Clara's obsession with the piano -- and her mispronunciation of the instrument -- has not faltered since we first moved into our house when she was two and a half, and she began plunking away at the upright piano that belonged to "Ma" as a child, and made its way to Scofield Drive when she was married and had her own clan of kids.
Clara stood right at the repairman's elbow as he tuned the piano, repaired broken keys and cleaned cobwebs out of its innards. Fascinated, she watched as he struck each key and she saw the corresponding hammer strike the strings inside. And as soon as she could reach her little toes to the pedals, she experimented with what kinds of sounds she could produce by pressing them.
Although Joey loves crazy dance parties and crazy dance moves, and Molly loves to belt out Sophia the First and Frozen lyrics, only Clara has shown a consistent interest in the beast in the living room, always stopping as she runs through the room to slide on the bench and pound out her own musical creations.
The time finally came last fall to enroll her in official "pian-yo" lessons. At five, she had to pass a test from her instructor to make sure she could read, wasn't too wiggly, and had the interest and desire to start this long journey. I knew she could read, and knew she had the interest and desire, but wasn't sure about the wiggly part. Amazingly, her instructor, Miss Bobby, signed her up on the spot, as one of her very youngest students.
With almost no wiggliness, and a lot of dedication for a little girl, Clara has now finished nine months of lessons, and had her first recital on Sunday, kicking off the recital as the first performer with two little ditties from her beginner piano book: "Belltower" and "Jack and Jill."
Miss Bobby told me that it takes a special combination of braveness and confidence to step up as the first person to take the stage, and we both agreed that Clara perfectly fit the bill... especially since we had to leave for an A's game right after her performance!
Her journey from a tireless plunker at two and a half to her brave recital at six has been truly awesome to witness. As a flunkee of the third grade recorder, completely unable to read notes on a page, or get my fingers to produce a single note, I'm amazed by how quickly Clara has picked up the "language" of music, and how easily she can will her fingers to create something beautiful.
She has a long way to go, but we couldn't be prouder of her first small steps on stage today!
1 comment:
Brava Clara Jane! Those were awesome videos. Very well done.
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