Piano Man

Not long after his orchestra's Winter Concert, Wonder Boy was fiddling around with an electric keyboard Santa delivered a few Christmases back. He came to me a bit exasperated saying that he thought he could play a little if only he knew which notes were which on the keyboard.

I may not know much about playing the piano, but thankfully I did know the answer to that! I was able to show him how to find center C and he was off and running from that point on (he didn't need me to go any further than that).

He quickly discovered that everything he could play on his viola, he could play on the piano. But that wasn't enough for him.

His little keyboard was one of those "learning" keyboards. It came programmed with a number of songs and the keys would light up to show you which one to press. Wonder Boy jumped in and tried it with a few songs (all the while following along with the printed music that also came with the set up). Then he ditched the lights and just started working things out - mostly by ear as not all of the songs came with printed music.

Not long after the first of the year, Wonder Boy expressed an interest in lessons. It took us a while to find the right teacher with the right opening in her schedule, but eventually we lined all of that up. Wonder Boy has only had 2 lessons so far, but he seems completely in love with it. And just like with his viola, we do not have to pressure him to practice. Daily he works it into his schedule.

Honestly I don't think he sees it as work. It's fun. It's play time.

Our hope through all of this is that his love of music will continue to grow. So far he's right on track with that!

I will admit that I love having so much music in the house. Not a day goes by without a performance of some type. And most days, we get to hear him play on both his viola and his piano. And we couldn't be happier about it!

The following video was taken a few weeks ago, before even his first lesson. I can't wait for a few months to pass so I can post a progress video. I can hear a difference in his play already, after just 2 weeks. I can only imagine how much we'll be able to tell in a few months!

Messing aBout on the Piano