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)…
One day while turning to the next page of her music, B asked, still watching the music, and still playing with the other hand, “Did you watch who shot JR?” (a big TV show story on Nov. 21, 1980). So where did that come from? From not concentrating on what she was doing! She also told me, sometime later, and I found it to be very touching, “We have a brand-new piano, from a going-out-of-business sale; my Daddy put his truck up for collateral.”
An adult friend, who came for lessons, soaked his hands in warm water before practicing because “It loosens up my fingers.” I’m sure it does!
One day I ate lunch in the studio, with garlic dressing on my salad, and later when one of the afternoon students arrived, she said, “It smells like Rudi’s in here” (an Italian restaurant in Lewisburg long before Pizza Hut arrived). Kids tell it like it is, don’t they!
I had a little class of four or five preschoolers for a while, and they came together from the day care center in Union. One day I asked them all, “What are notes?” T. offered: “It’s when you’re absent.” Another student from the day care group was J. I asked the whole group one day, “What do you see when you look at this? (and I pointed to Middle C, which was the first note we were learning). I expected somebody to say that it was “C”, but what J. said was, “I see my spirit.” Me: “What does it look like?” J: “All different colors.” Me: “Have you told your mother about this?” J: “No, I don’t want anybody to know that I see my spirit.” Kids’ spur-of-the-moment originality and imagination continually amaze me.
C. didn’t want to come into the studio on the day of her first lesson because it didn’t have any windows in front and she thought it would be dark and gloomy. But her Mom encouraged her to try it, and after the lesson C. said to me, “I liked my lesson and I liked your voice.” Kids are totally honest.
A young student’s response to playing C D E F G with the right hand, then trying it with the left hand: “I can’t play that one; I’m not left-handed.”
J., a talented boy of 12 or 13, asked me at his first lesson, “Can I pay you ahead of time? If I keep the money, I’ll spend it.” He paid for 10 lessons at a time, in advance. He must have been very careful with his money – mostly from babysitting for his sister – because he was able to buy a used piano which he paid for himself. When I met J., I immediately spotted a winner! I was very happy to play for his sister’s outdoor wedding, sometime later.
Another teenaged boy, T., who also took his piano study seriously, lost control of his vehicle and was killed. I was somewhat prepared when two of my severely handicapped students who I saw several times a week when I was the homebound teacher for Monroe County died, but it was a terrible shock to me when healthy and strong T. died suddenly at 17. I was honored to have known this wonderful boy.
To be continued…
***
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
Question of the Week