Another lesson from a student...

For three years I've tried teaching one of my students about sixteenth notes... Either I've made lousy attempts, or, as I've resigned myself to thinking, her brain just wasn't wired to understand them. She's older, and I assume that she should be able to wrap her head around simple fractions. Apparently not so. I remember trying to explain rhythm to her at her very first lesson after she had played "Titanic." It felt like my words flowed in one ear and out the other. Three years later, I'm still charting things out and cutting up colorful circles into four to help her see things clearer, spending tedious minutes on one line of music, with no recall of what we'd figured out from the week prior. As I prepared for today and contemplated teaching, I remember thinking- "You can't make something out of nothing, Carla. It's not all up to you- if it's not there, it's just not there."

She came to her lesson tonight, played "Up Where We Belong" and came to this tricky sixteenth note section which we had laboured over in a previous lesson. She played through it okay, after which she stopped and I asked a simple question about the rhythm, expecting the usual "I don't know." Much to my surprise... she knew the answer. I was slightly shocked. I asked her how much of the beat an eighth note gets- she knew! I asked her to write out the counting for six bars of music. She could actually figure it out! And the sixteenth notes too! Euphoria!! Great rejoicing!

I'm not sure how things came to life for her, but I was happy to be surprised and convicted of my unhopefulness. I am gently reminded that we may write parts of ourselves or others off and consider them unchangeable or unrevivable, with little inkling of resurrection. What hope in knowing that this is simply not true. Death gives way to life, time and again.