Music, Music and More Music!!

So embarrassingly enough it has been awhile since I have sat down to a piano and played. I only tinker on occasion. If my mom knew about my absence from the piano she would probably throttle me for wasting close to two decades of piano lessons.

It was a ward choir practice that led me back to the piano. Our fabulous director chose four hour Saturday rehearsals as well as Sunday and sometimes Thursday. She was pretty hard core for a ward choir director(I attended obediently due to a promise I made my choir director at BYU. Sister Hall always said that no matter how good or bad the ward choir is, it is our duty to support the director, because she can't fulfill her calling if no one shows up). Will thought the transpiring events were a bit irrational – overzealous in the least. I think the passion for perfection stemmed from our choir director's professional opera singing days and to be quite honest there was no amount of practicing that was going to make us sound like the Mo Tab. It didn't help that the composer of a 40 page cantata (yes, she was in our ward) requested we sing her piece for Easter. She wanted a choir of at least 60…yeah, we were about 15 strong on a good day.

It was in a moment at the end of a Sunday practice that our director had me close to tears. She said that if music has ever played a major role in your life and you let it go by the wayside you would never quite be as happy by letting that part of you die. I knew piano had to find a place in my home again, but clarinet would have to wait. At this point Will did some CPR on my musical life and bought me a piano. What a sweet husband!

In bringing music back into my life Will has so graciously started piano lessons. He is very good about practicing everyday and I am actually afraid that if his learning curve continues on the present course he may pass me up in about a year or two. Ask him to play for you the next time you see him. He is quite good! He is working on Edvard Grieg's, In the Hall of the Mountain King (Hudson knows it as the Dragon Kite song from, Little Einsteins).

Anyway, I digress. I have decided that the tinkering on the piano stemmed from the need for new piano music. I'm sure Will is just as tired of listening to Mozart as I am of playing it. I tried to figured out what would fuel my musical flame and thought of my best friend from high school. Sandi and I would sit side by side for hours playing little duets and other pieces on the piano.

We went through a Scott Joplin phase and she took on the Maple Leaf Rag while I tackled The Entertainer. This memory led me to my choice. Will took me to the store and I picked up Scott Joplin's, Maple Leaf Rag. Its fun to listen to and even more fun to play.  I included a music clip in case you were thinking, “What the HECK is she talking about?” Don't worry, none of them are from our choirs attempt of the cantata!!!