Collect

You never know when you might want to play Debussy

I collect sheet music. I have a license, so to speak, I teach piano. But still, there is more music on my shelves than I could ever teach. 

Peter, sixteen, came with his impish grin. Summer freedom was cracking open a discovery of classical music in his life. One week it was Chopin, the next Debussy. Piano study came late in his life. At fifteen his mother called to tell me about what her son was doing on the piano. Using U-Tube he was watching tutorials and learning music off the screen by rote. She thought he needed lessons. 

   Over the year I introduced him to the basics of note reading, rhythm, and fingering. He was patient but continued learning harder music, which he couldn't sight read, off the computer. Thank goodness for my music collection. He proudly took home the original version of Chopin's Nocturne in Eb and surprised me when he learned the first page and announced reading music was faster than rewinding the video on U-Tube over and over again. 

   Last Wednesday he came with a copy from the library of Arabesque by Debussy. The copy he acquired was too small and the editing, poor. I brought the sheet music from my shelves and he proceeded to tell me how Debussy made him feel. We talked about impressionism and how this movement in France affected art and music. In my humble opinion, he isn't ready to play this difficult music but, he will have a desire to try and oh, what he will learn.

  I am so glad to share my sheet music collection with him.

 I have been writing with the Five Minute Friday group for three years and I really enjoy the talented writers who share themselves each week.