I convinced my 13-year-old niece to join the Rockport and Gloucester bands this summer. I taught her clarinet when I was teaching in Gloucester, so I know she is a fast learner and competent musician. The music will be challenging, but I think it will be good for her to experience a concert band. On Tuesday I met up with her to practice some songs and it was delightful to teach music again. It was also crazy picking up the clarinet again to play along with her. I started on clarinet in 5th grade but moved on to bass clarinet in middle school, bassoon in high school, and saxophone in college, never to touch a clarinet again until I started teaching a few years ago (and then I promptly stopped once the pandemic hit). In my opinion, clarinet is the easiest band instrument to learn, to play, and to teach, so I was able to pick it back up again with no problem... like riding a bike! Thankfully my trombone/tuba-playing husband happened to own a clarinet in decent shape for me to play for lessons (he also has a flute, piccolo, trumpet, euphonium, tenor sax, drums, percussion, keyboards, guitars, in addition to his many trombones and tubas. Add those to my alto sax, bari sax, bass clarinet, and oboe, and we have instrumentation for a full band! And yes, I admit, we are a little insane.) Anyways, I am happy to be back to teaching clarinet, even if it's a volunteer gig, and it is delightful to be spending time with my niece (she is my favorite, but don't tell anyone, cuz I'm not supposed to have favorites!). Come hear us at our first concert on Sunday, July 18 at 7pm; free outdoor music at the Rockport gazebo.
With delight,
♥Jamie
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