Skip to main content

Piano Teacher

I was about 12 years old when my parents bought a piano. It was an old extra tall upright and I could not have been happier. During my elementary school years I would sit and listen to the pianists play during the talent shows, wishing I could do that too.  Shortly after making the piano purchase my mom began taking piano lessons from a friend, Loris Hayes. Loris also was the accompanist to a women's quartet that my mom sang with. The only time my mom could find time to practice was after we children had gone to bed;I would hear her practice and wanted to learn as well. 

I had been babysitting for a few families for a couple of years by then. I can't imagine hiring a ten year old to babysit, but I guess I was mature and responsible for my age. Or the neighbors were hard up for cheap labor. I choose to believe the first explanation.  I decided that I would use my hard earned $1.00 an hour wage to pay for myself to take piano lessons. Money was tight while I was growing up and if I wanted lessons I knew I would have to pay for them. 

Because my mom was already taking lessons, my lessons cost $4.00/half hour. This was a dollar discount for a second family member taking from Sister Hayes. For every four hours of babysitting I was able to procure the necessary payment. I went every week for 3-4 school years. Loris was kind and undemanding. I used the same piano books that my mom used. I didn't learn the names of the notes right away, I just memorized where the note was in the staff in relationship to the keyboard without knowing their names. When Loris figured this out she began using flash cards to quiz me and taught me the traditional "Every Good Boy Does Fine," and All Cows Eat Grass" statements for the spaces and lines of the treble clef. She didn't teach me very much theory, she knew it for sure. Nor did she require memorization. I don't blame her, but I wish I were better at both. She did gently teach me to play. I will forever be grateful to her for this. 

I am not very good now, but I can play a melody when I need to learn a singing part and play most of the Hymns with a bit of practice now. I enjoy sitting at the piano and playing from time to time and wish I would make more time to do it. I have never had a piano playing calling, but I have filled in at church from time to time in Relief Society or Primary and have accompanied my mom and sisters on occasion.

In addition to being a kind piano teacher, Loris was one of mine and my mom's favorite accompanists. She was a skilled player and could sight read almost anything you put in front of her. She also listened to us and followed us perfectly. I loved singing when she was at the piano. She played the piano for a women's chorus, The Musettes, in Springville for many years. I recently learned that she played the organ in her LDS ward for 50 years. 

Three weeks ago my mom called to tell me this fact that was previously unknown to me, and to also tell me that her eyesight has been failing for some time and that she had just asked to be released from that calling. I am sure it was with a somewhat heavy heart that she did. Piano and organ playing is in her blood and it shows. She no doubt blessed the lives of hundreds of people throughout her years of playing. She certainly blessed mine. My heart is full of gratitude to her now as I am writing this. I hope she knows this. I hope she finds joy in her musical memories and can continue to play in her home. She is aging and will some day return to the One who gave her this gift. I am sure the angels will welcome her and be the new beneficiaries of her ability. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sweet Sarah

My baby has the first birthday of the year. She turned the lucky number 7 on April 3. She could not have been more excited! We celebrated with a rainy BBQ and ice cream pie with family along with games with more ice cream pie with her friends. She recently learned how to ride a two wheeled bike without training wheels and her birthday wish was for a new helmet which Kevin and Christine delivered. She is still easy to please and we had fun parties with her. I am so grateful that she is a part of my life. She has taught me more about expressing love than anyone else. I am the Primary chorister and I have been observing the children lately, especially the younger ones. They are able to express their love freely; they give hugs and smiles to their teachers and anyone else who makes them happy. They sit on their laps and expect to be loved back. The older they get the less easy it is for them to express love. Sarah is not the youngest in Primary any more, but she is sti...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Mom, Remember You Have 5 Kids Too"

Yesterday I was sustained to an additional calling, not a replacement. One of my friends, Corrine Prestwich was sitting in front of me and turned around and said,"So, I guess they saw five minutes left in your schedule and decided to fill it up." She knows of about my various hats I'll be wearing for the next year or more. I hadn't actually heard what she said so I just smiled and nodded, but Destry did and mentioned it when we got home. I had a good laugh mostly because she is one of the most busy, involved people I know.  Emma was sitting there listening to the conversation and piped in with, "Mom remember you have 5 kids too."  The kids had not known about the new calling, so hearing my name come across the pulpit was a surprise to them. They wanted to know if I was going to be released from Primary. I think my Primary girls like having me there. I said that I wasn't.  I have been thinking about her comment from the moment she said it, including a...
Post a Comment
Read more

My First Born

Fifteen years and two days ago I became a mother.  I could say so much about this child, but I will share the beginning of his life on this earth.  My pregnancy went well, I gained a lot of weight even though I threw up a lot.  I was tired and hot and very uncomfortable for the last six weeks and my labor was 24 hours long.  There have been so many ups and downs since then.   I was 28 years old when I got married.  I knew I wanted a family and I knew that was a later start than for most Mormon women and I didn't know how easy it would be for me to get pregnant, so we decided not to wait.  Three months after we were married we were expecting our first child, Spencer.  I remember the day I found out.  We went to the temple that day and I had been feeling very dizzy off and on (a symptom I learned to recognize for future pregnancies).  I had a feeling in the temple that I was pregnant and I knew that was the reason I had been dizzy and no...
Post a Comment
Read more