Piano

Claire had her first piano lesson yesterday. I was nervous about it for a lot of reasons---and probably why I have been putting off her lessons even though she's been asking for months. She doesn't take direction from me without getting angry (when learning songs to sing, cleaning her room, or generally doing---or stopping doing---anything when she thinks she knows what she's doing). I took weeks telling her that Mom knows how to play the piano and when it comes to the piano, whatever mom says is right. Always. (I've had a few student's I've had to explain this to too!). She committed to two things: Always listening to Mom, and that once she starts lessons she's committed until she's 18. I'm not sure how well she understood that last one...

So we started yesterday evening. Taylor took Kyle to Best Buy (looking for a camera which explains the lack of pictures to document the event----but not really my lack of blogging for an entire month), and we had the house to ourselves. She did great at learning her finger numbers. She was excellent at hand position---it's so natural for her, and usually it's the hardest thing for my students to remember. But I totally noticed when she was a baby that her hands rested in perfect piano position (probably that last comment will show up on seriously so blessed.) And this is my blog, so I can say that. Playing the piano is definitely in her genes, so I'm happy to see it expressed.

Long story short, it was my favorite piano moment ever (but really close to my patriotic medley when I gave up my Miss Utah crown). She was so great. She paid attention. She didn't goof off or push random buttons/keys while I was explaining things. Her attention span was far beyond usual. We had a great time. She learned four songs and is practicing them (and the next ten songs in the book) as I write this. She learned her flashcards almost immediately. She'd shout "Quarter Note!" while holding up one finger. "Half Note" with two fingers. "Whole Note" with four. "Double bar line means the end!" and so on. It was adorable.

I'm not naive enough to think that this will last forever, or even that her enthusiasm will last for the entire month of July, but for now it's so precious. It's so rewarding for me to see her enjoy something that I love so much. Piano has always been a huge part of my life, and I'm so happy to share it with her. And I've also started teaching a few more kids (5 committed students so far) after a two-year hiatus from teaching. I'm so glad to be doing it again. I really love it. I'm looking for three or five more students I think, so if you know anyone who needs lessons, send them on over.