Summer School

For once, Marin was happy to be woken up by the angry sound of his alarm clock. He was dressed and waiting at the stop long before the bus arrived. He heard its engine before it came around the corner and he got on the bus with his guitar and a packed lunch. There was loud rock music playing and someone’s mobile was making a high whistling noise. It wasn’t a long journey but he couldn’t wait to get there.
An hour later Marin and five others sat in the large room at Southey House surrounded by pictures of instruments and musicians. They held their guitars like young parents with delicate children who don’t know how to speak. Marin was impatient. Where was the teacher? What would they play first? Was he going to make a fool of himself? He looked anxiously at the others. Nobody spoke.
When Miss Cole came into the room they all stood up.
‘Please sit down,’ she said. ‘Welcome.’
Like the others, Marin held his guitar, ready to play.
‘Please put your guitars down,’ said Miss Cole. A little surprised, the students looked at each other and did as they were told.
‘Listen,’ said Miss Cole.
‘What do you hear?’ She paused for a moment. ‘The wind outside, your own heart – a bird singing, laughter somewhere. It’s all music, it’s all there. Before we can make our own music we must learn to hear the music that is all around us.’

1 Read the text and answer the question: How do we know Marin is excited about starting the course?

2 What kind of sounds does Marin notice in the first paragraph? How are they similar?

3 What does the image of the guitars as babies tell us? (Paragraph 2)

4 What impression do we get of Miss Cole? Do you think Marin will learn from her?

5 What kind of sounds does Miss Cole tell the students to listen to? How are they different from the sounds in the first paragraph?

6  SPEAKING  Work in pairs. In your opinion are the sounds Miss Cole mentions music? What is and what isn’t music?