September: Pursue Your Passion, i.e., Play that Piano!

Hey girls!

I'm so excited that we are doing this. I'd been wanting to start writing again for awhile, and this is a great opportunity to get back into it. I can't wait to read about your own adventures, ideas, and thoughts. What a great way to stay in touch, too.


It's sad, but true: In the 10 months I've lived here, I've probably only tinkled out some tunes on my keyboard not too many more than 10. And it's right there. It's right there, right now, looking at me! It's happier with me now that I've reunited myself with it, but for the longest time I just let it collect dust. . .I would actually have to run a damp paper towel over the keys before some of the times I acually played it this year.

This all ends now! I came back from Alaska last week and stared right back at my piano and felt the itch for my fingers to dance (well, right now, it is more of a stroll). I'd enjoyed music by this wondeful all-lady (yeah, girl power!) string quartet (apparently they are on youtube. . I couldn't find them--sadly! I did, however, record pretty much all of their songs on my phone one night--but found some other lady quartet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpFe-bY2_3k) on our cruise ship almost every night. I'd gotten a cheat sheet of chords at the Experience Mustic Project Museum in Seattle (Seattle is pretty awesome, by the way. . .it's been added to my list of potential cities to move to) last weekend. I'd reacquainted myself wtih a little Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Carlos Santana, to name a few, at the museum too. I listened to their stories and their music. I was reminded of how music can instantly take you so far, whether you are listening to it or creating it. For instance, every time I hear "Mr. Jones" by the Counting Crows ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oqAU5VxFWs), my mind immediately flashes back to the time Aaron and I went out to see Finding Nemo--our first movie together, hanging out as brother and sister, without thinking, "Eww, she's/he's my sister/brother, we can't hang out." We'd just gotten back into our mom's old Volvo and as the song came on, we both started belting it out. All I need is to hear "sha la la la la" and instantly, I'm back in that Volvo with the low-lit, high-volume image of Aaron singing in my periphery.

So, I wanted to create new memories with new music while also using music from growing up to reconnect with past memories. I tried playing one of my favorite old Chopin pieces recently and remembered the times I'd sit in the piano studios in the basement of Edgecliff Hall at Xavier, sometimes right after a class or other times when I just wanted to have time to myself. And at the same time that my mind remembers these instances, as I play, I'm seeing this old piece in a new light. I'm more patient with refiguring out the notes. I'm more interested in knowing why Chopin might have composed it the way he did. Both are things I didn't care too much for the first time around.

I've recently begun learning the piano piece from the movie Amelie. It's beautiful ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyo4tNwNIvQ) and such a great mental break after a day of work. One thing I observed about myself though when I first began to learn it: Why do I feel the need to rush? It's suppose to be (for the most part) a slow song. And, it's more efficient to actually take the time to figure out the pattern in chords, rather than just try to sight read each individual note every time. So, why rush?

Now, I pretend like my fingers are playing the song in a tub of molasses. I not only learn it better, but I'm enjoying the piece more.