Don't Shoot the Beginner Piano Player
Don't Shoot the Beginner Piano Player
A violin teacher tries her "hands" at piano playing
(88) Key Moment
Each fall the back to school flyers pour in and I visually digest the crisp images of mechanical pencils and Shrek lunch boxes. I feel compelled to seek out new learning opportunities to make the rainy dying days of summer a smooth transition into winter. Between Toastmasters Club, community orchestras, night classes at OUC and a botched attempt at learning saxophone five autumns past, I have realised my school-aged programming has left a permanent impression: I see brown leaves and I run for the nearest sign-up sheet.
I decided this year, after having delved into expensive hobbies and projects started and soon abandoned, to limit my fall learning frenzies to those activities which are affordable, work well with my busy life as a mom and which I am sure I will stick to long-term.
I brought a piano into my home. How does it meet the criteria, you ask?
Was it affordable?
Not really. It set us back from buying a new couch, but as I explained to my loved ones that if you dexterously avoid the gaping holes and sharp jutting springs, the existing couch really is quite comfortable.
Is this non-intrusive to my family?
The thing takes up half my living room and almost all of my attention, resulting in several burned suppers, neglected piles of dishes and ignored phone calls. Things of little importance when I am immersed in a snappy rendition of “Polly Wolly Doodle.”
Will I stick with it long-term?
You betcha!
More than a Fleeting Hobby
To be honest, I did not expect this new musical venture to be this successful. I've always wanted a piano in my home; my German heritage nagging, “it's not home unless it's got a piano.” As a violinist and violin junkie I've never much cared for piano music (I know I'll get heat from my piano-playing colleagues for that one).
I figured I'd noodle around on it here and there, waiting until my preschool-aged child was taking lessons for it to be studied on, as my past ventures in new instruments ended with me giving up from frustration.
As the burly piano movers heaved the massive antique into place, one of them wheezed, “Someone had better learn to play this thing.” Though I was down with a gawdawful flu the day the piano arrived, I played it for hours at a time, ignoring my 102-degree fever and froggy laryngitis.
I started with the basics: “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Mary had a Little Lamb.” I found the whole “two hand, two clef” concept a bit of a hurdle, like severing one half of my brain from the other then asking them to cooperate. After three packed days of inspired practice (and microwaved leftovers for dinner) things seemed to click and other songs flowed more smoothly.
I've discovered I'm really good at this, a real natural! I play a wicked two-handed “Chicken Dance” and I'm pretty solid at the first page of Beethoven's “Moonlight” Sonata in C-sharp minor. Ok, fifteen years of violin playing and a college music education probably has something to do with that, but let me dream.
Challenging My Expectations
In the past learning a new instrument, or anything new for that matter, was unbearably frustrating because didn't like feeling like a “beginner” and set unachievable goals.
Now I enjoy playing piano far too much to wreck it with guilt or self-doubt, so I am softening my expectations and have surrendered to my vulnerability in starting over again. This humbling experience has gained me far more appreciation for my students, especially the adults, who, like me, are beginners in an instrument.
It feels like I'm back in school again with all the other kids, learning and growing with my purple mechanical pencil and Star Wars lunch box, singing “Poll-y Woll-y Doo-dle all the day!”
- Fiddleheads Sun VN-100 Student Violin - All Sizeswas USD$750.00 Special Price USD$298.00
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I am happy just to be learning, and be close to others who feel the same way and have had more contact with the violin than me , so i can learn from them and try and catch up. now i know that because of my age and the fact that im still getting the hang of everything i cannot expect any kind of career out of it, but in my haert i wish to be a great violinist and i wish to be able to play Bach!
do you think that if i practice really hard everyday, i could eventually become good enough to be able to play for at least a small audience or even enter in contests and be graded in my abilities like the younger and more experienced violinists of today.
I can tell you that im learning to properly sight read my music and i practice hard with scales and arpeggios everyday and i always watch my tone and make sure that its a rich and clear tone , my bow hand is just getting used to it so sometimes i slip a little , but im really working on that , and making sure my fingers always land on the right pitch but sometimes i get frustrated and wish i could meet my teacher more often.
im a big fan of you and your site, ive read most of the articles and feel at home with the way you write them, overall i wish i was closer so that i could visit your school!
Anyways just any word i could get from you would be an inspiration.
I thank you for your kind words, i will continue to do my very best so that i can achieve my goals, not that i would have stopped learning but its good to know that i will be able to share myself with whomever is willing to hear me.
I also thank you very much and hope to soon take you up on your offer to be a customer, i will soon need to upgrade to an intermediate/Advanced violin, i hope that you guys ship outside the US or maybe you can direct me in the right path.
To me the violin is like your love of ballet. I grew up playing the piano but always had a desire to play the violin. I was somewhat outspoken about it (off and on) but I know that my parents probably thought that it was easier to keep on with piano lessons (we already had the instrument and a teacher).
My passion did not die so they bought me a violin for graduating from University. I took lessons for a very short time (several months) right away and then once I got married , moved across Canada and back and then had kids, my music lessons fell low on the list of priorities for the family. When my own children started piano lessons I dove into helping them out and never ended up spending anytime working on my own music.
This all changed when my daughter turned 7. One day out of the blue she said to us that she thought she would like a violin for Christmas. I was incredibly excited to hear this so we ran with it and went out and picked up an inexpensive outfit not knowing whether it would be a passing fad or something she would pursue.
Shortly after Christmas we found a teacher and both enrolled in lessons. We go together but each have our separate ½ hour lesson (I sit in on hers so that I can gather the tips from our teacher and then help her later at home). We’ve come a long way in our two short years and I’m loving every minute of it.
I love playing and look forward to practicing everyday! (My husband jokes that it is my new true love).