Two Finger Exercise

[steepholm]

I had my first piano lesson for 43 years today. I gave it up first time around, when I was five, after a disastrous concert in which the sheet music dropped from my tremulous hands as I walked onto the stage, only to slide irretrievably under the instrument - whither I was unable to follow it, much as I'd have liked to. The name of the piece I had to play was 'Swaying Trees', but my family said that it should have been 'Stumbling Trees', the way I did it. I remember laughing at the time, but the joke hasn't worn well.

Miss Stein wasn't sorry to see the back of me, I think, and my parents didn't insist that I continue. In terms of Darwinian family dynamics, the piano-playing niche was already firmly occupied by my big brother. I've amused myself in the intervening decades, trying to do for the descant recorder what Ron Burgundy did for jazz flute, but it's been a rather lonely pursuit.

Anyway, I recently decided it was high time to bring those keyboard neurons out of retirement, and am now the proud owner of It's Never Too Late to Learn the Piano, with accompanying CD. I have already reacquainted myself with the treble clef, and my teacher has high hopes of bringing the notes below middle C into the equation in good time for Imbolc.

Next stop, Grade 1!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I hope it goes a lot better this time.
I was never offered the chance of music lessons -- my family didn't do that sort of thing. So I'm faintly envious.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I felt I needed a change: something equally sedentary, but different...