Bring out the Chopsticks
Oct 11th, 2006 by Leimamo
Ever since Kamalani was about 3 years old, I wanted her to take piano lessons. I used to wish I could play piano like my grandmother did. She was one of the people who couldn’t read music but she could play by ear. My mom signed me up for lessons when I was about 9 years old, but I couldn’t grasp the concept of notes and beats and treble/bass clefs. It was easier for me to learn French back then.
I signed Kamalani up for lessons about three weeks ago and it amazes me how much she retains and comprehends all the things I couldn’t understand when I was older than she is now. I wonder if it would’ve been easier for me if I took lessons at a younger age? Anyway, the instructor was sort of hesitant when I first called because she was concerned about Kamalani’s age. I told her that I wanted to bring her in for a trial run and if she still felt that Kamalani was too young, I’d wait until she was older. I suppose you can guess that she felt Kamalani was not only able to learn, but she was also eager to learn. Instead of taking lessons once a week, I have her going twice a week in case she has problems but so far, she’s doing great.
The instructor told me that we should look into purchasing a used piano because the keys are different from the keyboard and it will help to strengthen Kamalani’s fingers. She said that she would keep an eye out for us and she might find one for about $500. *GULP* Call it karma or and omen if you like but lastweek I was browsing through the ads section of the local paper and there it was - an ad for a used piano for only $200. I immediately called the cell number and the guy hadn’t sold it yet so I made an appointment to come out to take a look at it. I didn’t get my hopes up too high because I was thinking maybe some of the keys weren’t working. When I got to the house and checked it, all keys were working, some of the keys were chipped though. Not that big a deal for me, as long as they worked. I told the guy I’d take it, wrote out the check and called hubby and a friend to come load it and bring it home.
Now hubby gets to wake up to music, if you want to call it that. Ever since the arrival of the piano, we’ve all transformed ourselves into Billy Joel, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and even Liberace - or so we think. I doubt the neighbors share the same thoughts. Every so often I treat the neighbors to “chopsticks”. ~LOL~