Thursday, August 21, 2008
The mood for piano playing
Today the younger son of my host family really struggled to practice his piano. He clearly didn't want to and his mom had to practically threaten him (but I knew with no intention to execute) in order to get him to sit down. And even when he did, boy was it painful to observe and hear.
The little boy reminded me of myself – how torturous I felt when I had to practice. I hated piano when I was learning it and finally I had a fight with my mom in 5th grade about it and insisted that I want to quit. The truth was that I thought the pieces were difficult and uninteresting. There was no enjoyment in playing which led to the vicious cycle of not wanting to practice and the pieces sounding very unspectacular.
Today, the piano still sits in our house. It is only used when guests who know how to play come by – which is a rare occasion. My mom would then say to me, if only you had continued your piano lessons, you might be playing like that now. I would reply with a “Yeah maybe” but I know in my heart that I would never play like that. (I blogged about this previously two years ago I think) My mom gave me the opportunity that she didn't have, I had the ability to play, but I didn't have the interest or the talent for it.
But these few days I've been sitting at the piano trying to work out some hymns. I'm in the mood where I just feel like playing and I know enough to play for myself. This feeling is familiar, and lasts for a few days. I pick songs whose tune I already know - that helps me figure out the notes and rhythm better. But I know this feeling will pass in a while. In fact, I think I can see the end already.
The mood for piano playing comes and goes.
16:45 Posted in This is me | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Comments
i empathize. i was forced to learn the piano just like you. but my parents did not allow me to quit and i HAD to finish the grade 8. and the moment i finished my grade 8, i just completely stopped playing. its sad.
the truth is though, that actually i loved music. i liked the piano and i still do. but the way it was forced on me, it became just another school subject.
i remember when i was in grade 6, for the first time ever, my teacher asked me to try this pop music piece. it was the theme from the movie "Ice Castle" called "Through the Eyes of Love." it was the first time i actually had the time (and opportunity) to learn a piece of music that was not A1, B2, C3 or arpeggios. i absolutely loved it.
and the funny thing is, even after i quit the piano, the only piece i can play instantly from memory is still that piece.
Posted by: kenny | Sunday, August 24, 2008
funny i have a slightly different experience. it was hard whilst i was going through to grade 8, which i barely scraped a pass in, but ultimately I'm thankful that I persevered.
more enjoyment comes from playing hymns and choruses, and i was glad i could use this skill for first service if nothing else for a time.
the most tragic part is prob that friends and hubby who have lower grade passes (some no formal training!) play much better and more intuitively. which then makes me wonder where those hours of practice went to. for what it's worth, guess i do play some mean scales and appregios.
won't force my kid to learn, in any case. my theory is that those who didn't have the chance would like their kid to. those that had the chance, can live with their kids politely declining.
Posted by: crispy prawn | Monday, August 25, 2008
The comments are closed.