Thursday, January 16, 2014

A Timeless Gift

Kristy here. I want to tell everyone about my latest and newest job. Small it may be, but it's not the quantity but the quality. First let me just talk about my expereince in college as a student and how I decided this was what I wanted to do. Teach piano. Sounds easy doesn't it? You play it, you can teach right? Well, it's a little more complicated than that. Just like some people say "I like music, so I'll just become a music major." Good luck! Wait until Theory III comes around and you're beating you're head against the $100 theory book. Anyway, my dream had always been to write music. I realize that sounds a little vague but my intentions were "If I ever want to write music, I need to understand it more".  I didn't realize how little I knew, how ineppt I was, how illequipped and unprepared I was for the next 3 1/2 years of studying and being taught all over again to play this instrument called the piano. 

Just for some background on the situation, I never tooks lessons when I was younger. I began becoming interested in playing the piano as I watched my mom play growing up. It wasn't until I was around 12 years old my oldest brother dared me to play "It is well with my soul" and he would give me $1. Okay, it wasn't for $1, it was because he didn't think I could do it! So long story short,  I was mostly self taught. My mom did help, but I learned to read music and play by ear for the most part on my own. Needless to say, it was quite different taking private lessons at a college level. I was in over my head. But you'll be glad to hear I made it through college as a music major. I learned much, but not all. And I have not given up that dream to write music. 

 I did realize that God had given me something and not passing it down to someone else would be a shame. In fact, after learning so much as a student and learning to appreciate the teachers that invested so much in me, I figured out that I wanted to do the same thing.  Teach. I graduated with a Bachelors in Music Ministry and I was thankful to receive a teaching certification from Crown Music Conservatory. And just this past semester, I was given the opportunity to teach for them. I was so excited! What an honor! And what a privilege! I have four whopping students! Sure, it's not much but it was a start.

Obviously, I've only been at this a short time and I am STILL learning, but this opportunity has been a joy. It is challenging. It is rewarding. It is stressful at times. It is also a lot of fun! I hope to be a help and an encouragement to my students. "My students". It's not a prideful thing, but to say those words made me feel...just so teacher-ish. It's a good feeling. I'm looking forward to teaching more as I get more expereience. The most wonderful thing about it is that it's a timeless gift. You teach someone to play piano and the goal would be so they can use it for the rest of their life, even when their 80 years old. And that brings me to "the name" of my studio....in the works.

~Timeless Harmony~

You may think it sounds cheesy but it was the name of my demo studio for a class I took in college and I guess it just kind of stuck.