Music Music Music
I got my new (to me) piano on Tuesday and I’m finding myself
very out of practice. I love being able
to play music and I’m finding myself frustrated by how I’ve let my skills
atrophy. I’ve taken formal lessons on
piano, organ, clarinet and guitar. Music, in one form or another, has been a
part of my life since I was 7 years old and my parents took me up to Mario’s
Music Villa for lessons. Back then I
HATED IT. Hated it so much that my
teacher told my parents they were wasting their money on trying to have me
learn to play piano – he said I just wasn’t cut out for it. What they were really doing was wasting
their money having him try to teach me how to play. What I really needed was the right teacher. Joe was the right teacher for my brother
Marcus – not so for me.
Helen, on the other hand was the BEST piano teacher I could
ever imagine having. I learned so much
from her, not just how to play notes, but how to play them with feeling and
emotion. She was an older lady who had
grand children who were older than me and she had been a professional pianist
downtown during live radio shows, in the days before TV killed radio
dramas. She understood music and could
improvise like nobody’s business – she was amazing and I wanted to play like
her. She taught me basics and
fundamentals and when I got better she let me choose the music I wanted to play
– always pushing me to play harder and harder pieces. She always had confidence in me and taught me to have confidence
in myself on the piano. She ignited my
passion for playing music and my love of losing myself on those 88 keys.
I want my kids to have that. I want them to have a love and passion for music and to be able
to sit down and make music themselves.
My oldest started lessons at 7 years old when we lived in
Hawaii and she took lessons for about a year and a half until we moved back to
Ohio and I had a hard time finding a teacher and the money to pay for one. A little over 2 years ago she took up the
alto saxophone at school and has been a part of the school band for over a year
now. She plays very well (especially
when she practices) and recently moved up to a tenor saxophone at the request
of her teacher and the band director.
She is the only tenor sax in the band and I’m very proud of her. But the piano calls – especially since it is
now in the house. She wants to resume
lessons as do my younger daughters. At
least this week – everyone wants piano lessons.
When I was 16 years old my teacher was attempting to lower
the number of students she was working with and sat down with my Mother and I
and discussed having me take on some of her students and become their
teacher. I was flabbergasted and
honored at the same time. ME – teaching
piano? Take that Joe at Mario’s! I had the skills and knowledge and took on 2
of her students. She helped me a bit on
how to work with the kids and how to talk to them and how to teach them – kind
of like an apprenticeship. But, enter
the fact that I was a 16 year old teenage girl with “things to do” and “places
to go” and friends to hang out with and I gave up on teaching those kids – they
went back to Helen and I hope they stuck with piano – it is a great instrument
and they had a great teacher. A
learning experience for all of us.
I now find myself going back to those days with Helen and her confidence in my abilities and belief that I can also teach this instrument. Remembering the things she taught me about teaching the piano and not just playing it. So, I am now sitting down and creating lesson plans and music
work sheets for my own kids and choosing, at least at this point, to use them
as my test subjects in order to get back into teaching this great musical
instrument. There is just something so
satisfying about watching my 6 year old get a look of complete joy on her face
when she knows she is playing the song on the page exactly as it is
written. The same goes for the 12 year
old and the 5 year old. I don’t know
how long they’ll want to do this and the novelty of having the new piano will
wear off and the desire to practice and play will likely wane a bit but I will
encourage them, I will help them, I will teach them and I hope that I will
finally live up to Helen’s expectations.
And who knows, maybe get a few other students as well.
