Relearning the Piano Again

Last night, I decided that it was time to start playing our new-to-us piano.  My spouse has done a good job of playing every day, but I haven't.  So I opened With One Voice hymnal to "Soon and Very Soon."  I worked my way through the right hand melody line, which is fairly easy.  Then I added the alto line to my right hand.

Then I decided to be very brave and added the left hand.  It was easier than I remember.  There I was, each hand playing 2 notes--not always the correct note, but I got the note more often than I didn't.  My spouse said, "I didn't realize you knew how to do that."  

I let him in on my secret.  When we got the electric keyboard in 2005, I chose that song as the one I would learn as I worked to remember what I had learned in childhood piano lessons.  So it's not like I just opened the hymnbook and everything flooded back from childhood.

I chose that song for a reason beyond that it's one of my favorites.  It's fairly easy with just a B flat.  I prefer songs with no flats or sharps, but this one isn't hard.  And at the time, I needed a song with lyrics that would uplift me.  Plus, I needed a song that I knew--it's hard to know if I'm playing the correct notes if I don't know the song.

Since we got the piano, many people have expressed surprise that I took piano lessons as a child.  In my family of origin and in my marriage, I'm seen as the non-musical one in families of vast musical prowess.  I confess that I don't often do much to counter those assumptions.  And compared to most members of my family, I do have the least musical skill and knowledge.  I forget that I have so much more musical skill and knowledge than so many humans do.

As I relearn the piano, relearning again, I'm surprised that I know/remember more than I thought.  I can't do a lot with key signatures and transposing songs, and that's O.K.  I can read music, which means I'm a lot further ahead than I would be otherwise.  I'm intrigued by how much comes back as I practice my rusty muscles, both the physical muscles of my hands, and the metaphorical muscles of my musical training.