time has told me

 

 

one step at a time

I love my piano!

At school I played both the recorder and the treble recorder and learned how to read music, but then things went quiet for me on the music front. That all changed some seven or eight years ago when Peter, a gifted musician at our church, put up a notice offering to give piano lessons.

I signed up. Whilst playing didn't come naturally I persevered for twelve months or so until Peter moved out of the area and my lessons came to an end. I even invested a bonus from work to buy an electric piano.

Peter gave me the names of one or two piano teachers who could take over from him, but time moved on and I never followed them up.

Fast forward to two years ago and I was having coffee at a local craft centre with Carol, one of my friends.  A new music shop was about to open on-site and piano lessons were once more on offer. Carol said she would love to learn and I didn't take much convincing.  And so we both signed up for joint lessons with the Partridge Brothers!  After twelve months both Carol and I passed our Grade 1 piano exam. We're now working on our Grade 2 with Sam, our current piano-teacher.

I love learning new things and I practice two or three times a week. It's a challenge, but I find it so refreshing to do something different after a day at work in front of a computer.  The pieces we learn for our piano grades are mostly classical, but from time to time Sam will ask us to choose something we like.  Currently, we're working on a song by Adele.

Sam challenges us to look at a piece of music before we start trying to play it.  What's the timing?  What's the music asking us to do? He encourages us to look at the sharps and the flats, the loud parts and the quiet to get a feel for the music and an understanding of what the composer is trying to convey.

My daughter Sophie does wander into the front room from time to time to listen and on rare occasions I'll play for my family.  However, my most challenging public performance to date has been a duet with Peter, my original piano-teacher, during a church talent show.  At first I was nervous but when I started playing I forgot people were there!

What connections do I see between my spiritual life and learning to play the piano?  It's often a challenge, but it's nice when it's in harmony! I find a peacefulness in music, it can transport me anywhere. When I'm playing a waltz I can picture elegant ladies in beautiful dresses gliding round the dance-floor.

To sum it up, it's not easy work, but you can get there ... one step at a time.

young carers