Hooked on Classics
Growing up, I took years of piano lessons. Years. So many years that I started competing, my feet navigating the footstep mysteries of the proper approach to the instrument, the correct posture on the bench, the appropriate but not distracting mix of dramatic body language, and of course, stroking on the right keys. I never wanted to master the art of the sideways Liberace fake smile while I played, but once in a while, I forced myself to break a sweat or bounce up and down on the seat. Anything to draw the eyes of the judges away from how much my pedal leg shook.
In third grade, I was deemed capable of playing Chopin‘s Nocturne in E Flat Major, a soft, unassuming piece of classical fare that didn’t interest me. I didn’t really like any classical music when I was eight, and I didn’t have the self-discipline to make myself do things I didn’t enjoy. Practicing just enough but not too much, I earned my teacher’s pencil check mark on the bottom corner of the last page of the piece, well before the chords ever came together. Relieved, I stuck that piece of torture in a box and moved on to grander, showier fare. Liebestraum. Malaguena. Heavy handed sessions of gang banging the ivories.
At thirty-nine, I decided to renew my interest in piano and signed up for lessons with a private instructor. She came to my house and thumbed through my collection of music, listening to me knock a few things around at the keyboard. Here she said. This one. This is where you are.
Chopin’s flipping Nocturne in E Flat Major.
I slaved for weeks. Playing it wrong to find new riffs. Forcing my fingers to follow the fingering scheme my teacher scribbled underneath each set of notes. Practicing runs until I could do them blindfolded, until their trilling noise woke me at 2am. I never loved a piece of music so much in my life.
On a whim, I decided to have MTM record me playing it. The quality isn’t great, but I still can’t believe I retrained my fingers to do those light, graceful things. That in the process of capturing sound, we got the only recording of my dog Jazzmine, sniffing with impatience in the background as she forced her way down the stairs, her claws clicking along to the tune I played, always and forever the little star.
It is my favorite piece of music for piano. Because I made myself learn it. Because Jazz loved it, too.
Do you have a musical genre you grew to appreciate as an adult?
This post is part of the series The Soundtrack of Life. If this is your first visit to the series, please click here for the first installment, click here for the second, click here for the third, click here for the fourth and here for the fifth. MTM wrote a great guest post, which you can find here. Thanks for your contributions and insights in the comments. They always enrich this blog, especially in a series like this one.
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- The Very Thought of You « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- Christmas in…..August « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- The Day the Music Died « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- A Kind of Magic « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- We Are Young « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- Take Me Out « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- Let There Be Peace on Earth « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
- Jimmy Chew Christmas « The Accidental Cootchie Mama
Isn’t it amazing when there’s a piece of music that gives us a dirty look for years, just because we’re not a fan of it? But you certainly turned the tables on this one by not only growing to love it but learning to play it, too. Congratulations to you!
Jazzmine certainly was a star! How lovely that she made a cameo appearance that you can keep.
She was a terror….and the sweetest dog. I still miss her so much.
Depite being a rocker I love Chopin too! Lovely stuff!
Chopin rocked the orchestra, didn’t he?
He certainly did!
As a kid, I hated Country Music, but, in the last 10 years or so, I have acquired a real taste for it. especially for Shania, Faith, Dixie Chicks, LeAnn, Carrie, Taylor, etc. I sense a trend here.
Yes, Lou. You like the women.
I still don’t care for country. Yet, I am researching 1970′s country right and left these days. Who knows? Maybe I’ll develop an appreciation for it.
How completely cool! What an excellent sniffy dog, too.
She was the Queen of the Impatient Sniff.
I am amazed Andra. You are one talented young lady! You and Katy have this in common. I remember how we had been married for five years and had wandered into a music store in Houston Texas. We walked past a piano and she reached out with one hand and played a little tune. I was very surprised. I looked at her and said. Excuse me, what was that? She never told me that she knew how to play piano. I have always loved piano and even tried to learn how to play it with one of those learn it yourself books. When I got to the part where you are supposed to use both hands AND your foot that did me in. I never learned how to play even though I love the sounds of a piano. BRAVO !!! You rock! Loved the picture of your sweet dog. I know you miss him.
I don’t think you ever told me Katy could play. It’s a great skill to have, and a hard one to keep up. It is always good to surprise our mates.
I’ll have to say classic country music…I remember a very onerous day when my Mama sat me in front of the TV while she went to run an errand and The Porter Wagner Show with Dolly Parton was on. And I watched it for what seemed years and hated the “screeching” that I heard in the place of music.http://youtu.be/9Qt_ixpI8A0. Now, I love this sound.
Not sure when I made the transition to really loving it. Maybe it was when my former mother in law played her old transistor radio so she could hear the “deaths and funeral report” on the small community where she lived–way far out in the countryside of S.C. on a small farm…generally we were washing dishes in the two enamel pans on the kitchen table or snapping beans from the garden in preparation for “canning”.
