"katysails" wrote in message
...
When I was young and started taking piano lessons, my first teacher, Mr.
King, emphasized each of his student's particular taste in music. He
theorized that if you were playing something you liked, you'd play it
well.
And that worked. When I entered high school, I began piano with a woman
who
emphasized a mathematical approach to music. She was way into Bach
inventions over his more emotional music. I hated it. Instead of paying
what I considered music, I started having to do endless repetition of
Hanon
exercises. I brought some sheet music to a lesson (I even remember what
it
was...the theme from Exodus...) She did not want me to play it...was not
wise enough to see that if she had interspersed some lighter, or even more
enjoyable, music into her regime, that maybe my interest level would have
stayed up...instead, I stopped piano and switched to voice.

A similiar thing happened to me. I ended up taking lessons in the violin at
the age of 11. I had no interest at all in the violin, and my fingers were
the wrong shape to be successful. I will never forgive the teacher, because
he knew that I loved the piano. I was too young to question the teacher.
My real love was the piano, but three years of violin lessons killed my
confidence in my ability to play music.

Regards



Donal
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