Today being Wednesday saw the regular afternoon of piano teaching. As usual I raced home from work in time to make the music room tidy enough that people could walk into without tripping over music stands, instrument cases and other bits and pieces. I quickly made my cup of tea and settled in for three hours of surprises.

First up are the brother and sister. They have been learning for a couple of years. Still in primary school, they did their first official exams a couple of weeks ago. Since then they have been firing on all cylinders piano-wise. I have given them a new piece every week for the last fortnight and each week they have returned to their next lesson with it COMPLETE, HANDS TOGETHER, THE LOT. All you music teachers out there will know that rarely, if ever happens. Today was no exception. What joy it was!

Then my newest student arrives. He is 8 and preparing for his first exam in September. He takes everything vey seriously, and is something of a perfectionist. That’s alright by me. I like it when students make a mistake and go back and do it again without me having to tell them to.

Then, my longest serving student who is preparing for her A.Mus diploma in September. This is an hour lesson that can be quite full-on as she is playing at a very advanced level. I have to put my brain fully into gear for this. It’s wonderful to think and talk about music in such a concentrated way.

Lastly, is one of my three adult students. Sometimes, with all my adult students we make the mistake of starting to chat and suddenly the lesson time is gone. This happened today. But luckily he is the last of the day so we made up the time and I finished about 7.

As always, time flew by. Strangely, that always seems to happen even when I am less than enthusiastic about starting because work has been a pain, or I’m tired, or I’m out of sorts. It’s the music you see. It makes things better.