Learning to play the piano

I started playing piano today.

It wasn't very impressive, and I was just alone in a room trying to find my finger positions and playing some notes up and down. But it was a lot of fun, and it's exactly what I've been wanting to do for a while. Both my sisters play piano beautifully, and we had a baby grand in the house growing up. They were "forced" to take lessons, as many kids have been, but I never was. I'm sure it had to do with it being the 70s and me being a boy who played sports, but my parents never forced me to play, and I really regret that.

I love music in general and piano jazz in specific. And, as I've reached my late forties, I am realizing that there are many talents and hobbies and activities that make life more beautiful, and I need more of those in my life. So, I'm going to learn to play the piano. I chatted briefly with one of our choir teachers who also teaches in our piano lab, and he was thrilled that I wanted to learn. Rather than taking lessons, he loaned me a copy of the school's introductory piano book, and gave me some tips and a lot of encouragement. So, today after grades were filed and paperwork was completed and the school emptied, I ventured into the piano lab. And it was really nice.

I've also been watching more than a few You Tube videos for different tips on playing piano. And I realized what a wonderful world that we can access so many tutorials. The one listed below is about playing "cocktail music," and it's from a guy named Bill Hilton who has a channel with many great piano tutorials.



So, I'm off on my next great adventure - learning to play piano. Some day, probably years down the road, I hope to post a You Tube video of me playing some great piano jazz.