Player Piano

In preparation for choir rehearsal this Wednesday, I spent several hours practicing the piano after church yesterday and during my lunch break today. I take back what I wrote earlier about not having played any pieces in time signatures more complicated than 5/2--I remember dealing with craziness like 9/6 and 7/4 and 10/8, among others. But it's not the time signatures themselves that are inherently tricky--it's switching back and forth among them that becomes complicated...which I re-discovered yesterday. Add to that triplets in the left hand and eighth notes in the right, and you have yourself a whole lotta mess. An intricate, beautiful mess, but a mess nonetheless. It's kind of like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach and stomp your feet at the same time, but harder.

Still, it was an amazing thing to feel my fingers regain their strength and muscle memory over the course of a few hours--I could almost feel new synapses forming as my brain began to recognize and remember rhythmic and melodic patterns. I think being away from the piano (and violin) for so long has given me much greater appreciation for playing than what I experienced in high school and college. There's so much more beauty and joy to be found in music, both technically and aesthetically, than I could have grasped at age six or sixteen or even twenty-one. That's what maturity and experience teaches you, I suppose.

Our choir director mentioned to me that I should think about playing a solo piece during the offertory or the call to prayer at the 8:15am service, and then I could possibly play at the larger 11am service if the 8:15am service goes well. Could be fun, could be cause for anxiety. We'll see.

Public pianos on the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver