Sax!

Out of the blue, a couple of weeks ago, Abi announced that she'd like to play the sax. Her mum (Hannelie) and I were both completely bemused by this but Hannelie found both a sax that we could have a long-term borrow of and a saxophone teacher who agreed to come and give Abi a trial lesson.

I must admit that I was dubious for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there was the nagging and worrying suspicion that Abi was beginning to base her life choices around The Simpsons and, secondly, I was worried she'd be disappointed; I was sure I'd heard somewhere that you're better off learning the clarinet before the saxophone and I wasn't convinced she'd be able to get a decent noise out of it.

Anyway, the lesson went ahead and, it turns out went very well. Abi brought the saxophone down today to play for me. Hannah, who's very musically accomplished, was there, too, along with Dan. Well, within seconds our jaws were hanging open; Abi obtained a beautiful sound from the instrument and has already started to experiment with the fingering so that she can work out the songs that she likes.

I don't like to feel I ever underestimate my children but I was stunned. And Abi, the lovely girl she is, was just quietly proud.