My kindergarden teacher played four-part children's songs on an old, upright piano. It wasn't anything incredible, but it was the first time I had heard a piano in an intimate setting. I instantly fell in love with the sound of this type of music and never have lost my attraction to it. My mother told me that I went home and drew a piano keyboard on several pieces of cardboard and began to pretend that I was playing piano. Shortly afterward, my parents purchased a studio piano for me. As part of the piano purchase, I was able to study the basics of piano for six months at the music store. I could not continue lessons after about a year because my mother had to pay medical bills. So, I started playing a song by ear which I had been singing in my music class. My mother said that she could not believe I was able to chord the song and play melody at the same time. My parents divorced about three years later.
I moved from Michigan to my grandmother's home in Ohio. I enjoyed singing in middle school through my break, but it was not until high school when I started to play again. In fact, I started improvising because my choir teacher was somewhat of a jazz pianist and he used a lead sheet. I had to figure out the other riffs on my own since they were not written out. Of course, riffs can be found in other music, but I was not studying privately at the time. I started taking piano lessons from a professor at OSU when I was 16. I then auditioned into college on my instrument and enjoyed practicing eight hours a day until my junior year when I switched to composition. I ended up graduating with a degree in vocal music.
I have played with orchestra, entertained heads of state, and performed specials on television and radio programs. I was also privileged to be the Irish vocalist for the West Chester Symphony back in 2006. I owe a lot to Anand Saha, the owner of Mozart's European Piano Cafe and Bakery. Thanks for making me learn all the Mozart sonatas! They have been a substantial part of my repertoire.
Q.: What would Elliot or Green say about my formative years? If you have read their works, you may say things like, my education was more than aesthetic. You may say that I did not come around to music a large part of my life in a traditional way. Does this support Green's arguments regarding popular versus classical musicians? Why or why not? Now its time for you to decide. Post away!
For me, the key to your success on an instrument so many leave after a short time was due to your personal commitment to the instrument from an early age. What struck me was that you chose to use the words "I instantly fell in love with the sound." A match made in heaven? Possibly. However, it seems that it was "sound" that hooked you. One might say that it was an aesthetic attraction to the sound of the piano. And yet, it was your personal interaction with learning the piano yourself, the doing of making music, relying on your own technical skills to create music that ultimately got you to this point. While aesthetics is a part of our music art, it's the doing of music that "seals the deal" for me.
ReplyDeleteYes!! I like how you talk about a deeper meaning than the usual surface aesthetics. I am not doubting that sheer aesthetics were part of the equation, but a commitment in anything requires hard times as well as fun times. I remember almost beating my hands on the keys because I could not master a technique in Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise. The main requirement of the competition I had entered was that I not have any help on this piece which I had chosen. I guess the hard work was worth it. I had a friend that said that she just "knew" I had been helped by a professor on that piece. I was a semifinalist in the competition.
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