Monday
This week was unexpectedly different for me. it started with hobbling over to
sickbay at 8 o'clock. This was because of a trip to Gosport Ice Rink on Sunday,
where I fell over and sprained my ankle quite badly. I spent most of the morning
in sick bay seeing a doctor then going to Physio to get a splint for my ankle
and a pair of crutches. It was quite funny for everyone else to watch me trying
to use them! After lunch we all enjoyed listening to a recital by brass group
and the orchestra. The rest of the afternoon I spent practising for my term
3 exam which was on Thursday. You always know when its exam week because everyone
is practising their scales!
Tuesday
It was an 0830 start this morning, that meant I could get an hour of practice
in before I had an aural class with Sergeant Ridley, but the class got cancelled
so I got more time to work on my study which kept going wrong. By lunchtime
I wasn't worrying about it quite so much and was just looking forward to climbing
two flights of stairs with crutches to get to the galley! In the afternoon we
had an unexpected fire alarm which upset some people who were meant to have
their exam. We all had to form up on the Parade Square whilst the problem was
resolved. There is a lot of building work going on at the School at the moment
so the fault was probably something to do with that. It was orchestra rehearsal
in the evening. We are going to be doing recording for a CD next week so we
needed to practice hard to achieve the best standard we could.
Wednesday
This morning I got to stay in bed late as it was Parade Band at 0800 and because
I couldn't do it because of my ankle, I didn't have to be in work until quarter
to nine. For the first part of the morning I did my warm up routine and went
through all my scales. After Stand Easy I had a prof lesson. My usual prof,
Tim Jones from the London Symphony Orchestra, couldn't get here this week so
we had a replacement. It was a very interesting lesson for me though as he had
brought in a hand horn (I am a french horn player). He gave me a lesson on how
to produce the notes as the handhorn doesn't have any valves, he then let me
play my exam piece on the handhorn which was very challenging. We normally have
RT (Recreational Training) on Wednesday afternoon but there was a cocktail party
to be held at the School that night so the afternoon was spent tidying the School
and setting it up. Unfortunately I couldn't do anything as I was on crutches
and got sent back to the accommodation.
Thursday
Exam day! And what a busy day it was. It started off with sponsored prayers
at 8 o'clock, where the orchestra played a couple of pieces; Beethoven's Romance
and Bach's Air on a G String. It was then time to practice like mad. The singing
prof was in today and I had a singing lesson after standeasy so I lost some
practice time. My singing lesson went well though and it took my mind off my
horn exam for a good half hour! After lunch we had a choir rehearsal, we would
also be recording next week. We are doing 'Good Vibrations' and 'Something inside
so strong'. The lads and girls were rehearsed separately then together. I now
only had an hour till my exam, after going through my piece, study and scales
again I was ready to go in. The Bandmaster and Major Best were examining me,
and overall my exam went quite well. It was then time for a well deserved Stand
Easy. To follow that we had a history lesson all afternoon. It was a revision
session with Corporal Finn as Sergeant Ridley was on a course. At last the end
of the day - except there was evening rehearsal for Concert Band, the music
is very enjoyable to play though, for example 'Westside Story' and 'Sing, Sing,
Sing', and the time soon flew by.
Friday
Again there was Parade Band and after that at 0930 all the people who had taken
Term 3 and Term 5 exams patiently queued up outside the elements room, one by
one we went in, and nearly everyone walked out with a smile on their face. I
managed to get a superior pass with 77% I spent the rest of the morning looking
at a new piece of music by Hindermidt which I working on for my Grade 8. In
the afternoon a lot of people were off doing a gig, wind quartet and Parade
Band. The rest of us had a harmony lesson with Prof Douglas and after that Sergeant
Miller helped the rest of us with some of the Concert Band music. It was strange
with only about 6 of us around that evening and the accommodation was silent
but it made a good sleeping opportunity. That was until 0730 when everyone got
back. Most of us then went out to Weatherspoons and had a good night on the
tiles.
Saturday
No work! It was so nice not having to work Saturday. After you pass your term
3 exam you gain this privilege. I'm not a person to waste such opportunities,
so when myself and Musn King were invited to spend the day on a power cruiser
which was going over to a bay in the Isle of Wight we snapped up the chance.
It was a great day, lazing around on the boat and then sunbathing on the beach,
when we got back we were thoroughly windswept. We then decided to go to the
cinema at Gunwharf Quays and watch Scooby Doo which was excellent.
Sunday
Time for a lie in. After getting up late and going to scran (dinner) I went
to town and then lazed in the park. It was a lovely sunny day and it stayed
nice until 5 o'clock at which point I went back to base to do my kit and iron
my sheets for rounds next week. The evening was spent in 'The George', a pub
down the road, having a few relaxing drinks with my mates.