Reinforcing skills and acquiring new knowledge

I can’t believe it has been almost a month since I arrived here. Every day is full of new experiences and excitement! The feeling of returning to being a student is interesting - sometimes I feel old when sitting amongst those younger than me, but I feel youthful again when I enter the classroom and am able to learn something new.

Last week I had my first trombone lesson at the RNCM with Mr. Simon Cowen, the Principal Trombone of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, who is a brilliant player and almost as importantly a very good and dedicated teacher. He taught me a lot in terms of reinforcing my basic skills like sliding techniques, breathing, air use, etc., with patience and clear explanations. The lesson was really enjoyable and motivational, and his words are always encouraging.

I had one of my best experiences so far on Friday - Simon brought me to his orchestra to sit behind the trombone section in the rehearsal! I had never previously sat behind the trombone section in a professional orchestra - I found it extremely exciting! The rehearsal took place in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and that night the orchestra practised the Mahler Symphony No. 8 with a big choir. It is extremely difficult to achieve a sonic balance in a cathedral - there is a lot of echo to contend with and the conductor did a lot of work in terms of balancing the articulation and volume between the choir and orchestra. I must thank Simon for allowing me to have such a fantastic evening.

Another highlight of the last fortnight was sitting in the trombone classes and rehearsals of the RNCM Junior School. I attended the classes of Ms. Rosalyn Davies, trombonist of the Hallé, and we discussed teaching methods, particularly those relating to junior students, and talked about how to overcome different kinds of problems like tonguing clarity, tone quality, rhythmic and register difficulties, etc., which I found really helpful. Visiting the Junior School made me think of my students - I do miss them a lot! I have received a lot of emails and messages from them since I arrived here, which is very touching. I shall work very hard to pass on the new knowledge that I have accumulated!