May 27, 2009
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Do you regret giving up any childhood hobbies and activities?
“Regret” is a strong word, but I wish I would’ve kept playing piano.
I started taking piano lessons when I was ten. Mary Fran, the go-to church pianist, would come over once a week and teach me and my sibs songs from what we deemed The Baby Book. Said book contained songs like the deliciously un-PC “The Indian Song” and a tale of equine adoration called Horse Sense. Beats one and three (it’s 6/8) are capitalized because that’s what we intentionally played (and sang) loudly:
I’m RIding the PLAINS on my FAVorite HORSE!!!
His HORSE sense is KEEN so we NEVer get LOST!
You MAY think I’m CRAZY but ONE thing I’ll SAY
This HORSE has more SENSE than a BUNdle of HAY!My poor parents.
Anyway, I got through the first book and decided that was enough ivory tickling for me. But since then, the piano’s sat in our living room gathering dust and occasionally obliging us for rousing renditions of Heart and Soul, Chopsticks and that buh-duh-duh-DUH-DUH! song you play on the black keys.
I felt particularly ambitious a few summers ago and printed out sheet music to Praise You (well, that’s more like four measures than actual music), Fur Elise and Only Hope by the artist Mandy Moore (Chris loves her) and learned those. They’re sloppy and I don’t play them correctly, but I missed the way it felt to press keys and hear music instead of garbage.
Both of the families I babysit for have kids who play piano, and I’m pretty sure the 11-year-old girl I sit for now is going to quit later this year even though she’s getting good. And although I can’t make her do anything, I do kind of want to sit her down and tell her that as dumb as it feels now, she needs to keep doing it, lest she be 23 and want nothing more than to sit down with a teacher and have to be reminded to curve her fingers and look at her key signature.
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Comments (18)
I only wish I could play piano to begin with.
Interesting. I Quit playing the saxophone when i was 11ish. I don’t regret it.
I regret more not trying versus giving up. I wanted to play some musical instrument and quit pursuing because of some dimwit instructor who was somewhat discouraging. I should have pressed on…
I played piano, too. I only took one year of lessons and advanced pretty quickly, but I lost interest. The teacher gave me primarily juvenile songs to play, but I was in 8th grade. This did not bode well with me.
I want to try and take it up again, but we’ll see.
That’s funny-giving up the piano is something I really regret now that I’m older. I used to be really good at it. Now? I can barely remember any notes.
I would just throw things at my grandparents baby grand. Hoping it would ring like a bell. When I was young, it was because I was young and fucking stupid. When I was older, it was because I was DRUNK.
Heh.
i find it more fun to jump on the keys for some reason. hmm. perhaps thats a bad idea.
I promised my daughter she could quit when she could play as well as I. By the time she reached that point, in ninth grade, she’d decided she wanted to major in music and her band director told her, “You realize this means you can’t quit piano.” She’s now working on a masters degree in Ethnomusicology. She doesn’t play the piano much anymore, but when she does, she can whip off a complicated Rachmaninoff piece by memory, or a popular song by ear. And yet, I had her so snowed about my level of playing when she was younger, she still thinks I’m better than her!
I honestly wish I’d have learned the piano. I’m dying to buy one and take courses… it’s such a beautiful instrument.
I always wanted to take lessons but my parents couldn’t afford it. I still think it would be fun to do.
I hope you do sit her down and talk about it… Maybe it will make a difference…
Actually, “Only Hope” is by Switchfoot. They stole it for that movie Mandy Moore was in.
I used to have around 75 pen pals. I kept it up until junior high where it dwindled down to 3 or 4 by the time I was 16 or so. Then life took a turn and I lost contact with them. A couple of months ago I found one on Facebook. There are two (one from Brooklyn, one from Lancaster PA) that I would really like to reconnect with.
DUN DUN! (the ending to the black keys diddy)
but at least you can play “hey ya” on guitar…
Another regretful instrumentalist, eh?
I wish I had tried to learn guitar or piano sooner; it’s hard and I don’t have a lot of available cash for lessons. I sing and songwrite, but I can’t really be in charge of the music I want to make a capella.
I’m glad I didn’t give up. I almost did a lot of times but parents and teachers didn’t give up on me and now I’m determined to finish my certification.
You can still go back! Just practice and have fun =)
i am glad for you. praise God!
“Do you regret giving up any childhood hobbies and activites”?….no…I still turned out to be Batman….lol….
I many a times tried learning piano but….till date i had not learnt….