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Tuesday, September 23, 2008The Ideal Piano StudentSpencer is taking piano lessons. From me. Mind you, it's been a long time coming. I've known since he was in diapers that he was gifted in music. The child sang before he spoke. Sang, as in, correct pitches. Real melodies. I had a feeling that he'd play the piano, but I decided not to push it. Oh, how glad I am that I didn't! Because about two months ago, Spencer made the unilateral decision that he would, indeed, play the piano. Of course, I didn't get around to the lessons right away (typical of me). Did this deter the boy? Nope. He sat there and "taught himself" things. Things like...oh, reading notes. And time signatures. And chords. And...well, he's borderline prodigy. Seriously. Well, seriously with a tinge of mama pride. So about a month ago we finally sat down to our first "formal lesson." I realized right off the bat the the child was beyond the regular "book one" level that I've used to start all my other students. This boy -- this nine-year-old, do-it-yourself pianist, was ready to jump right into "Piano For The Older Beginner." And in the first lesson, we covered the entire two first units. For the uninitiated: That is probably two to three months of work for the average student. Four weeks into the venture, he has not ceased to impress me. Every morning directly after breakfast, he sits down and practices. He is methodical -- precise. He taps his foot on the floor to keep a steady beat. I didn't even tell him to do this; he just did it. On his own. He is every piano teacher's dream. He doesn't only practice once a day, either. In addition to his intensive morning practice, he usually sits down mid-afternoon and practices some more. And sometimes he practices in the evening, too. The boy is...unreal. He transposes his lesson pieces to other keys -- on his own. He has taught himself minor chords, when we've not even moved beyond C Major in the book. And he writes music. By hand. On manuscript paper. Some of it has lyrics. They're hysterical. In church on Sunday, during pre-worship, he sat quietly beside me and made up his own time signatures. I have here a bonafide musician. And it's thrilling the wadoobies out of me. To be fair to Rachel, she is my other "natural talent." We have finally -- finally! -- resumed piano lessons. And she is absolutely excelling. She's dipping her toes into the waters of scales and arpeggios already. I'm immensely proud of her. Bach is no more than a few months away. So I'm thinking, my college degree was worth something after all. There is nothing -- I mean absolutely, positively nothing -- as fulfilling as watching one's children bloom at an instrument that has given me so many years of pleasure. Thirty-eight years, to be precise. And that's my Proud Mama rant of the week. This is my reward for all those dud students I had to deal with in the past. Students who never practiced. Students who forgot to bring their piano books to the lesson (hello???). Students who informed me that they were only taking lessons because their mom was making them, and they really wanted to be a marine biologist. No, I'm not making these up. So. I'm delighted. Thrilled. Ready to actually pay a piano tuner to fix this poor Baldwin of mine. I might even brush up on some Beethoven myself. Ah, the joys of music. I'd almost forgotten them. Labels: homeschooling, life |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
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2of my readers are feeling chatty:
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yay for your kids wanting to play! I feel your pain for the bad students. Some are absolutely crazy... but not as crazy as the parents who pay for the non-productive lessons. I would be having none of that.
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