And a really classic with Willie Nelson on Porter Wagoner! http://youtu.be/YxWKILBonpw
Now, you’re really helping me here more than you know, Cheryl.
Thank you for sharing these links. I used to watch Dolly on that show when I was a little girl, because my Dad liked it.
Good! Glad to lend a hand, even when I didn’t know I was doing it!
I love this video. It always makes me smile. Because your playing is beautiful, and because Jazz almost steals the show.
She totally steals the show.
This really brought back memories for me. I remember the last piece I ever played was Ravels, The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major. But the hours and hours I spent at the keyboard during my childhood and up to my twenty is mind boggling! It’s also so cool to see we have this in common! I no longer play, so well done you!
I have to use an instructor to keep playing, Susan, and I haven’t had one in a while. I’m rusty again. But, we have the dog thing in common, too.
I wouldn’t dare get near a piano right now!
Dogs…yup..life without..not even going to go there! Loving this series by the way!
Are you still in the States, Susan?
It took me until well into adulthood to really appreciate post war jazz…Bird, Dizz,
Miles, etc
As for your 70′s listening pleasure…
Check out this video on YouTube:
Sent from my iPhone
I love all those sounds, Robert. You just ramped up this blog.
Huh. I can use the second one, too. Perhaps.
Thank you.
That’s funny, I’m quite fond of that piece. My piano teacher actually didn’t let us play romantic music at that age, as she was firmly of the (probably correct) opinion that an eight year old is not capable of striking the right artistic balance to play romantic music without either shmaltzing it up or pounding it. Now that I am an adult I am allowed to ham up the Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff to my heart’s content. I SO wish I had a piano.
I didn’t come to blues until I was an adult, less because I wouldn’t have liked it when I was young than because I didn’t have a lot of exposure. it’s great stuff, though!
My keyboard works in a pinch, and it’s small and perfect for an apartment.
Hint Hint.
Blues are an adult thing, I think. I didn’t grow to appreciate that genre until then, either.
Your piano performance was fabulous…I love that piece! Also love your little dog. Two questions: What breed was she…and when did you lose her? We lost our 12 year old Boston Terrier back before Thanksgiving & we still miss him so much. There’s nothing like the love of a dog!
Thanks, Nancy. Jazz was also a Boston Terrier. She died four and a half years ago, just after she turned 16. A good long life, and I still miss her, too. I totally understand the vacancy in your life.
You play really well, Andra… and you had a nice little dancer to help with your performance as well! Bravo!
I don’t practice enough, Tom. Not having her to enjoy it and all…….
Oh wonderful. This film always enchants me, and shows so perfectly the relationship between you and your lovely dog. Just couldn’t watch this enough. It’s beautiful.
I’m just so glad it turned out, Kate. We did two takes, and the first one, she decided to go upstairs. Not nearly as fun.
I played piano for years and even went to college on a music scholarship. That lasted one entire year (I should have changed majors after one semester!). When my son was young, he decided he wanted to play so he took lessons. It was nice to hear the sounds of piano being practiced in my home again. He turned out to be the one with the talent in the family. I will still sit down and plunk out a few Bach pieces I know but only when no one is around to hear me. I loved the cameo by Jazz.
Does Andrew still play?
I never knew you majored in music for a while, Jill. That’s awesome.
Oh Andra.. I love this.
I loved her to pieces.
Enjoyed this very much, Andra (I used to listen to Chopin all the time when younger).
Funny…the minute Jazz started clicking around my pup (who was lying near the laptop) jerked up and looked around…odd considering it was just Jazz’s nails!
They know, don’t they? Those doggies are quite something. Please catch me up on how you’re doing sometime. I haven’t read anything directly related to that in a little while.
How lovely to hear you play, Andra! I really enjoyed this piece. I took lessons for years, too, but would get absolutely terrified during any recitals or competitions. I wish i could go back and just enjoy them now! And I, too, took lessons again in my late 30s, and it was truly delightful. I don’t practice any more, and that’s a shame! I think I may be a closet Country music fan. I have always said I don’t really appreciate it, but I’ve been known to hum a few bars!
D
Debra, our piano experience sounds very similar, because I would get so nervous I couldn’t get my leg to push the foot pedal. The more pressure I would exert, the more my leg would shake. From the waist up, I would appear normal, but from the waist down……..
Country music has never been a genre I enjoyed, even today. Funny that I’m listening to a lot of it for a project……..
Oh, sigh.
I sigh every time I see her.
Lovely playing, Andra. And great not-fake smile at the end.
Like you, I played for YEARS as a child . . . but only with half-hearted effort. As an adult, I bought a piano and re-taught myself to play. When we moved to FL, we left the piano in MD. Someday I’ll get another.
It is a constant relearning, it seems, to keep those nimble fingers. I’d love to hear you play sometime, Nancy, when you’re back at it.
My favorite piece to play is Expecting to Fly by Neil Young (in the Decade songbook, if you can get your hands on a copy). Beautiful melody which is reflected more in the piano’s voice than in Neil’s vocals.