Piano ♫ ♪

 Yep, I wish I could play saxophone. And drums. And the guitar. But hey.....the piano is right there, and I'm actually rather good at it.

 I've been playing the piano for years, my first teachers being Mr. Song(wow, was that really his name?!) and Dan Egan, a.k.a Dan the Man, whose catchphrase was "SWEET!" and who taught me an 8-page song by my ear and his remembering it. I wasn't even a preteen yet, but away I went.
 That song is forgotten now, and I have a new piano teacher, Barb Krueger, who is quite agreeable and nice. So on I go learning the classics as well as showtunes (WIN) and old songs such as Night and Day, Embraceable You, and Summertime. I love those old songs, they're so simple and beautiful. Fun to play, too, and I get to swing some of them-and I'm a sucker for swinging things. It's just natural for me to learn something in a swing rhythm and then get told, "Rachel, this isn't actually supposed to be played in a swing rhythm."
Oops.
And all the learning of this jolly music brings me to one thing I absolutely LOATHE about piano-recitals. The bane of my existence. They're so formal-it just screams "DORKY!" right in my ear. I mean, dude! A few parents are dressing their kids up so they can play a modified version of the Sonata in C before a bunch of smiling grandparents?! CRINGE. 


But all in all, I adore the piano. I can pull off some pretty neat stuff and I have been known to sing while playing background, with songs like Razzle Dazzle, On the Street Where You Live, If I Had Words, Beauty and the Beast, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Memory, and My Heart Will Go On. Ah, lovely. Music is food to teenagers and grownups alike, and the piano is just plain fun. I laugh out loud sometimes just because I'm so happy I'm learning such a cool song so well. 


And come on........


Everyone likes a good showtune.