![]() Playing it for my teacher at my next lesson (I’d learnt about a third of it by then), I was doing fine until I reached the beautiful, lyrical section before the restatement of the opening theme. I started learning the G minor Ballade that same afternoon…. When she suggested I learn one of the Ballades or Scherzi, I knew she had not suggested it just to please me: she knew I could cope with it. My current teacher is the most patient, skilled and supportive teacher I have ever had, and with her encouragement, I have overcome both my shyness about playing for others, and my inability to trust my musical self and tackle advanced repertoire. I was working entirely alone, with no one to critique my playing or reassure me I was “doing it right”. A brief, but unsettling experience with a less than savoury piano teacher in 2007 had not helped, plus I was getting no support from anyone, least of all my family, about my music. When I first started taking lessons again as an adult, nearly three years ago, my confidence and self-esteem were pretty low. Now, would all professional pianists, and those amateurs who have mastered such big, virtuoso works, please stand aside for a moment, and allow me to explain. I knew exactly what she meant: I had a similar experience when I started learning Chopin’s First Ballade last summer. So, somewhat in awe of the music, she was finding it hard to focus on her practising. “I can’t believe I’m actually learning music by Bach!” “So, what’s the problem?” I asked when she had finished. She played it perfectly well, a little hesitant in places, but she made a good attempt at the mordents and other ornamentation, and was clearly thinking about how to shape the music. Focussed and articulate about what she wants from her lessons, it surprised me when, at her lesson yesterday, she admitted she was having serious problems with the Bach/Petzold Minuet in G minor (ABRSM Grade 2/List A). She’s worked really hard, and is playing far, far better than she was a year ago. Spurred on by her success, she decided to study for Grade 2 and will take the exam in July. She took Grade 1 last Spring and passed with a Merit. Sarah is a very confident woman in her mid-40s, who runs her own business, and who started having lessons with me, as a complete beginner, three years ago. A conversation with one of my adults students this week prompted this post.
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