1,000 Days of Piano - Day 2: Down Memory Lane

One of the unexpected pleasures of teaching piano and reviewing the repertoire is that I get to play pieces I learned as a child. I played this Sonatina in fifth grade. The Chopin Waltz I remember from seventh grade and The Cuckoo from high school. Even just hearing some pieces takes me back to clear blue June evenings deepening from turquoise to indigo, sitting in the recital hall in my best dress during the Spring Concert. I don’t expect to enjoy all practice sessions as much as this one, but I’ll take the pleasures when I can get them.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 1

I just spent an hour plowing through select pieces from the Suzuki piano repertoire. If I’m going to learn how to teach the music, first I must learn the music itself. I didn’t play much that was familiar to me from my childhood of taking piano lessons. It was lots of reading—slow reading. I felt as though I was at a buffet full of very rich food, and all I could do was nibble.
I ended up with more Bartok than I’m accustomed to playing, using my piano as a portal to Hungary and Romania.

It’s more than a musical journey through time and place. In the end, on this first day, it will have taken me nearly two hours to practice and post a video of my playing. I could more easily race across a zip line. And I’m supposed to do this daily for a thousand days? It will be a giant exercise in non-judgment.