One Note at a Time
I started playing piano when I was six. I remember my mother asking me if I wanted to play an instrument, and back then piano was the only instrument I had heard of, so of course I chose it. When I had my first lesson I thought it was going to be easy, with my hands magically knowing the keys and I would play a whole song just like that, but no, that was not the case.
After a few weeks, I thought I had made a mistake choosing the piano. Instead of making music I had to learn notes, scales and chords which seemed unrelated to a song. This wasn’t how I imagined it to be, and it wasn’t any fun. This wasn’t music, this was something else. Where was the music? Where was the beautiful singing? Later I realized that these building blocks formed music.
Throughout my journey, the hardest part was probably when I was competing in my first piano festival. I practiced long and hard, and I got sick of the piece. When the day finally came, I was so nervous, my hands shook. Looking back, I realized I didn’t have to be so nervous. Playing piano was not for winning the competition, it was for having fun and expressing yourself.
Sometimes I hated the piano because of the hours of practicing, my fingers getting tired, my brain getting tired, and my whole body wanting to collapse. I wished I didn’t have to practice, but there are so many challenges in playing the piano: having the skill to have your hands play different things, memorizing pieces, articulation of notes, and playing without making a mistake. I know that practice does make perfect. Without practice you can’t get better, and you can’t finish. If you do practice, you can succeed, and you can achieve. All of these challenges have to be overcome to become a pianist. Though it is challenging, the truth is, life is hard, nothing is easy unless you practice.
Now that I’ve been playing for more than six years, I’ve realized my passion for piano. Though I do sometimes dislike practicing, piano is a part of my life and I can’t just give it up now. While I’m playing I can express my feelings, sad or happy. It gives me a way into another world. In everything I do, not just piano, I use this lesson I’ve learned, to not give up when something is hard, to keep going, and to keep practicing.