Celebrate the small things

I've only had one work deadline this week, which was to write an article for the Christmas issue of  Smallholder magazine. Once that was done, I was able to catch up on a few bits and pieces that I had set aside 'for when I get a minute'. I am celebrating efficiency.

My online FutureLearn blues piano course is up and running. Despite the blurb saying we need a couple of hours a week for this, it's clear I need to work much harder than that if I'm to keep up. I've recorded and uploaded my first attempt at improvising for the comments of my fellow learners. They have been kind. This week's challenge has been to play 7th 10ths, which means putting my little finger on a C and stretching my thumb all the way up to the E that is ten notes away, while also putting a finger on the flattened 7th note, B-flat. Still with me? Let's just say it's a bit much for my small hands. I am celebrating determination.

Mr Thorley and I were invited out for a meal last Sunday with some Bahai friends to mark the bicentenary of the birth of their faith's founder, Baha'u'llah. I'm not a follower, but amongst its key teachings is 'The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens' and 'So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.' Isn't that sensible? I am celebrating tolerance.

Image: morguefile.com

Have a good weekend, folks.

If you would like to join this bloghop, send your details to laura.6eg@gmail.com  and she will do the necessary.

The Divisional in the recording studio

Indulge me. Let my motherly pride take centre stage while I report that The Divisional, the band that son Joe plays drums in, have (has?) recorded a new EP featuring two tracks: ‘Insecure/Manicure’ and ‘Yew Tree’. The songs can be downloaded from their Facebook page, so if you get a minute have a listen and, if appropriate, ‘Like’ the site. Thanks.

I love the way Joe has been taught to play the drums. His wonderful teacher Glenn has not only guided him successfully through his grades, but has also encouraged him to play – and, importantly, to listen to – as wide a range of music as possible.

As a child, I learned to play the piano. Indeed, I passed my Grade 8 exam. But despite this, I wouldn’t say I’m a pianist. My teacher, a formidable woman who bore the forenames of Lena Prudence Anne, no less, taught me to pass exams, but I don’t remember ever learning a piece of music just for the sheer joy of it. Consequently, while I can still bash out a fair interpretation of Chopin’s ‘Raindrop Prelude’, I would struggle to play anything modern, and songs are certainly beyond me.

I don’t know why this should be the case. It’s not as though the actual notes are particularly challenging. There’s just something in my brain that stops me. Perhaps it’s years of having been told to master the right hand, then the left hand, then to put the two together, perfectly, exactly as written.

It’s a bit early for New Year resolutions, but perhaps I should put a reminder in my diary that 2012 will be the year that I learn something by Coldplay.