Day 4 of Thanksgiving
It all started years ago when I was very young. I can't remember my exact age but I was younger than five when I discovered classical music. My Grandma Larpenter, who was not a musician or cultured in classical music, bought an "album" featuring the New Orleans' Philharmonic Orchestra and a local choir in which some of her nieces were singing. I'm sure Grandma bought it just because her nieces were in it, but I discovered it on one of our trips to visit her. She had a cabinet record player and I remember getting her to play the record for me. It was "Handel's Messiah" and I fell in love with classical music. The seed was planted.
When I was almost 6 years of age, my parents bought an OLD piano from a man who was selling it off the back of his truck. Their intent was for my sister, nine years my senior, to learn to play hymns so that we wouldn't have to sing acapella at church. I'm not sure who they found to teach her, but she would go for her weekly lesson and come home and practice. After she finished practicing, I'd get her books and quickly learn to play the pieces she was working on. I'm sure most of my "reading" was playing by ear, but it was enough to gain the attention of my parents. At the age of 6, I was signed up for lessons with a music major at the local university. I can't remember the method that was used but it was horrible, and the teacher was not very reliable! I soon lost interest and stopped lessons for a few months until a more reliable teacher could be found.
My next teach was Mrs. Hankins, one of the second-grade-teachers at my elementary school. She had bright red hair (origins unknown) and long red fingernails. She lived on Second Street in Natchitoches and an old, old house. She was not very exciting as a teacher, and I often would daydream, looking out the window longingly for my mother to drive up. I'm not sure how long I took from her, but I must have learned something.
Mrs. Dot Robertson was the teacher who helped me the most before moving on to college. She, as far as I know, is still teaching and was so kind to me.
I continued taking piano lessons through college and into graduate school, and hope to resume once I've educated my girls.
I've been teaching piano lessons for close to 30 years and have enjoyed being able to pass along the gift God has given me to my students.
I'm so thankful that my parents persisted in finding me a teacher. I'm thankful for the sacrifice they made in order to pay for my lessons. I'm thankful that they never complained about my practicing even when I know I about drove them crazy with a few pieces I really enjoyed. They are my biggest fans, and I'll always be grateful to them for the part they played in my musical career.
God is so good!!!
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