I was doing some work on music for our carol service today, which involved a certain amount of dusting off music I’ve used before and also looking at some new things. It was heartening to find that the sight-reading involved, which might have tripped my up previously, flowed by quite painlessly. It really is quite exhilarating to follow along the dots and have the notes drip smoothly from your fingers. I’m sure this is all down to the work I’ve been putting in recently on getting up to speed with music for the Charnwood Symphonic Wind Orchestra.

I’m also guesting with the related Charnwood Concert Band for a couple of Christmas gigs and had my first rehearsal with them tonight. Some of that went well, like my first time playing the arrangement of The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting…). That’s quite a slow, schmaltzy tune and not every note is the one you might expect, although it all sounds right when it fits together.

That said, there were enough moments to keep my pride in check. Sight reading. Improving… but still needs more work.