The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
My Piano Teaching Career
I did not have the confidence to teach piano lessons before I graduated from college, 1974. (Lack of confidence has been with me for much of my life). After studying music theory, harmony, counterpoint, music history, composition, organ and piano, and other related subjects at Mary Washington College, I finally believed that I was qualified to teach piano students. I have been able to answer any question about music that any students, adults or children, have ever asked me, and that’s been fun and rewarding. No degree will show you how to teach piano lessons, however. The schoolroom for learning how to teach piano is at your piano, teaching.
It was wonderful to study the pipe organ for a year at Mary Washington College; it’s rare to have the chance to play one here because most churches have electronic organs or keyboards, not pipe organs. I somewhat mastered the pedal board, which was hard at first, requiring reading three lines of music instead of two. At times, when learning the pipe organ, I felt stuck in place, with feet on pedal board, hands on keys, and the feeling, what do I do next? Playing with both hands and one or two feet required a lot of concentration. When I could get it all going together, there was a feeling of power, filling the empty auditorium with all that huge sound. The legato touch needed to play a pipe organ is the same as how any other organ or electronic keyboard is played; smoothness is all in the fingers and in the ears with no help from a sustaining pedal like we have on the piano.
A few piano students came to my home in Warrenton for the three years we were there after I graduated, before we moved to West Virginia. Dave made a one-word sign with beautiful lettering: KEYBOARD. We found the sign board in one of the outbuildings and it advertised rooms for rent, from the days before we owned the house
In our last few years in Warrenton, I was becoming active in outside music events and I taught the Girl Scout Musician’s Badge requirements. It was a delightful experience for me and for the six girls who participated. They came to my house six times, once a week, and we studied the musical forms by listening to records or tapes: a Mozart Sonata, a Beethoven Symphony, a String Quartet, and since an opera was required. I chose one in English that I knew they’d all like: Amahl and the Night Visitors. It tells the story of a little crippled boy who let the three kings into his house, on their way to Bethlehem, and who persuaded his mother to let him go with the kings.
The girls all had some tears while hearing this wonderful music, so I knew they were listening, were understanding, and were touched by it. Other music-related activities were required for their badge, and they enthusiastically carried these out, including some dancing, some performing of instruments they played, and writing reports about their instruments.
To be continued…
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee (1931 – 2024) built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
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