Phew!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I joined a new band at the end of August.

That's one of the reasons why I haven't been posting much recently. To say that I'm out of my comfort-zone would be a serious understatement. The standard is very high, there are some professional musicians, some music teachers, some people who've played for 20, 30 years, and then there's me...took up my French Horn 6 years ago, practice as much as I get time to , and LOVE it.The moment I had been dreading came tonight. The other 3 French Horns were absent.

Nobody to lean on, or hide behind!

So, I was all alone. And if that wasn't bad enough, tonight's conductor is a French Horn player. I just knew that every time I'd play a wrong note, he must hear it, above any other instrument in the band.
Kept my nerve until the interval, and kept thinking "I'll go home at the interval if they haven't thrown me out before then".

Got chatting to the player next to me during the interval, and he encouraged me to just play what I can, "you're doing great".

After the interval, one of the other French Horns arrived, and the relief on my face must have been obvious to all!

At the end, the conductor came over and asked me how I was getting on. I told him how nervous I felt, how exposed, how out-of-my-comfort-zone.

And guess what?

He was lovely! Said "we've all been there, just relax and play what you can" .

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(note to self: you never know how valuable a few kind, reassuring words can be to someone).

Catch-up time

Can't believe it's over a month since I managed to write a post. I've been hiding away, a bit like this house in Marlay Park!


Thanks to those who popped by to say hello and they missed me.
Things have been really hectic around here; I've so much news I don't know where to start. Eldest daughter has started college. And I've been away twice since September, on a school trip to Spain and another "sharing expertise" trip to Slovenia. each time it took me a week to recover, as both trips were brilliant but hectic.
Enough excuses!
Here's a video I recorded on Grafton Street during the summer holidays, I loved how people come along and busk there (it's one of my favourite things about Dublin!) and I loved the way they played. This is my first time to upload a video, so I just hope it works. It's very short, but gives a flavour!