It’s lesson day!!

ShiroKuro

Wednesday is piano lesson day for me! I have been playing for 25 years, and taken lessons for more of that time than not. And I am still totally excited when it’s lesson day! 😄

Although I think I’m even more excited these days. We moved in summer 2023 so I could take a position at a new university, and that first year was brutal. I worked 7 days a week (full, long days even on the weekend) and in the first semester, I hardly played piano at all. And no piano lessons, I hadn’t had in person lessons since before covid and the online lesson I’d had during covid ended in 2022 (if I recall correctly). So it had been a long time since I’d had lessons. In my second semester in my new job (Jan-May 2024) I was able to play a little bit more regularly but it was a struggle and I rarely had two days in a row with piano time. Still, I was playing more regularly, so I started lessons in Feb 2024, twice a month.

Now, in my second year in my new position, things at work are a little more under control. Although I still end up working on weekends far more often than I’d like, I’m not putting in 8-hour days every Saturday and Sunday, what a difference that makes! And I am able to make time to be at the piano pretty much every day.

At the end of August, I switched my piano lessons to be every week. And even after the semester has gotten into full swing, I’m still able to have piano time every day. Sometimes it’s little more than 30 minutes of running through my pieces, but more often it’s 1-2 hours of intensely focused practice.

After a year of not being able to have that piano time, and sometimes showing up to my lesson having not practiced, now being able to do my daily piano activities seems that much more special, that much more precious to me.

So I think that’s part of what makes me so happy to have a weekly piano lesson. Also I just feel like I have a special secret. 😃 I take my lesson stuff with me in the morning when I leave for work, and just seeing that bag in my office makes me smile. Then I go straight to my lesson after work. I feel like a little kid, looking forward to it all day.

Yay, it’s lesson day!!

🎉🎉🎉

JB_PT

ShiroKuro And I am still totally excited when it’s lesson day!

Me too...every single time. Even though it's a 3-hour journey for each lesson because I'm on the outskirts of town and the city traffic suuuuuuucks.

It must have been really difficult accepting no piano time for your new job! I get cranky when I have to miss a single day of practice.

keff

ShiroKuro That is what I call enthusiasm! Well done.

I have just bought a new jazz arrangement Summertime which I am looking forward to learning.

ShiroKuro

JB_PT I get cranky when I have to miss a single day of practice

Me too! But taking the new position was a great move for me professionally, so it was worth it.

Also I knew the intensity of the schedule/ working would mellow eventually, and it has.
😊

Pallas

Wonderful story. Yay, lesson day!

keystring

Happy and excited for you. I can relate, in my imagination.

thepianoplayer416

Today (Wednesday) is my lesson day too. It’s only an hour but I usually stay to use the practice room with a piano for another hour. I only have a basic keyboard at home.

Unlike some people who hated lessons, I enjoy every minute of playing.

Have fun…

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 Unlike some people who hated lessons, I enjoy every minute of playing.

Same. Of course, I never played as a kid, so I was never forced to take lessons or practice. I suspect that has a lot to do with it for adults.

thepianoplayer416

ShiroKuro
Coming from a non-music family, not many people around appreciate music. People would tell me it's a waste of time as a child. I know people who had bad experiences learning piano as a child would never touch the instrument again. A lot of people took lessons but not many in the family have the confidence to play in front of others.

In my younger days piano was not my instrument. I tried it for a few months but didn't get further than "Twinkle". A few decades later I got into playing every day. Life circumstances change. I wasn't forced into piano lessons as a child. Mom knew I was a slow learner so didn't push much. Today I'd push myself into pieces I'm not yet ready for. I find that challenging myself once in a while is rewarding.

Years ago I heard an amateur pianist who is a doctor by profession perform with a local ensemble. He said that many friends saw him play wished they continued with their lessons. In the past people assumed the ideal age for starting piano is before 10. Didn't happen in my life. I had no trouble starting late and enjoy the playing experience just as much.

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 In the past people assumed the ideal age for starting piano is before 10.

Yeah, when I first started piano (around age 29), I was talking about it at work and someone basically said “what’s the point, it’s too late now and you’ll never be able to play.” Thank goodness I didn’t listen to him! I wish he could see me now, 25 years later.

It’s the same in foreign language/second language learning, people assume (or more like, believe with all their might) that it’s always better to start early, and that earlier is better. But there’s more and more research that shows that this isn’t the case, and that older learners (even up to adults) have learning advantages that younger children don’t have.

I sure it’s the same with piano, I just don’t know about the research myself. But I have no doubt that there are things that younger children might have an easier time with, but adult piano learners have a lot of strengths.

Animisha

ShiroKuro Yeah, when I first started piano (around age 29), I was talking about it at work and someone basically said “what’s the point, it’s too late now and you’ll never be able to play.” Thank goodness I didn’t listen to him! I wish he could see me now, 25 years later.

I had a better someone. I was talking about learning to play the piano when I would retire, and this someone said: "Why wait?"

I am so happy for you that you have found the time and energy to play the piano again. 🥰

Stub

ShiroKuro Yeah, when I first started piano (around age 29), I was talking about it at work and someone basically said “what’s the point, it’s too late now and you’ll never be able to play.

Okay, I won't mince words. To whoever said that, that's just stupid. 😬

ShiroKuro

Animisha I was talking about learning to play the piano when I would retire, and this someone said: "Why wait?"

Yep this is the best response!! 🙂

It's never too late.

twocats

Stub my dad's friend started to learn clarinet in his 90's! When I last saw him he was running around enjoying life. It's never too late! 🙂