Hits and Misses (April 3-9)

Here's a look back at the week that was.....

HITS

• This week had more meetings than normal for some reason. Fortunately, they were my favorite kind of meetings -- productive ones! There are some exciting things coming that are going to be very fun to be a part of.....here we go!
• As the week came to a close, I was able to return to my normal reading routine. I had to put the 6th installment of the Harry Potter series down for a while. Things were just too crazy recently and I never felt like I had time to invest in the book. So I'm reading something a little more "academic" at the moment: When Books Went to War by Molly Manning. It's a fascinating look at the movement to supply WWII soldiers with books while they were serving our nation's military. It's definitely a departure from my normal selections, but I'm enjoying learning more about this interesting period of history.
• It's always rewarding to encounter inquisitive students. Questions have ranged from approaches to playing contemporary praise choruses to my feelings about the compositions of Ned Rorem. These unexpected questions are part of the reason I enjoy teaching so much! The encounters with students also keep me young (or feeling young, at least).

MISSES

• It has been another long, busy week. I've done a lot of playing in the past 5 days and my body can definitely tell it. I keep telling myself that the insanity will only last for a few more weeks before I can enjoy the more relaxed pace of summer vacation.
• Part of the playing this week has involved doing several rehearsals with ensembles that are preparing for upcoming performances. I don't play for these groups most of the time, so I found myself doing some last minute sight reading that demanded some big sounds. I'm not sure that other pianists feel the same way, but I find that these situations are more strenuous than normal performances because I've not had time to fully prepare my body and mind. In an effort to get around as best as I can, I sometimes use less-than-ideal movements.....and that can lead to problems when it happens too often. On Thursday afternoon, I was in my third of these sessions this week when I began to experience pain in my right hand. You can imagine that this stressed me out! Part of the problem was my own fault -- there had been absolutely no time to warm up that day. (I went directly from class to administering exams that ended just before the additional rehearsal.) The other issue was the demands placed on my hands for the past few weeks. There really hasn't been much downtime to allow my hands to rest. As the rehearsal continued, I was massaging the sore area while evaluating the playing that needed to occur for the rest of the day. I survived the day no worse for wear. I finally attributed the pain to a severe muscle cramp, but I still wanted to take it easy for a few days. I was able to cancel much of the playing scheduled for the rest of the week and intentionally planned my weekend away from the piano. I'll be keeping an eye on things in the coming days and will schedule a visit with a doctor if the problems persist.