Good week overall

I always worry when we have a week of spring break and then have to come back and prepare for Solo and Ensemble Contest in just 2 weeks. Somehow, that week of no lessons and very little if any practicing, causes students to regress 3 or 4 weeks in their preparedness. I am pleased to say that for the most part, that was not the case this week.

I must admit that all week I had trouble getting out of bed in time to get to work. It's funny how your body can get so used to sleeping in when you sleep in for a week. I was also really tired because Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were really long days. I basically came home and went to bed.

I was tired this week, but the lessons were great. I think some of the students might be getting bored with their songs now, but I love it when they know them well enough that I can actually work the details. I also recorded many of the students and had them tell me what they heard that they needed to work on. They hate to listen to themselves, but almost all of them can find issues to work on, even when their opinion of the performace before listening to it was that it was really good.

I also had two really good practice sessions of my own this week. I do something everyday, but I don't always have the time and energy to really work. A few of the songs on my recital are really technically difficult for me because of how they sit in my voice. I'm still considering doing them in other keys, but for now, I want to see how much I can improve them in these keys by just really working the technique. Last night I had a great practice session. It was so good that I didn't want to stop working. On my good days, it's hard to remember not to over do it.

I hope next week goes as well as this one. Solo and Ensemble Contest is on Saturday, so there will lots of organizational stuff that needs to be done in addition to teaching the lessons and making sure the kids are prepared.