My first piano lesson in 27 years
My trip to Paris last March continues to enrich my life in unexpected ways.
It’s been a wonderful gift to talk to my friend Mo at least once a week since my return. And it’s been a joy to finish my favorite photography project yet. But I hadn’t expected that my time in Paris would also rekindle my love for music.
Few of my friends know that I once aspired to be a concert pianist.
As a kid my favorites were Bach, Chopin and Beethoven, and as a teen I occasionally entered regional competitions. (One year I actually won my division with the bourrée from Bach’s English Suite in A Minor. My prize was to play a recital with about 20 other pianists under Philip Brunelle’s baton at Northrop Auditorium.)
But when I turned 17, I went away to college and I stopped playing.
I’ve dabbled a bit since then, and I’ve composed a couple of short pieces. But it wasn’t until my three weeks in Paris that I really missed the piano.
One night I heard my favorite street musician play Yesterday, and it brought back a flood of memories. Suddenly, I was seven or eight years old again, living in Peru, and trying to plink out the song’s complex harmonies by ear on my parents’ Yamaha.
I felt just as clumsy a few days ago when I tried again.
As they say in Paris, je me suis trompée une fois. Eh … voilà.
Before I knew it, I was taking a tentative, ham-handed, somewhat rushed stab at Beethoven:
I was surprised by how alien and wooden my fingers felt, and by how foreign the notes looked on the page. Still, it felt good to be playing again.
Long story, short: Tonight I had my first piano lesson in 27 years. It’s back to scales and arpeggios and the dreaded Schmitt Preparatory Exercises for the Piano.
But it’s also back to doing something I once loved … thanks to the city I most love.
I really should go to Paris more often.
Filed under: How to ..., Minnesota, Music, On this day in history, Paris | 9 Comments
Tags: Paris, Paris busker, Paul McCartney, piano lessons, postaday2011, Yesterday
Good luck, but most of all, have fun !
So far, so good!
Bonjour Heather ( Ms Sunshine).
Quelle superbe nouvelle de savoir que as reprise le piano.
Très bonne résolution…
Je pense que cela va revenir très vite ( le piano ) c’est comme le vélo ça ne se perd jamais.
Je te souhaite patiente et surtout beaucoup de plaisir…
MO ( Mr Sunshine ) from Paris.
Bonjour, Mo! Il fait beaucoup de plaisir de trouver ton commentaire. Tu sais que la première chanson que j’ai appris au piano fut le thème de l’overture du Lac des Cygnes? (C’est vrai!) La prochaine fois que je viens à Paris, nous trouverons un piano n’importe où et je te ferai un petit concert.
Une faute de ma part: ” de savoir que as reprise “, pas bien…
C’est ” de savoir que TU as reprise… “, voila c’est corrigé.
MO.
France fires your creative juices, gives you French lessons. You really should spend more time there!
You’re going to be playing just as well as before (or better) in no time. It’ll all come back. I think of going back to the piano from time to time myself. One of these days.
Marcia
Lovely to hear you playing! And how great that Paris has rekindled your creativity in all these different ways. I used to play the Moonlight too but you are much more fluent in the right hand than I ever was, even in your rusty condition. You are so right not to let this talent fall away.
Helllooo! Thanks for your kind words about my right hand’s fluidity — but the left is pretty deplorable. How’s *your* left? Maybe we could combine our efforts!
Hah! No, you wouldn’t want that. Every artist needs an audience, though – I’m much better as the latter! By the way, loved the descant from the birds cheeping away in the background.