Oh the Cacophony!

Last week I had to teach my very fist orchestra class. Those who know me are shaking their heads in disbelief right now because they know that I have absolutely no background in music. Nevertheless, there I was teaching 7th graders how to be in an orchestra.

It seems that the regular orchestra teacher was away that day on a field trip. She planned the absence far in advance, and the she put in for a sub just like any other teacher. However, the night before she was to be away the sub pulled out, and her absence went uncovered. No teacher likes to have an uncovered absence, but specialists especially hate it due to the amount of preparation and specialized knowledge their classes require. In other words, open orchestra position equals bad.

When an absence goes uncovered, the school secretary then must find enough teachers who are willing to use their preps to cover. First she goes down the list and asks all the people with first prep if they can take the first period. Once she has someone for first, she starts looking for second, and so on down the line. I have fourth period prep, so I was asked to cover 7th grade orchestra. I went up to the music rooms with no small amount of trepidation.

The sub plans told me that the kids were working in ensemble groups. I was to "move around making sure they are playing correctly (?!) and commenting on their work (?!) " I could do the move around part without too much trouble, but the rest was entirely beyond me. Also, the wall of sound in those rooms was immense. Even when the kids were playing nicely, the sheer number of different pieces being played at once made things very interesting. I have the greatest respect for our music teachers now.

All the kids seemed (?!) to be doing well, so I just smiled and nodded a lot, and let them get on with things. I have to say that they are a very sweet group of kids. Does music make good kids, or are good kids just drawn to music? When the period ended, no one was any the worse for wear except possibly my ears. I am just glad I was not the person covering 6th period where a student cello fell to the ground and cracked in half. Apparently that person had sobbing 6th graders all over the place. There is never a dull moment in the music rooms.