Friday, January 3, 2014

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

You’ve probably all heard the phrase “give the gift that keeps on giving”.  Advertisers use this phrase for many products and tell us that everything we buy is worthwhile; that if we would only buy their wares, we would be “happier, smarter, more satisfied”. However, the reality is that those promises rarely come true. The product breaks down, gets used up, or eventually bores us.

These days, I’m thinking about a gift that I received as a child that truly has been “the gift that keeps on giving”. When I was 11 years old, my father bought a piano for our family. He then paid for piano lessons for all five of us children. I continued my study of the piano throughout college and became a music educator out of my passion for giving away the gift of learning to play an instrument. I’ve used my gift to provide piano music for schools and churches, soloists and choirs. To this present day, my desire to keep learning new music and my love for playing the piano goes on.

Giving students the gift of learning how to read music (so that eventually they won’t need a teacher to show them how to play that new piece of sheet music) brings me joy. Seeing the journey from beginner piano player to advanced level is genuinely fun! As well as, having the student who has begun the journey, decides at some point it’s not for him or her, but leaves with a new appreciation for everybody else who has stuck with it and learned to play an instrument.

As I reflect on the past 44 years of piano playing, I can remember that my father and each of my music teachers truly gave me “the gift that keeps on giving”. I can honestly say learning to play the piano has made me “happier, smarter, more satisfied”.

Happy New Year! May you discover all that you need for the journey ahead!
Oh, and one more thing, how about adding 10 more minutes to whatever skill you need to practice!