Sunday 15 February 2009

Provisionally...

I am to be the organ scholar at my church's Mother church. They still have to hear me play, so there is still the opportunity for me to mess it up spectacularly. I shall be practising quite hard this week. I shall also be packing, going to Postgrad. Group, going to martial arts, going climbing and fitting in two joinery sessions, if all goes according to plan.

Assuming the scholarship goes ahead, I shall probably end up playing for one Sunday service in four (I am hazy about what this involves; whether it is the full service, or just parts of it), and attending another service - I would be there every other week. I would also accompany Wednesday evening practices with the girls' choir. When I wasn't playing I would sing alto with them (the organ scholar sings with the men, and alto is clearly a man's part).

Additionally (the really exciting bit) I will get organ lessons and a key to the church so that I have access to an instrument on which to practise! A reliable one! With notes that work! Consistently! And it is electronic, so it is in tune! And it has four manuals! And lots and lots and lots of different stops so I can learn all sorts of things about changing the stops I use!

I am a little excited about this (can you tell?). I have a tough week ahead of me, though. I cannot afford to mess up this playing on Sunday, which increases the probability that I will mess it up due to being nervous. I survived the Christmas carol service, but my playing was not exactly at a very high standard then. It was, in fact, well below what I need to pull off next Sunday. However, I have been practising a bit of Bach today, which has very nearly been pulled into shape, and there are a couple of hymns I can get good without much time. Perhaps I should work on "O come, all ye faithful", with its penultimate verse of glory and joy. People might look at me funny, but I think that it does require a reasonable level of playing. Also, I shall try to finish learning the Franck piece I started about 1 1/2 years ago. It was mostly at a reasonable level when it finally got too much for me (organ practice can be very, very boring), but it needs a lot of accuracy work.

Now, does anyone have any suggestions about what I should give up to make space for this scholarship? The things I do are as follows:

  • Work full-time
  • Have a relationship
  • Go to Postgrad. Group on Mondays
  • Do martial arts on Tuesdays
  • Do joinery on Wednesdays (this will have to move, for starters)
  • Go climbing on Thursdays or Fridays (when possible)
  • Visit my family some Fridays/Saturdays
  • Play the organ on Sunday mornings
  • Relax, occasionally
  • Do a wide variety of crafts in my free time
I'm not really seeing what can go. The full-time-ness of the work really needs to go ASAP. The joinery has to stay if I am to become an organ builder. Postgrad. Group is fun, and I am committed to leading a session this term. Martial arts is a grind, but it is very good for me in a lot of different ways. I enjoy climbing and it is helping to make me less fat. I haven't even started the horse riding yet! I will, of course, be cycling into work soon, which will give me some exercise, but this is going to take some serious planning! Oh yes, and I plan to grow vegetables. This can take place during my weekend leisure hours.

HWSNBN has just told me that I have to keep an evening free this week in order to get on with packing. I suppose that he has a point. I daresay that I shall concede and spend an evening with him and some boxes. Perhaps tomorrow evening would do. I could get a practice session in straight after work, then spend the evening roasting vegetables and deciding which clothes I want to get rid of. Which will be painful (it was yesterday; I ended up leaving a big "undecided" pile on the floor, which I must sift through and choose about half of them).

2 comments:

Lisa Moon said...

Well, I suppose you could always cut the job and the relationship down to 'part-time', give up the exercise and become rather... roly poly... oh, and I notice you didn't mention sleep, although I suspect you must do this at some point. I'd recommend nixing this as well, or at least minimising it.

There, that should free up considerable time for you in your week, allowing you to pursue your many interests and such.

Let me know how it goes!

Optistatic said...

Sleep. What's that? Oh - that thing that happens after I lie in the bed for far too long. Yes, I would like some of that. I do not forsee a vast amount over the next year or so. I have no idea how long this scholarship is due to last, though.

The exercise is quite part-time at the moment - I am thinking of doing stuff on alternate weeks. I don't think that I would get much more roly-poly than I am at the moment, though!

The relationship is quite part-time anyway. We don't get to spend many evenings together, as we are already very busy. He will not get much busier, though. Perhaps he will discover the joy of wandering round an old, empty church in the dark while somebody plays the organ very badly..