you never know

when i was 8 or 9 years old i was playing with 'star war men' in my room when my mum came in and said, "joel, do you want to take piano lessons?" i looked up and said "ok", and that was the end of that... or should i say the beginning.

i wasn't necessarily interested in music or the piano but it seemed like a good idea at the time. looking back now and seeing how my parents struggled financially to put me through lessons i get great comfort knowing that their investment was worth it.

i don't jump to conclusions when a student doesn't grasp a concept right away, nor do i measure one student's progress against another...why? because they remind me of me! i wasn't exceptionally slow, but i wasn't a prodigy either.

as i learned more about piano and began to mature, my love for the instrument began to flourish; but who would've known that in just a few years i would make such dramatic changes in my approach to my instrument. when someone says "you're so talented" i think that it comes back to loving the instrument. when i allow the piano to be an extension of who i am and a way i can express how i'm feeling i make a much greater investment into it. it's kind of like a fondness toward someone: you want to spend all of your time with them! in short, it's not just about talent; love equals time and time develops knowing.

my goal as a teacher is to maintain a balance between teaching crucial, elementary skills while keeping lessons fun so a student does not wear to the point of quitting. there is a lot of hard work to do when learning an instrument, but if you can persevere hopefully a love for the instrument will be cultivated within you; then, you'll be able to enjoy a life of music and not be an "i used to play once upon a time" casualty.