piano lessons

I’ve taken them for 12 1/2 years. I started on my sixth birthday, really by chance. You see, I took ballet over at Fine Arts for about a year – I had transferred from another studio where I had taken both ballet and tap. At any rate, the way I joined, my class was a two year or semester class, and most of the other people in my class were a year ahead in the cycle. It just so happened that the first rotation was going to occur on my birthday. I don’t think I realized this at the time. Anyway, my mom had bought tootsie-roll-pops to hand out to the class, but the new class was just soo huge that there weren’t enough. When I found out all my friends had gone, I sat there in the dressing room holding the bag of suckers crying my eyes out. I was scared, and it was my birthday, and I didn’t want to go in. So I quit.

And I started piano lessons.

This is also an interesting thing. The lady that tought my ballet class was also my sister’s piano teacher. (At that point my sister took both piano and violin.) As soon as I quit, somehow I decided I wanted to take piano lessons… I’m really fuzzy on that point… and I took my first half lesson that night. For awhile my sister and I just split a lesson – 15 minutes a piece, until we finally got our own lessons. I remember those horrible Alfred method books with those stupid pictures and horrible songs that I always had to play. My teacher made sure that Carrie and I had different books to lessen the competition – she had the blue Alfred book and I had the colorful one. Wow did I hate those books. Once in awhile we’d get a duet, and Carrie and I would play a duet for a recital. It was cute… until I started to surpass her. Eventually she quit piano and stuck to the violin, something I’ll never even attempt to play.

In the second floor of Fine Arts they have these heavy wooden doors on the bathrooms. I remember one time going to use the bathroom before my half of the lesson, and getting my fingers smashed in the doors. Needless to say, there was pain, there were tears, and Carrie got the entire half hour to herself. There was also this little girl named Whitney who always had Barbies… we played together a few times. I don’t remember if that was waiting for Carrie’s violin lesson, or waiting for piano. I think piano though. Another trademark for Fine Arts were the vending machines… I was addicted to Lorna Doones, or however you spell them. Heavenly heavenly – ahh nostalgia.

I had to quit taking lessons for almost a year when my teacher had five million babies. My mom eventually found me a new teacher – Mrs. T – who I began studying with in 5th grade. The old teacher called back one day, and somehow we had to tell her I didn’t want lessons anymore. This was good, because my new teacher, actually my current teacher, is awesome. I’ve been with her for 7 years now, and I’ve grown so much in my playing. I think I have one more lesson before going off to college… I cannot even believe it. She’s almost like a second mother to me now. We always talk before and after my lesson… I never leave when I’m supposed to. It’s just been such an awesome experience to get to know her so well. Today at the end of my lesson I said thank you… and we both started crying… and we hugged… and she gave me her email address and screen name. I’m going to miss her very much – I can’t imagine taking lessons from anyone else.

Well, my recital’s on Wednesday. My sister and I are madly practicing to get ready for it. I have all 3 movements of a Sonata plus Clair de Lune memorized… how I did that I’ll never know. “Most impressive.” Now, the Sonatina? Ehh needs work, but we’ll pull it off.