Sixty Years of Piano

[Geoff Grace]

Sixty years ago today, on December 7th, 1965, I had my first piano lesson.

It was the root of a lifelong adventure and joyous career as a professional musician. Music is so interwoven into the fabric of my existence that I can't imagine my life without it.

I wouldn't have discovered and joined this forum without that event long ago. It's a great pleasure to share the love of music with all of you.

Best,

Geoff


P.S. In case anyone wonders how I can remember the date, my first piano lesson happened on Pearl Harbor Day, which helped cement the date in my mind.

[Lawrence]

That’s a nice anniversary, Geoff. Thanks for sharing it.

[Ashermusic]

Congrats Geoff. I took my first piano lesson in 1955 but I sure as hell don't remember the date, so I am impressed that you do,

[Lawrence]

‘58 here. Man, I should be SO much better.

[Guy Rowland]

Fantastic, Geoff.

I don't have amazing memories of my piano lessons. I'm pretty sure I started only because I wanted to play the synth better.

That was a warning right there.

I do wonder if I'd put in the 10,000 hours if I'd have got great. I was always atrocious at sight reading, it became more and more painfully obvious on each exam.

The problem with the 10,000 hours is - you have to really love something or be so motivated by something in order to do it. Playing the piano never lit that fire in me I guess, I was always more of a tech-head.

Do you reckon you've hit the magic 10,000, Geoff?

[Geoff Grace]

That’s a nice anniversary, Geoff. Thanks for sharing it.

Congrats Geoff. I took my first piano lesson in 1955 but I sure as hell don't remember the date, so I am impressed that you do,

‘58 here. Man, I should be SO much better.

Those are impressive lengths of time, Larry and Jay. We've all been at it for awhile, haven't we?

As I mentioned in my postscript above, the fact that my first piano lesson was on the 24th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor helped cement the date in my mind. For a frame of reference, the 24th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center happened a few months ago…

Fantastic, Geoff.

I don't have amazing memories of my piano lessons. I'm pretty sure I started only because I wanted to play the synth better.

That was a warning right there.

That’s one difference between the time period you began and the one I started in, Guy. I’m not sure that I even knew what a synth was in 1965. The keyboard choices back then were essentially piano or organ.

I do wonder if I'd put in the 10,000 hours if I'd have got great. I was always atrocious at sight reading, it became more and more painfully obvious on each exam.

The problem with the 10,000 hours is - you have to really love something or be so motivated by something in order to do it. Playing the piano never lit that fire in me I guess, I was always more of a tech-head.

Do you reckon you've hit the magic 10,000, Geoff?

I don’t know; it’s possible. I certainly practiced a lot while I was in school and then gigged five sets per night, five nights per week for over a decade, while writing songs during the day. Later on, I became more of an arranger, programmer, and composer than a player, and I've certainly become something of a tech-head myself; but I still like to sit down and play the piano for fun.

Best,

Geoff

[Guy Rowland]

That’s one difference between the time period you began and the one I started in, Guy. I’m not sure that I even knew what a synth was in 1965.

Yes, very much an 80s child. My school had a kit built synth, the Powertran Transcendent 2000, that no-one knew how to use but it had those overlays with markers that functioned as lo-tech presets. Monophonic, no velocity sensitivity but I did eventually understand basic synthesis and was able to teach the teachers a few things.

I also taught myself guitar and bass, good enough to play in a mediocre band - but I do have a very idiosyncratic way of playing for better or worse.

I would like to be able to play piano better, but in the same way that I would like to draw properly. I seem to lack a natural gift for either and don't want it nearly enough to put in the tedious graft. I can get ideas into Cubase and tidy up, that fulfils by original goal I guess.

[Piet De Ridder]

I never had any piano lessons. We had a piano though — a beautiful and wonderful sounding upright Schimmel — because my older sister and brother had lessons. (My sister especially had, and still has, all the qualities that make a fine piano player.) They played Czerny excercises, Kuhlau sonatinas, some Bach (the Inventions) — I still love all those pieces — while my first years at the instrument made family members suddenly remember errands that had to be done, or find other excuses to go out.

__

[Geoff Grace]

while my first years at the instrument made family members suddenly remember errands that had to be done, or find other excuses to go out.

You clearly advanced quite well since those days, Piet. I've enjoyed what I've heard of your playing.

Speaking of driving family members away, I also used to play drums in my teens. I was first chair in band and therefore the section leader, so it was my responsibility to gather the drum section at my house daily during the week before school began to rehearse our drum cadences. My family had bravely put up with my own practicing and rock band rehearsals in our living room, but a half dozen drummers all playing at once was a bridge too far. I was told that the floor was shaking upstairs while we played. It didn't take long for everyone to save themselves and flee the house during our practice sessions the rest of that week.

I was very lucky to have patient parents!

Best,

Geoff