In the hurly-burly leading up to Christmas I’ve enjoyed playing through some carols from a vintage carol book that was given to my mum in 1951. My present favourite is In the Bleak Mid-Winter, in particular with the words written by Christina Rossetti. I hope you will excuse a little indulgence in musical ‘splurge’ as I enjoy busking through this carol - surely this is the time of year for such playing! Thank you for your support over this last year. I look forward to what the next year holds for us, but until then I hope you enjoy this carol.

Singing a wrong note for almost 30 years (the whole of the soprano section!) just goes to show that the odd wrong note here and there doesn’t spoil a performance. Of course, we practise and rehearse so as to get it right, but on concert (or exam) day it’s just a note and needn’t spoil the whole performance. Do your best and then just enjoy the music!

We often get ‘stuck on the tracks’ in our music routine, but sometimes it’s good to ‘switch lanes’ and play in a different way. There’s great benefit in playing with an academic approach - it gives us many skills. However, sometimes it’s good to just chill and knock out a jolly tune, in a more social sense. In this way we can learn to be more flexible with the music we play, and develop our sense of pitch and rhythm. If we tend to play in a more social approach sometimes it would greatly improve our performance if, once in a while, we deviate from our normal routine and dig into some technical studies. Then, when we return to our favourite genre, we have more to give to our musical interpretation. Dare to switch lanes!

Life as a music tutor gives many opportunities to count my blessings - it’s such a privilege to share in other people’s music learning journey. I do say some funny things; my brain offers some strange insights into how to navigate through the music. I also get the opportunity to learn along the way! The end result should be that we enjoy learning together. Thank you for sharing your journey with me.