| I can remember sitting down at my Dad's old Wurlitzer | | | | tender age 12 years, it seems I couldn't unlearn the |
| organ. I knew nothing about playing it, I was just | | | | habits I'd accumulated in the 5 years I'd been learning |
| impressed by its appearance. All those black and white | | | | to play by ear. It was so foreign to read from a page |
| keys and the colored buttons, just looking at it sparked | | | | and translate that to the keyboard. I just couldn't |
| an interest and sense of excitement at such a young | | | | coordinate reading and playing. |
| age. But the real magic came when I turned it on and | | | | If I can share a thought with you: |
| played a couple notes...I was hooked! | | | | - If you've shown an interest and even the slightest |
| I would rush home from school every day just to try a | | | | ability, take lessons - the younger the better. Don't give |
| new song I'd heard. I probably drove my mother crazy, | | | | yourself the chance to pick up bad habits. Sure it's |
| fumbling through song after song note after note. She | | | | easy and music comes naturally to you but take that |
| never said anything, she could see the joy and sheer | | | | gift and start honing and shaping it early. Aquire the |
| concentration on my face. I would start a song over | | | | tools and skills that well structured lessons can provide. |
| dozens of times if I made a mistake, slowly learning | | | | There are so many resources today that weren't |
| which key made what sound. It was a labor of love | | | | around when I was young. The internet, of course is |
| for me and an exercise in patience for her. | | | | probably the best place to start. Google music lessons. |
| When my Dad learned of my interest in music he | | | | Local papers are another avenue. At the very least, |
| beamed. He shared my love of music and admired | | | | look into it. |
| those who could play well. We would sit together on | | | | Another suggestion: |
| Saturday nights and watch the piano players Big Tiny | | | | - Keep it fun! It's hard to learn when you find it boring. |
| Little and Jo Ann Castle on the Lawrence Welk show | | | | Even if you find lessons sheer drudgery and your |
| and marvel at their talent. My Dad had a natural talent | | | | teacher smells of furniture polish, find something you |
| and although he never learned to read music, he | | | | like about the experience and focus on that. |
| enjoyed playing, mostly the old standards... for him it | | | | Concentrate on the end result, it'll make the lessons go |
| was just for the pleasure it brought. | | | | faster. |
| As I grew older and became more adept at playing, at | | | | One last piece of advice: |
| my parents request I would perform for family and | | | | - Stick With It! Develop this trait and it will carry through |
| friends. At family gatherings, we'd sit in the living room | | | | even the toughest lessons and steepest learning |
| and people would shout out requests. I had come to | | | | curves. It's a characteristic, that if deeply engrained, will |
| the point where I could play many of the popular songs | | | | improve your music and your life. Too many people, |
| of the day. Noting this, my Mom and Day decided it | | | | including me, start things only to find themselves running |
| was time for music lessons. They set me up with a | | | | into the inevitable bump in the road and they quit, often |
| local teacher at a music store downtown and I was | | | | just before an unforeseen breakthrough. Stay the |
| off. The teacher was extremely nice and like my | | | | course!... Even the smallest success might give you the |
| Mom, showed the patience of Job. I loved the idea of | | | | motivation to keep going. |
| being able to read music but that's where I ran into a | | | | As an adult I still love playing, but still can't read music. I |
| problem. If I new the song, my natural ear would take | | | | even tried picking up a guitar and found myself falling |
| over and I'd play faster than I could read the notes and | | | | into the same old habits. I opened a book, learned a |
| would quickly become lost. It soon became a lesson in | | | | half dozen chords and began playing, though not well. I |
| frustration for me. | | | | still enjoy playing and like my Dad, I play for the sound |
| I'm sure many musicians out there have run into the | | | | of the music and sense of fulfillment it gives me |
| same problem. They probably picked up an instrument | | | | knowing that music is coming from me. |
| at a young age and figured it out on their own. When it | | | | I know there are many musicians who reportedly don't |
| came time for formal training they fell into the same | | | | read music and are very successful but I imagine |
| category as me and lessons became a chore. | | | | those are the exceptions and I'll always wonder where |
| I stopped the lessons, taking from them what I could | | | | it might have taken me if I'd had the perseverance to |
| and always regretting that I didn't continue. At the | | | | stay with the lessons. |