Day10: The songs of life

Music permeates my days.
If I'm not teaching a piano lesson or leading a music therapy group or conducting a choir, I am singing along with the radio in my head. Jeff tells people that if he wonders where I am in the house, he just follows the humming.
I figured out that in an average week, I spend ten hours or more teaching piano lessons, four or five hours leading music therapy groups, two or three hours working with my church and senior choirs, and usually another hour or three arranging music or learning new songs. Around this time of year the totals tend to be higher because I am preparing musical numbers for various Christmas programmes, such as piano recitals and choir performances at church and in the community.

And practising with the bell choir.

I am so lucky!

Here is the best Christmas song ever, to get you in the mood for the season.

I am thankful for
my musical friends who collaborate with me and go along with my optimistic plans
for my lovely group of piano students who make me smile and always challenge me to up my game
for my family members who humour me by singing and playing with me
for my clients, both very old and very young, who sing with me enthusiastically
and for my friends who aren't so musical, but claim to enjoy the results of my labours.

Because, you see, my dirty little secret is that I am only a mediocre vocalist, a tolerable piano player, a fair-to-middling conductor, and an unexceptionable guitar player. But, somehow, the combination of my skills and enthusiasm, and the people who surround me and work with me, allows me to not only make a living, but to also get some pretty good results for my efforts.
So, today, hooray for music!