Why practice?
02 Oct 19
I am especially enjoying teaching the piano at the moment. I have lovely students who challenge and inspire me. The progress I see in them is extremely satisfying, and sometimes when I listen to them play, I remind myself that I've had the privilige of guiding this journey. This is what a piano teacher is of course, a guide. Ultimately the effort comes from the student, and the time that they put in. It's like any relationship, if you want to get to know something, you have to spend time with it. Playing an instrument is so much more than can be described (by me at least!) it touches your senses in every way. It tests your patience, it teaches you about yourself. Speaking for myself I feel so lucky to be based in this beautiful Calder Valley. I sit at the piano in my music room which I absolutely love, I look out the window at the hill that rises up on to the moors and I simply play. I don't drift mindlessly, I sit and I focus and listen with my ears and with my body and my touch. I remind myself what my teachers have said, and I try to bring the best out the music. Sometimes I think I must be really lazy... to just sit and play is such a joy, and a way of gently disengaging with more mundane aspects of life! When I feel I have finished, I feel happy and my mind feels full. I feel as if I have progressed and achieved a little more, I feel like whatever music I have been learning, I know now better than I did before, and for this part of the day, I have brought joy. I hope to pass this on to my students, this complete absorbtion - similar in ways to meditation. Music is so multi-faceted and it continues to draw me in.