Sharing a Personal Goal

Sorry for the freaky mask BTW, LOL...not sure I want to show my true face on this blog yet.

When I was in third grade, our elementary school had music lessons for individual students.   I am not sure if this was required for all, or if parents got to choose to pay for them themselves.   Fortunately, although I in no way wanted to play an instrument unless it was a violin (in May Street school, I admired another first grader who played the violin), I was forced into this.  I think the flute was the cheapest one you could rent, and so that was the instrument picked for me.   I detested it:)  

In third grade, I had a music teacher that would stay with me most years including college.   Her name is Iva Milch .   Easily a teacher that I felt shaped me as a person, even if I did not make my musical goals.   Iva pushed later on in High School.   She made no bones about it if I did not practice.   She knew, and I knew she knew.   Best thing to do was to practice.   It's the part of music that I never got used to, as I had no patience.   Patience, I have learned in dog training, helps everyone and thing achieve goals and harmony.   It turns out, patience is the thing that lacked most in my cooking.  I wanted to go from A to Z right away.  

The things she taught me then that I sometimes ignored, make me understand myself better today.  Music and the flute ended up being a real gift.  In High School, it allowed me to escape from my family and awkward social life. 

Since I did not make it to the Boston Symphony myself, I got frustrated and stopped playing.  Once you stop, it's hard to start again, as you are so far behind.  That patience thing comes back into play, as you need to build your skills back up.  

For a period of time in High School, I was quite good.   I really needed to be at a more stable place in order to be as disciplined as needed.  I also did not have perfect pitch or a good ear, so lots and lots of work would have been needed.   I can play it seems somewhat naturally, but I am no savant.

What you hear above is probably not even at my third grade level !  But who cares, it's my starting point and I am just glad I remembered a few notes.

So my resolution this year is to start doing just that.   In this video I have skipped ahead a little, never fear, I will need to be practicing my scales ET as well.   Just thought I would start to see where I could bring this simple little piece.  Was surprisingly difficult just to stay on beat!