I started learning to play piano when I was about 5 years old. It was never something I originally wanted to do, but my Aunt was a piano teacher and so it was sort of expected that I should learn as I wouldn’t have to pay for lessons.
My parents had bought and upright piano for me to practice on. I didn’t find learning too bad, but I was only learning simple pieces to play when I started. As I got older, it became more difficult. I had to learn a lot of the theory and how to read music. Also the pieces I had to learn were getting harder. It became a bit of a struggle for me and I guess I felt it was too much like work. I was reluctant to practice after working at school during the day. I just wanted to be out playing with my friends.
For practice, my parents bought me a second hand upright piano. As I started learning I came to really love my piano. The early stages of my learning were not too bad and I enjoyed it. At that stage I was only learning simple pieces to play. But as I progressed it became more difficult, with a lot of theory to learn. The pieces I was learning also became more complicated. Suddenly it started to seem like a lot of work. Gradually I became less inclined to practice as, after working at school all day, I just wanted to be playing outside with my friends.
Even though my enthusiasm was failing and I wasn’t working so hard at learning piano, I did manage to achieve some grades in piano exams. To take the grade exams, I had to travel to the Royal Academy of Music in London. I think I managed to get to grade four.
As part of my piano education, my Aunt organised a concert each year so that all of her pupils could perform in public. She believed that if you learn to play piano, or any instrument, then you should be capable of performing to an audience, and this annual concert gave us all that experience. She had a lot of help putting on these concerts and all the proceeds were given to charity.
My Aunt would hire two Steinway Grand pianos for the concerts, which were held in the local church hall. One of the pupils parents supplied flowers that were displayed at the sides of the stage, and I can remember the smell of that old hall with its wooden floors and the lovely smell of the flowers.
My first appearance in a concert was at the age of about 5 or 6. I played a very simple piece which mimicked the bells of Big Ben followed by it’s chimes. It was a frightening experience for me to wander out onto that stage in front of all those people, but somehow I managed to pull it off. The relief when it was over was euphoric.
My performance nerves never left me. As I got older, the pieces I had to play were becoming more difficult and so the risk of making a mistake grew. In spite of this, I managed to complete my performances without any major disasters and I was often complimented on my playing. I even once made it into the local paper along with other pupils. My one claim to fame! Looking back now it just seems amazing to me that every year, for several years, I played in front of the public on a Steinway Concert Grand piano!
What I always looked forward to after the stresses of playing in front of the public was the after concert party that was held at my Aunts house. All the pupils and their families would go, as well as some key people involved in organising the concert.
As well as the annual concert, many of my Aunts pupils were put forward to perform at musical competitions. I played at some and have a few certificates for my efforts, but no first prize!
My learning continued until I was about 14. I decided that I couldn’t continue with the piano as the pressures of school and exams was getting too much for me.
As I have got older I’ve begun to realise how lucky I was to have played the piano. I have a life long love of the piano and now that I have more time, I am going back to it, but in a much more casual and relaxed way. To get me playing again I bought a training course called Piano For All and this is really helping me to get playing quickly. I’ve put a review on the internet so anyone interested to learn piano can read about it and decide if it might be for them. If you would like to see the review you can access it here: