Like many others, as a child I learned to play piano, but I didn’t learn to sight read.
Lately when I took up playing again, the very first thing I did was to teach myself to read music by sight. I didn’t even bother with a teacher. I got a book, a digital piano, and played after my kids were asleep. 14 months in, a musical friend of mine was visiting. I still wasn’t sure if it was worth having lessons. I’d heard of a good teacher but they lived on the other side of town.
Now, if you know me, you’ll know that was pretty much the nail in the coffin. But my friend advised me to go if I had access to a teacher like that.
When I finally went for my first lesson, the feeling afterwards was literally, euphoric. I had this buzz which lasted all the way home. I realised it was a feeling I’d not experienced in years. The teacher wasn’t just great, they were incredible.
It was inspiring, I literally could feel it in my veins.
Afterwards, a man of few words, he asked, ‘How did you learn to play like that’ I went into a long explanation about the book and so on, until I realised he was looking at me blankly.
AND… ?
He said my sight-reading is absolutely incredible!
The thing which I hated, was the bane of my life, has become the entryway into a beautiful new, limitless world.
How often do we bet on ourselves, knowing or even expecting, that we might fail?
How often do we experience learning something completely new over the age of 40?
Give something new a try, even if you might fail. You may also, succeed very well and find new joy. 💖
