Regret
I don’t usually spend much time on regret. I figure that I make decisions, good or bad (and I have made some BAD decisions in my life), based on so many factors—my age, my mood, my current stress level, my living situation, my hormonal state, etc.—that feeling badly about those decisions afterwards doesn’t make much sense to me. I’d end up spending so much time beating myself up that I wouldn’t be able to move on to the next big mistake.
Having said that, there is one thing that I do regret. I never learned to play an instrument. I wanted so badly to learn the piano, but my parents couldn’t afford one. Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided I didn’t want to learn any instrument if I couldn’t learn the piano. And so here I am, almost 35, and I have never played an instrument. It’s weird because music is so important to me. I couldn’t survive without constant access to whatever music I feel like listening to. I love to sing (not in front of other people – just to myself – and I heard many years ago that I’m actually pretty good at it). Yet I have no means of playing music except to sing. My dad once told me that he considers the fact that I don’t play an instrument one of the big failures of his parenthood (his 5th appendage is his guitar).
The thing about having this particular regret is that as long as I’m still alive, I have the potential to remedy this regretful situation. I actually do plan to take piano lessons some day. First we have to buy a bigger house and a gorgeous piano. Then my life needs to slow down. A lot. Hopefully I’m not old and arthritic before that happens. Maybe I can take piano lessons with my children someday.
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This post brought to you by the blog carnival started by Kate.
Having said that, there is one thing that I do regret. I never learned to play an instrument. I wanted so badly to learn the piano, but my parents couldn’t afford one. Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided I didn’t want to learn any instrument if I couldn’t learn the piano. And so here I am, almost 35, and I have never played an instrument. It’s weird because music is so important to me. I couldn’t survive without constant access to whatever music I feel like listening to. I love to sing (not in front of other people – just to myself – and I heard many years ago that I’m actually pretty good at it). Yet I have no means of playing music except to sing. My dad once told me that he considers the fact that I don’t play an instrument one of the big failures of his parenthood (his 5th appendage is his guitar).
The thing about having this particular regret is that as long as I’m still alive, I have the potential to remedy this regretful situation. I actually do plan to take piano lessons some day. First we have to buy a bigger house and a gorgeous piano. Then my life needs to slow down. A lot. Hopefully I’m not old and arthritic before that happens. Maybe I can take piano lessons with my children someday.
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This post brought to you by the blog carnival started by Kate.
Labels: life
posted by Beverly at 7:45 PM
7 Comments:
Interestingly, I did take piano lessons (though we never owned a piano) and French horn, and various keyboard-percussion (xylophone, marimba, etc)... not to mention years of chorus... and now I never use any of it. I like listening to music, but not with the intensity that I hear a lot of people express.
Thanks for playing!
I say, don't wait for the big house and the gorgeous piano. Get a petite full-size electric keyboard and start now! No regrets... ;)
ditto Fraught. I have a small keyboard (not the full 88, but enough octaves to practice with) and if you start there, by the time you get the big house with the special room dedicated to that shiny black baby grand, you'll be able to sit down and let fly with something danged impressive.
I took guitar lessons. I ended up a classical singer. Go figure. Instruments aren't for everyone.
I third the keyboard advice. I learned on one when I was younger. Eventually my mother inherited a piano that I played on but I always had a fondness for my little keyboard.
My mother was a trained concert pianist before she was 'Mom'. She taught me how to read music and we got through the basics in the old "First Grade" "Second Grade" piano primers they had in olden days. I always regretted not keeping it up. So this spring, partially in tribute to my late mom, I am taking up the piano again. You can learn a considerable amount of the basics now, without a full piano. Do not wait. Go and learn at a community college. Seriously. You will not have to regret it later, and you will find out if it suits you before you shell out for a piano.
I ditto all the above advice - you don't have to have a lot of room to have an electric piano - that's what all the kids learn on these days. If you were anywhere near me, I'd invite you over to poke on my Suzuki composer series and you would see what I mean. Barring that, go check out a piano store or music store and see for yourself!
I took piano lessons but I'm not that good at it. I do enjoy it, though. The only piano I have access to is the one at my parents house and it's really old and needs tuned.
You could pick yourself up an electric keyboard and stand on ebay and learn on that. You dont have to go for some huge monster piano.
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