I started piano lessons when I was six. I can still see my mom at the corner of
Vaughan Avenue and Grove Street (Northwest Detroit.) She was calling my name, and she told me
“Rosemary they just delivered our piano,,,,,run!” So that is what I did-- run, to find a
beautiful brown Baldwin spinet in our living room.
Initially my mom took lessons, but with family
responsibilities, no time for lessons or practice. One evening at dinner, my Dad asked me and my
brothers, “who is going to take piano lessons?”
My brothers’ hands didn’t shoot up, so I said yes.
That started my long relationship with my favorite
instrument. My first teacher was our
parish organist. He was a taskmaster,
rapping my hands with a wooden stick when my hand position wasn’t correct. As an outspoken child, I told my mom…and
quickly moved on to another teacher.
In 7th grade when I found my dream piano teacher,
Katherine Lemon. I took lessons from her
through 12th grade. She was
an Oberlin graduate, and very accomplished. I began to dream of a career as a
piano teacher, and professional musician.
My senior year I played a Debussy Prelude in my final piano recital, and
to my surprise, I only played one or two incorrect notes. I had just told my teacher a few weeks
earlier, that I wasn’t sure I had the ability to be a piano teacher, and that I
was thinking of law school.
During my first year of college, I took piano lessons
through the school of music. My teacher
criticized my playing and told me I didn’t have the right type of thumbs to be
a pianist. I was heartbroken and quit
lessons after a semester. I didn’t even
play the piano in our dorm lobby. I
boxed up my love for the piano and my musical dreams.
When Sarah and Michael were little, my mom called me one day
and asked me whether I wanted our little Baldwin piano. I thought, maybe I would start playing again
even though I told my mom that I didn’t think I could play anymore. My mom firmly responded “no, Rosemary, you
need the piano, and eventually it will save you many times in life.”
You know my mom was right.
I spent the 1990s playing all kinds of Disney music. I played the Winnie the Pooh theme at least
100 times as Sarah marched around the living room. I found an amazing piano teacher Madeline
Karn, who also graduated from Oberlin for Sarah, and I watched Sarah’s progress
from Piano Adventure books to sonatas.
When Sarah was in eighth grade and Michael was in fifth grade, I started
taking piano lessons from Dr. Suzanne Newcomb.
Suzanne like my other great teachers focuses on your current ability
while tackling your collective musical challenges.
During my children’s busy high school years, I again took
some time off from the piano, but I have gone back to the instrument, taking lessons
in my 40s, 50s and now in my 60s. I am
currently taking lessons from Dr. Suzanne Newcomb, but also took lessons from
Madeline Karn. Both have given me the
courage to try anything I am willing to practice.
I’m close to finishing my legal career, and my parents are
now no longer with me. My mom’s words stay
with me. Yes, the piano has saved me. It has provided moments of order when I’m
anxious, joy when I am sad, goals to achieve when I am bored, and peace when
I’m troubled. I feel as connected to
the piano as when I was six. And I have
created a blog on piano playing through the mind of the amateur called
FocusedHour88keys.
The piano stands alone for me as the greatest instrument. So take a moment and see if playing the piano
or any instrument can save you.
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