My Kids

Hurray for snow! The roads were too snowy to go to rehearsal tonight, so I get the night off. Since winter semester started today, now would be a good time to talk about my kids.

No, I don't have any little munchkins running around my house yet, but I do have several kids that I like to think of as mine. I teach music at BYU-Idaho to several "lecture" classes. It is always so fun to get to know the students throughout the semester and form friendships with them. The first day of school, like today, is always somewhat humorous. I am my usual over-excited self as I'm introducing the class and talking about music. The students, however, don't know my personality yet, and they all stare at me the whole time. I can never figure out if they do this because they are completely bored, scared for the class, or they think I am insane. After the first week or two, however, we have an understanding of each other. The students relax, and class is usually a lot of fun.

I love my lecture classes, but the students that I really form a bond with are my private students. We spend time every week in a one-on-one setting trying to tackle difficult passages, overcome bad habits, and memorize tricky pieces. Lessons are not always about music, however. One more than one occasion they have turned into a kind of therapy session, and the students have really opened up to me. I remember doing this when I was a student also, so I guess it comes with the territory. Because of this, I tend to think of them as "mine." Just like parents, I rejoice when good things happen to them, I feel pain when they are having trouble, and sometimes I would like to wring their necks!

I also have another group of kids. My private studio has a group of students ranging in age from six to eighteen years old. It is so interesting teaching this wide of an age group. My six-year-old makes me want to laugh and scream at the same time, my eighteen-year-old always has a funny story for me, and my fourteen-year-old doesn't really say anything. They are all so great. Last month we had our first studio recital, and it went great. Since most of the students are not very advanced, it didn't last very long, but all of the families loved it. I'll leave you with a few pictures from the recital and one of my amazing studio. I love my studio! We have converted the entire bottom floor of our house into the "studio suite." It has it's own entrance so the kids don't have to walk through my house, and we installed a sidewalk leading up to it. There is a sitting room for the parents or other students to wait, with a candy dish and some furniture. There is also a bathroom down there for them to use. Then, of course, we have the actual studio. We still have a little decorating to do, but we're making good progress. It is so nice to have a place like that to teach in!