In my previous article, I mentioned how playing piano had a profound effect on my life. To be honest with everyone, I tend not to talk about my experiences as a piano player simply because at the time, I hated it. But, I simply cannot deny the effect it had on shaping my personality today. From the beginning, shall we?
I was in first grade at Aquinas Academy when my mom wanted me to start playing piano. Honestly, I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I was only about six or seven, so I was honestly just down to do whatever as long as I had a snack at some point in the day. My grandma on my mom's side had been playing piano all her life, and she had taught my mom how to play and my mom felt the need to teach all of us. Both of my sisters and I know how to play at least two instruments very well. For my oldest sister, it was piano and viola. For my middle sister it was piano and violin. And for me it was piano and cello. However, the cello is a story for another time. Back to piano.
I had started in first grade with a teacher named Mrs. Grace. She was a middle aged Asian woman with a thick accent, and honestly, I learned to hate her. Literally my hatred for her didn't stop until about two years ago, when I quit. She pushed me hard. Piano lessons were only one hour, but I felt like I walked through hell for eight months whenever I had one. Not only that, but when I started high school, I had less time than before to practice, so most of the lessons I went to in high school ended in tears because I never had enough time to practice. Therefore I would show up unprepared, and the lesson would essentially turn into her yelling at me for how unprepared I was.
The piano lessons themselves weren't the only problem. During elementary school, since I had to practice everyday after school, I never really had the opportunity to go out on "playdates" with my peers. It was the same routine everyday: wake up, go to school, come home, eat, practice for at least 2 hours, do homework, go to sleep. And this was when phones weren't really a thing yet, so it's not like I texted anyone either. In summary, piano didn't really let me have a social life until I hit seventh and eighth grade, and when I finally reached those grades I had to figure out how to talk to people even though everyone else learned how to do that awhile ago.
In high school, I only played until my sophomore year, because by the time I quit, I had found theatre, which I realized was my new niche. However, that too is another article for another time. But, in my time playing competitively during high school, I actually gained two of the most notable achievements of my life. My freshman year, I entered a piano competition. What it is for those of you that don't know is that essentially you have to know every single scale on the circle of fifths because the judge will ask you to play one, and practice the living crap out of one or two piano pieces and play them for the judge. Then you wait about two or three months for where you placed.
My freshman year I participated in a competition, and I actually won second place and was asked to perform at a winners' recital at Lincoln Center in New York. And in the last competition I played in I actually won first place, and was asked to receive my trophy and perform at the winners' recital at Carnegie Hall. Looking back on it, that was one of the things in my life that I had underrated the most. By the time my parents told me I won, I was so done with playing piano that I actually groaned in disdain. Looking back on it, I laugh because that was just crazy! Most people who sing or play an instrument work their you know what off for a single chance to play at Carnegie Hall! But when I received the news I just groaned and rolled over in my bed. Like I said, I hated piano. But now, I see the benefits.
Piano has made me a logical person. Piano taught me that you do not get rewards without hard work. It takes hours upon hours of practice to perfect one page of a piano piece, and that metaphor can be used for anything you want in life. You need to put the time in if you want to receive everything you want. Before happiness comes hard work. Piano also taught me another thing: you cannot half-measure anything. It's either you go full-measure, or you stay out of it, because if you half-measure something, it just becomes a mess. I learned this because at some lessons I would only practice the notes for the right hand and not the left, and in the end the lesson would be a disaster because you have to play them together. You either go all the way, or you don't go in at all. If you half-measure it, it simply will just end in tears.
Piano not only had a profound impact on shaping my character, but cognitively as well. When you played a piano piece, you would always have to memorize it. Not only just the piece, but also 26 major and minor scales always had to be memorized and ready to go if asked to play them. This has translated well into helping me with my studies, because if I sit down long enough, I am able to memorize anything. In my Anatomy and Physiology class freshman year at Felician, I did pretty well because the course was 99 percent memorization of material. The other one percent was common sense.
In summary, piano in my life has had a profound effect on my character as well as certain traits that I possess. I hated it for a long time. An interminable amount of time. But now, I am happy that my mom put me through it. While it was hell at the time, she only wanted me to do it because she knew in the end it'd do nothing but help me. Mom, if you somehow end up reading this, thank you. I wanted to play sports a lot growing up because all the other kids were doing it, but I see now. Sports you can only play while you are physically capable. Your talent at sports fades with your age. But piano? All you need is five working fingers and a flexible enough wrist, and that's pretty easy to maintain.
