The Daily Write
My Dear Piano Teacher, May Your Life Turn Into Music
You must aim to play skillfully, yes, but not robotically
June 2, 2022: Who was your favorite teacher or mentor growing up, and why?
Tessa, you are not a Mozart interpreter. He’s ‘too playful’ for you.”
“Your approach needs to express suppressed emotions, and not all of them will be joyful,” — professed Leopold, my piano teacher, as we selected a piece for my final exam in front of the music tribunal.
As usual, he could read the puzzled and disappointed look on my face, which must have said, ‘Who doesn’t want to play Mozart?’
After reading my subsequent facial expressions, he told me that I possessed too much emotional and passionate energy to play only ‘joyfully’ pieces.
He continued: “You must aim to play skillfully, yes, but not robotically. You are meant to play from your ‘gut’ and express a composer’s despair.”
“Let’s try ‘Les Adieux’ or these“Variations by Brahms,” he added after enduring another flurry of my wordless facial grimaces.
I attended the Music School five days a week from my 9th to 18th years of age. After seven hours of classes in High School and with lunch still rumbling in my stomach, I yearned to open my music books and disappear into music theory, music history, composition, and, my favorite, my piano lessons.
Leopold’s advice still resonates with me, “Tessa, learn the music sheet, then forget about the notes and play with your passion and emotions, not your brain!”
During these eight years of my life, I used my music lessons and that classroom as a safe place away from my family environment. Leopold knew it, and he welcomed me without ever saying a word.
His teachings echo in my head throughout the past 30 years:
“Don’t judge a music composition by its first chords. They may seem soft and timid at the beginning, but they may turn into a big ball of fire once you continue interpreting them — pretty much like you, Miss ‘Young Volcano’. Life takes time to unfold.
Thank you, Leopoldo, for being able to see my soul through my young fingers gliding over a piano keyboard.
Wherever you are now, I send you my eternal gratitude for all the lessons learned from you about music, passion, and mastering an art through the slow pace of continuous practice.
Key messages:
Teachers can play a crucial role in defining our life’s journey, not necessarily because of their teaching content, but because they can assess our potential and encourage our immature next steps.
There are times in which teachers may become lifesavers. That was my case.
And that’s one of the reasons I chose to become a teacher.
