Friday, March 4, 2011

My mom was right...

...I do regret giving up on piano lessons. Turning 30 hasn't done amazing things for all parts of me, but it has strengthened my resolve to take care of a few things. One such item is getting back on the Dozen-A-Day/John Thompson saddle.






Ruth recently gifted me her keyboard (she's upgraded to the real deal) and once we we got around to taking our Christmas tree down (we were bordering, if not completely white trash this year about that), Nate set up the keyboard in the front room so my keyboard is in plain view to remind me to practice.


Kathryn's not so subtle form of protesting the removal of the Christmas tree.


Starting over officially bugs me. Playing songs that I know I played better in elementary school is horribly depressing, but maybe that's the humility I need to keep going. My goal is to beat my younger self, and at this point all I need in order to do that is to not be a quitter. Eh, Mom?

I've been at it about a month, so it almost feels like a habit, and while I'm without a metronome, Gwen Chesley saying "and it's MEMORIZED", Cheryl Morrow complimenting my sight reading skills, and Mom telling me I couldn't quit until I could play the hymns...it's still something. My very own piano hymn book came today too. The real one too, it was a bit less expensive than the simplified one and I decided to set my sights high...or at least to my mother's 15 year old standard.


Speaking of goals and repeating things, I started back to school last week. Again. This time, I really started over. I have to take Portfolio I over again because I've been out of school over a year. That seems fair in some respects, but it's difficult to think about when I took that class the first time...between piano and school and working at GoGo again, I feel like I may be regressing.


Silver lining: I can still play "The Man in the Moon" in all 12 keys and I still give one heck of a PowerPoint presentation*


*provided Nate creates/polishes my slides

5 comments:

Jeff & Liberty said...

Maybe it's because I'm not as old as you (hahaha!), but I still don't regret giving up the piano. My mom wasted a lot of money on me in an attempt to get me "hymn book ready".

Nope. No regrets. Still no desire to learn either.

Our Family said...

Sadly enough I can totally relate to the piano with you. Although I didn't take it as a kid and started totally fresh at 33 years old :0 I am currently working on This Is Halloween :) Well worth it and keep going :) Good job!

Lyndsay said...

I will expect to attend (and sleep through) a piano concert in the fall. I hope you've thought about how you'll include the kitties.

Stacey said...

Learning to play the piano is still on my "bucket list". I'm proud of you for starting again--I often think I should pick up my flute and practice some day. ;) Way to go! Oh, and good luck with school!!

Jody Neeley said...

Good for you for starting up on the piano again! I can totally relate, I quit and just like my mom said I would, I regret it. Your post made me want to pull out all my old books and start again.