I took a piano lesson this morning. According to the dates on the journal I kept, my last lesson was on 5/3/2007, almost exactly four years ago. It’s been a busy time since then, but I’m home and on a more regular routine now, and plan to stick with it.

Some of Glenn’s friends were concerned recently that I wasn’t finding any time and activities for myself, and encouraged me to pursue what help the county could provide. A social worker’s coming in a couple of weeks for an evaluation, and one of the results should be enrolling Glenn in a program he can attend Tuesday and/or Thursday mornings, which should allow me to get away for lessons regularly.

I looked up a pianist I remembered from chamber music concerts in the area, and with the school year winding down, she was ready to take on new students. I’ve enjoyed both her playing and her energetic, upbeat personality, and hope we’ll be a good fit.

I worked up a bit of the material I’d learned back in ‘07 to play for her, and she thought I could go ahead and start the first Invention by Bach, the music I brought along in the “hope to play sometime” category. I think it should be a great tool to get the left hand working, to get more comfortable with reading the bass clef (a skill lacking from my guitar background), and, most interestingly, to start to know what the brain feels like when it’s running a melody in each hand simultaneously.

So, as I approach 40 at Summer’s end, I’m excited and looking forward to learning some of what Bach wrote for his kids to play when they were 4. 🙂

It feels good to be playing something again. Once I get the fingers moving and hit a first plateau of proficiency, I need to find someone on my own level to play some four-hand music with me. A combination of lessons to prepare for and friends to enjoy making music with should keep me on the wagon. Wish me luck!