or: I played with Ludwig's concerto
My mother, for a while, thought she might have a budding musical genius on her hands, and that would have been me. Now, I don't know if she really dreamed about my potential for fame or not, but she certainly gave some thought to the prospect, and that was the fault of someone who must have had some musical authority. He'd had a demonstration of my piano playing skills at the age of about 10."He could go quite away" that person is said to have said.
I started music lessons, by the way, at age seven and must have shown some flair after a few years.
Teenagers, though, "just know" there are more exciting things than music practice after school each day and over weekends, and there's a limit to the amount of pressure busy parents can exert. Lessons, therefore, were abandoned and that was a bit of a shame.
But it wasn't the end of music for me - just the end of lessons and the provision of a fabulous, life-long mini-nag from "Mum." I'll explain. . . .
I grew to hate music lessons because they took "too long" and because I'd discovered playing "by ear" was faster. No matter, then, that my new skill was vastly inferior. But I’ve never been far from a keyboard since that first break. My skills and my memory improved, and I have been able to entertain myself and others, occasionally, over the years.
But I never was (since the last formal lesson) able to impress my Mum with my skills.
Every time she heard me play, even in her last years, I heard: "It's a pity you stopped learning when you were a boy. I was told you could have gone a long way with your piano playing."
The thing is that (while disregarding and discounting what the "expert" said). Mum was right about the lessons. I've tried, of late, to re-learn the art of reading music, but with disappointing lack of progress. It's a shame, but it isn't a tragedy, because I'm content, now, to settle for skills I have.
Re Ludwig:I've taught myself how to play the flute (sort of) over the past year or so and, today, I played it to accompany a recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 – until, that is, my (music-reading) wife could stand it no more!
So there you go . . .
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3 comments:
Wonderful entry. I have 4 sons, all of whom took piano lessons for several years. It was extremely hard to keep them at practice. My #3 son did much as you described for your self, i.e., he memorized everything and played by ear. I consider him talented today. All four sons also played other instruments, e.g., trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and bass horn
Much to my chagrine, I didn't learn to play anything.
Jack
I too was a child "pianist". My mother sent me to lessons for four years, and I sat two exams at the Royal Albert Hall in London. As terrified as I was, I passed, but like you Mike, teenage years offered much more interesting pursuits and the piano was left standing cold in a corner. Bob has now bought a guitar and plans to learn to play it when he retires. Both our sons play guitar - Phil is in a Band called 'Two Minute Warning" and plays at Gigs around Adelaide. Laurie plays classical guitar after many years tuition when he was young. Perhaps I m ight tune up the fingers when Bob retires and join him in a duet?
PS - Anonymous is actually Patricia Catley!
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