take piano lessons

I’m taking them through the college this semester…but in order to take them, I had to declare myself a music major and sign up for music theory and sight-singing/ear-training.

It’s all interesting, but also time-consuming and stressful. I also have a lot of other interests, and don’t appreciate it when the teachers get all preachy and “focus on this and ONLY this, nothing else in your life matters BUT this” on me. Ack.

So yeah, I enjoy learning about it and really wouldn’t mind getting some sort of degree in music. One day I might be a little old lady with blue hair and fifty cats, giving little kids piano lessons out of my apartment. BUT, I don’t think it’s my absolute calling in life, and I’m not quite sure where to go from here.

I figure I’ll finish off this semester and see how things go before making any serious decisions. Maybe I should petition the school to set up a program of music/piano lessons for non-majors?

...because it would be impossible for me to determine whether I’ve really “learned” piano or not.

I’m going to change this to “take piano lessons”, since I plan on doing just that through the college next year.

In the meantime, I’m going to set smaller goals, like “learn chopsticks”, and that way I can really see my progress.

...but my hands just don’t want to coordinate! AHH!

I’ll have to work at it a little every day, and I’ll gradually get the hang of it. I hope.

So far it’s going pretty well. We’ll just have to see if I can coordinate those hands…

I bought a keyboard the other day!

It was a little over a hundred dollars, and I’m sure it’s not the most spectacular one on the market…but it’s certainly good enough for someone who’s just starting out.

Thanks to my music class, I’m more comfortable reading music and I’m much more familiar with the keyboard. I’ve gotten to where I can play several simple little songs on the piano, just things like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “When the Saints go Marching in”... but since I’m actually using sheet music for the recorder, it’s only one-handed.

Anyhow, it’s a start, and I think I’m getting a bit better.

I can now play “Hot Cross Buns” on the piano. Go me!

I bought “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Piano” a couple months ago, and despite the name, I feel like I know a great deal more about pianos and music in general.

Unfortunately, I’m only about halfway through the book and haven’t had access to a keyboard or piano. I think that the music book I got for one of my new classes came with a little fold-out keyboard (presumably made of paper), and once I know that the class isn’t going to be canceled, I’ll open it up and practice on that.

In my slightly more distant plans, I plan on taking piano lessons once I get through all the prerequisites…which will take a while…but in the meantime, there are several pianos just sitting around the college…