On Monday, Katherine was part of a recital of beginning piano students. It was held in the auditorium at Asbury, where she’s been taking lessons since January. Her piece: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Her pre-recital giggles and energy had us a bit nervous, but she did a great job!
It does feel a bit silly to make such a fuss for roughly five minutes of performance by kids in elementary school–but then again, it’s a great chance to introduce kids to not only practice and playing, but also performing.
This spring is our first as a family juggling a child’s activity schedule (weekly piano lessons and weekly choir practices), and it’s certainly changing the dynamic around here. We do, though, have it easy: we can walk her down to her practices at Asbury (no lengthy car commute into Lexington). Katherine has bravely and patiently made it through the worst of the practice wiggles (“I’m tired,” “I can’t focus,” “I don’t have time”) and she’s discovered that those all fade considerably once you are actually sitting on the piano bench. She’s dutifully practiced five times a week, setting herself goals and playing around with our old-fashioned metronome, and she’s now quite confident in both her skills and her interest in music. Her teacher, a piano student at Asbury, has been very good for Katherine, and she’s kindly agreed to keep Katherine as a student in the fall. So, currently Katherine has two main interests: reading and music. As parents, we now have a goal of ensuring that all other activities get her up and moving. There will be a lot of outside play this summer!
Erin
Alan Schmierer