The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
Notes from a Teacher’s Diary (con’t)…
I want to share my favorite memory: A. had learned “Fog at Sea,” played entirely with the sustaining pedal held down, and one day she was letting the sound last a very long time while still holding the pedal, and finally she said, “My toe nails are poking holes in my sox.”
R., referring to Easter stickers still out (to choose from) after Easter: “They’re so dull.”
Her sister, E., regarding “No. 24” in a red book, said, “it is dreary.” In second grade, 1981, when I introduced “Turkey in the Straw” as one of her new assignments, she said it sounded like “A Silly Little Chicken,” which I asked her about, and she sang these words, to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw:”
I had a silly chicken, that didn’t lay an egg.
So I poured hot water up and down his leg.
He giggled and he giggled and he giggled all the day.
My silly little chicken laid a boiled egg.
Two sisters, D. and A., came for lessons for about 18 months, and always had to practice at their grandfather’s house because, they said, “We can’t have a piano in our house because the floor would fall in.”
One day D. told me that “# means to higher the note.” She was correct, and she was original in her description of a sharp!
J. often talked about her father and the things they did together during the two-plus years she came for lessons. She often drove the farm truck while he fed the cattle, after school. Her father tragically died one day when his car collided with another and caught fire. She missed one week of lessons and after that someone from her family continued to bring her every week. But she never mentioned her father or his death or the accident again. She said, about her practicing, “I’d rather practice than do housework.” (Her mom’s practice-incentive plan?) She also observed, during a lesson, “All the C’s rhyme.” That’s a creative and basic way to describe the sound of C’s playing simultaneously!
A. was learning a simplified version of “Silent Night” in her third month of lessons, and when I introduced it, she said, “I can’t do it.” Her mom told me a few days later that A. had learned and memorized it, and played it for her minister. This accomplishment may have been partly because of a strong rivalry between her and another beautiful little girl (initial B) – her best friend – who was also a piano student. Their moms took turns driving them to their lessons together. Each girl tried to be ahead of the other in her piano lesson work. One day, B. stopped in the middle of her piece, and A. said to her: “It’s not wrong… it’s just your conscience.”
I noticed a rivalry between them having to do with friends, also; this seems to be typical little girl behavior which eventually goes away. It happened to me, too!
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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