Members of the School of Music go 'back to school'
Monday
First thing it was a rehearsal for the OC's parade on the tennis courts so
we were marching up and down for an hour getting shouted at for not swinging
our arms or dressing properly. The lucky people on the band however got a nice
lie in!
It was then to work to practice my pieces in preparation for my clarinet lesson
after stand easy.
My lesson with Prof Kennard, my clarinet teacher, went reasonably well. We went
through my scales and pieces in preparation for my assessment next week. My
pieces include Latin Jive by Paul Harris and Movement 2 of the Dance Preludes
by Witold Lutoslawski.
After lunch it was over to the church in the dockyard where Musns Boardman,
Lawson and Trudgeon were ready to perform their recital pieces. The rest of
the day was spent in my cell practising.
When work had finished it was back to the accommodation to clean my copper pipes
and polish the tiles in my bathroom.
Tuesday
A rounds morning, as usual, so up early to change the sheets and dust and
vacuum, then check my kit before going to fall in for an inspection before marching
over to work.
Most of the day was spent practising for me, although I had a small lesson with
Sgt Boland mainly on changing into third position as I need to be able to do
this for my term 3 exam at the end of November.
That night it was orchestra at Portsmouth band room as the concert hall has
now got big holes in it. This was my first time in orchestra and I was quite
nervous to start with and even worse when I saw the music we were going to be
playing.
For me the music was a bit beyond my basic standard however I managed to struggle
through the hour and a half.
It was then back to the accommodation to prepare our kit for the next day's
parade band.
Wednesday
Up at 0645 to have a shower get breakfast and make any minor adjustments to
kit before marching over to work to warm up our instruments.
The rehearsal was for the parade band gig on Friday, Divisions at Collingwood.
We were a bit restricted however as it was in the tennis courts and so we constantly
seemed to be counter marching, it was also quite cold and so not everyone was
quite their cheery selves. In fact we were all quite glad to go back to our
cells so we could warm up and let the blood return to our blue fingers.
After a bit more practice it was time for lunch, however instead of being able
to look forward to a nice bit of RT in the afternoon, we had another lot of
parade band to prepare for. Out came the irons and the shoe polish again.
It was however a little better than this morning as not only had it warmed up
a bit but we were marching around Nelson instead of just up and down, up and
down.
We were however stopped when we reached Portsmouth band room because we were
going too fast and Drum Major thought we were trying to run round so that we
could get more time off, but that of course isn't true. The second half was
taken at a more leisurely pace so that even the people with short legs like
myself could keep up.
After this rehearsal the afternoon was our own and so many people nipped into
Portsmouth to do a bit of shopping.
Thursday
This morning saw a little bit of a lie in due to the fact that it was sponsored
prayers, this is a small service which is taken once a month usually in the
concert hall by one of the Navy chaplains. This month however due to the fact
that the concert hall is rapidly disappearing, it was taken in the Chaplaincy,
a small room we all have fond memories of back from basic training, no tea and
biscuits today though.
My morning was spent practising; especially on my violin as I had a lesson after
lunch.
My lesson with my violin teacher Prof Simpson went reasonably well as we worked
on my term three examination piece where there were a few problems with the
bowing and so the majority of the lesson was spent on that.
After my lesson it was straight on to elements with C/Sgt Holman, where we concentrated
on the work we needed to know for the term 5 mock exam we are taking next week.
Then after stand easy it was back to the classroom again for a harmony lesson
where we are learning about different chord progressions.
That night it was back to Portsmouth band room for the usual concert band rehearsal,
however after this we still hadn't finished work as it was back to the accommodation
to prepare our full ceremonial dress in preparation for Divisions tomorrow.
Friday
Up early at 0615 for breakfast at 0645 then straight over to the school to
get ourselves, our kit and our instruments on to the coach.
We arrived with a bit of time to spare and had time for tea/coffee and biscuits
before changing into our rig and then marching off to the parade square.
Divisions went reasonably well although Musn Singleton was banging the bass
drum so hard that she thought she might go through it, as she was trying to
keep the Navy in step and in time (they don't do quite as much drill as we do!).
When we got back at about 1100 the bandmaster gave us the rest of the morning
off so most people decided to go back to bed and catch up on the sleep they'd
missed.
However after lunch it was back to work and for my term a history lesson kicked
off the afternoon. This lasted two hours and fifteen minutes. It's not supposed
to last that long however none off us complained as we find Sgt Ridley's lessons
very interesting.
After stand easy it was back to the cells.
Saturday and Sunday
No one had to work this Saturday as we all had to come in on Sunday to go to
the Royal Marines Band Service Memorial Service. This occurs every year and
is usually held in Portsmouth's Anglican Cathedral.
The service included some very good music including a solo by Musn McKinnon
on his violin called 'The Lark Ascending', which was very nicely played.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing.
Members of the School of Music go 'back to school'