I took piano lessons when I was a kid, but -- like an idiot -- stopped in 9th grade. I still like fooling around on the keyboard. Maybe I'll take lessons again some day.
When I started this blog, twenty months ago, I wrote those words on my profile. Since then, I've continued, at times, "fooling around on the keyboard." Now I want to do more -- more than just fooling around.
If you want to quit smoking, tell everyone you're quitting. The humiliation of breaking such a public resolution may be just the incentive you need to stick with it. Using that trick as an analogy, I now declare to you, my vast reading public, that I plan to give the old piano another whirl.
During my hours of "fooling around," I've managed to work up a fairly acceptable rendition of the first movement to Beethoven's Moonlight sonata. By that, I mean I've learned to play the notes and I've tried to imitate the phrasing and emphasis that I hear in recordings. I haven't had a teacher to provide feedback. And I still don't feel ready to start lessons.
What I do plan to do is to continue working on the Moonlight sonata, and at the same time learn to play the second movement of Beethoven's Pathétique sonata. I tried to learn the Pathétique once before. While the second movement is one of the easier Beethoven movements, it is more difficult than the Moonlight. I got discouraged, and didn't master even the first page.
This time, however, I will not get discouraged. I will work on it every day. Sooner or later, I will learn to play it.
Once I do, my self-confidence will increase. I'll find a teacher and arrange for lessons.
Wish me luck. No, not luck. Wish me determination and perseverence. And maybe even a little bit of musicality? I'll report back in three or four months. If I don't, ask me how it's going. Shame me, if necessary!
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