Improvising on cardboard keyboards

Now that would have been a better last day at school...

The music lessons when I was at school involved sitting in a portakabin "playing" tiny cardboard keyboards. We'd only get the opportunity of playing one of the five real home-made two octave keyboards if we showed a proficiency on the cardboard ones...I also remember getting told off for improvising a little during one piece...improvising on cardboard keyboards should surely have been praised and encouraged...

Hazel, Adam and I took our first tour around one of the local secondary schools (they call them high schools now) that Adam may go to and I found the experience by turns moving and depressing. The school looked great, the staff were so enthusiastic (and young), the classrooms seemed comfortable and appropriate, they had a drama studio, two music rooms, rehearsal rooms, computers and "interactive whiteboards" in (as far as I could tell) every room. The students who showed us around and spoke seemed to genuinely enjoy being a part of the school...and they did appear to be a part of the school - not just there to be taught at.

I HATED school, it was something I just couldn't wait to get through, the teachers, for the most part, also seemed to hate school. School failed me or I failed school, either way looking around Elthorne Park High School yesterday only made me sad that I couldn't have loved school. I'm sure that given the facilities and enthusiasm and a bit of encouragement, given teachers who seemed to be enthused by their subject matter and with the ability to make what you learn seem real and useful, I might not feel like I wasted those years...and I certainly did waste them.