meditation workshops someday.

OKC (obligatory knitting content): A few more stripes complete on the body of Sock #2. Socks are so great for car trips ...