This week was the final week of work before we broke up for two weeks Christmas leave, the whole of Training Company were in high spirits knowing we would be at home with friends and family very soon.
Monday
Today started with a circuit taken by our PTI.
The rest of the morning I spent playing through all my scales and practicing
various studies.
After lunch we all gathered in Portsmouth Band room for weekly recitals. This
week saw performances by Musn Mark Walker on the French Horn, Musn Louise Bailey
on the Viola, and Musn Andy Mckinnon on the Violin. Andy was performing his
final M3 piece, this is a compulsory recital to be preformed by all students
before being able to pass out into one of the trained bands.
The rest of the early afternoon I had Wind Quintet taken by Bd Cpl Finn on Oboe,
also with Musn Debbie Thompson on Clarinet, Musn Kelly Self on French Horn,
Musn Lynsey Carter on Flute and myself on Bassoon.
After stand easy I had History with Professor Douglas, in which we learnt about
Beethoven Piano Sonatas.
Tuesday
Today was a fairly free day for me which meant that I was able to get a lot
of practice done, most of my time was spent working on the Hurlstone Bassoon
Sonata which I'm playing for a recital on the 3rd of January, and also an end
of term assessment which would be on Wednesday, this involves all scales, and
usually a study and a piece, however I was going to play the whole of the Hurlstone
Sonata which consists of 4 movements instead of doing a separate study.
In the afternoon I had harmony with Professor Douglas where we worked through
techniques for writing Piano Accompaniment, and had a go at a few examples ourselves.
Wednesday
Today I had my assessment so I spent my morning going through last minute preparations
for that.
My assessment was before lunch and was taken by my instructor Bd Sgt Ridley,
Overall it went well apart from a few hitches in my scales.
On a Wednesday afternoon we would normally have Recreational Training which
would usually involve some sort of team sport, this week we had to move all
24 of the new troop which had just passed out of training into their various
accommodation.
Thursday
Today I was to take the morning PT session, as it was the day of Christmas
leave I was allowed to plan various fun but tiring games to play, which involve
wheel-barrow races, piggy back races and lots of sprint relays.
For the rest of the day I did my own private practice before collecting leave
warrants from Drum Major at 2 o'clock, we were then free to leave and head home
for Christmas!!
I spent the first few days of my Christmas leave in Derby for Musn Sarah Keddilty's
wedding, now to be known as Musn Thompson-Bialy. The wedding was a great success
apart from the fact that the girl with a reputation for never being late for
anything, was 30 minutes late for her own wedding!! She assures us however it
wasn't her fault.