About me
Hello, music lover! At least, I assume you are a music lover, otherwise, why would you be here? After all, humans are the only species (that I know of) that browses the Internet, and all humans love music (at, least, I never met one who didn't) so, the fact that you are here, reading this on the Internet, tells me that you must be a music lover.
But enough about you! I am also a music lover (we have that in common!). I started playing the piano when I was about 5; my mother taught me to read music around the same time that I was learning to read English. Strangely, I grew up with very little recorded music in the house, but lots of sheet music! So I learned songs as I played them on the piano. I also grew up singing the alto line to the hymns in church, and have been seeking out the harmony lines to everything ever since.
I went to a musical nursery school where we were supposed to color the black piano keys black on our worksheets, but there were no more black crayons, so I had to use purple, which was very upsetting to me. Now, given the choice, I think I would deliberately choose the purple crayon. Funny how our perspectives change over time.
Are you still here? Ok, I'll keep going, then, if you are interested. Feel free to leave this page if you get bored. I took piano lessons from several different teachers, most memorably my cousin Sharon. I got bored with the kiddie stuff and told her I wanted to play Chopin's Minute Waltz. Rather than tell me, "no, that's too hard for you" she actually starting teaching me how to play Chopin. And Mozart. And Debussy. And then, when I announced that I was collecting musical instruments and wanted to learn how to play them all, she gave me her old clarinet. I took up the French horn in school, and took up my brother's trombone whenever he wasn't using it. I went to Peru for a summer and came home with una guitarra. Shortly after I got my drivers' license I bought a greenish trumpet at an antique sale, and it turned out to be silver underneath. Cool! My dad told me that if I tried to learn to play too many musical instruments, I would become "a jack of all trades, and a master of none." He was right, of course. But I think I'm ok with it.
In college I studied voice and organ. My favorite music class was composition, and that's still one of my favorite things to do. (It's right up there with breathing - sometimes I do it without even thinking about it.) I've been playing guitar most of my life, but I've been working off and on as a church music director for the past 14 years. There's nothing quite like directing a choir. Oh, the harmonies! I teach piano now, and hope to be as motivational a teacher as my cousin was for me. I play with a couple of ukulele bands, and get together to jam with friends whenever I can. I'm learning to play harp (both the stringy and reedy kinds) and mountain dulcimer. I'm currently studying to be a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP) in the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP). I'm really interested in exploring the relationship between music and well-being, and the role music plays in healing.
But enough about you! I am also a music lover (we have that in common!). I started playing the piano when I was about 5; my mother taught me to read music around the same time that I was learning to read English. Strangely, I grew up with very little recorded music in the house, but lots of sheet music! So I learned songs as I played them on the piano. I also grew up singing the alto line to the hymns in church, and have been seeking out the harmony lines to everything ever since.
I went to a musical nursery school where we were supposed to color the black piano keys black on our worksheets, but there were no more black crayons, so I had to use purple, which was very upsetting to me. Now, given the choice, I think I would deliberately choose the purple crayon. Funny how our perspectives change over time.
Are you still here? Ok, I'll keep going, then, if you are interested. Feel free to leave this page if you get bored. I took piano lessons from several different teachers, most memorably my cousin Sharon. I got bored with the kiddie stuff and told her I wanted to play Chopin's Minute Waltz. Rather than tell me, "no, that's too hard for you" she actually starting teaching me how to play Chopin. And Mozart. And Debussy. And then, when I announced that I was collecting musical instruments and wanted to learn how to play them all, she gave me her old clarinet. I took up the French horn in school, and took up my brother's trombone whenever he wasn't using it. I went to Peru for a summer and came home with una guitarra. Shortly after I got my drivers' license I bought a greenish trumpet at an antique sale, and it turned out to be silver underneath. Cool! My dad told me that if I tried to learn to play too many musical instruments, I would become "a jack of all trades, and a master of none." He was right, of course. But I think I'm ok with it.
In college I studied voice and organ. My favorite music class was composition, and that's still one of my favorite things to do. (It's right up there with breathing - sometimes I do it without even thinking about it.) I've been playing guitar most of my life, but I've been working off and on as a church music director for the past 14 years. There's nothing quite like directing a choir. Oh, the harmonies! I teach piano now, and hope to be as motivational a teacher as my cousin was for me. I play with a couple of ukulele bands, and get together to jam with friends whenever I can. I'm learning to play harp (both the stringy and reedy kinds) and mountain dulcimer. I'm currently studying to be a Certified Music Practitioner (CMP) in the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP). I'm really interested in exploring the relationship between music and well-being, and the role music plays in healing.