Noah's Piano Recital

At the beginning of the summer, I decided to start Noah in piano lessons with my friend at church, Brianna, who has her Masters in conducting and an undergraduate degree in vocal performance. She is multi-talented and laid back, so I thought she'd be a great first music teacher for Noah. We continued lessons as school started, and Noah began to experiment on the piano, picking out tunes that he loves. I was amazed when he taught himself the opening measures of the tune from The Polar Express without even listening to it. Bri was great because she encouraged him to continue learning it, and even added it to his recital repertoire.

Sunday was his first piano recital, and it was nice to see lots of familiar faces in the audience!

Alex, Noah and Levi

The musicians wait in the wings

The program--brave boy went first!

Okay, let's state the obvious. He screwed up. I was dying inside because he plays "Jingle Bells" at lightning speed and perfectly at home, and as often happens, it fell apart in his recital. As a (past) performer, I can attribute this to a few things: some under-preparedness on his part; nerves; starting at perhaps a speed at which he didn't practice; and, maybe, a little too much Mom intervention. See, I noticed he was adding a note to go along with the words he knows, so I was trying to get him to correct it... a day before his recital. Bad move. So I just crumpled when he started off by second-guessing himself and continuing to glance at me to see if he was playing the right notes, when he obviously can hear it and correct it himself. Ugh! This is going to be tough for me--being a "music mom" is possibly worse than the infamous "soccer mom." #helicopterparent

Yeah, yeah, this was his first recital and hey, he did great. No big deal. Actually, I see a lot of positives here: notice the utter lack of visible nervousness? He's not shaking, not rushing, not sweating... amazing! If he can keep that up, he'll have a lot of success. Also, he is unfazed by the crowd. I mean, who plays their first recital while staring at the audience? And when he messes up, he figures it out unapologetically. No tears, no blushing, no hurry. Just, "Hey Mom, is this right? That sound better to you?" It's like he's in his own house practicing. Okay, maybe I'm a bit envious.

So all in all, I'd call this a big success. I'm hoping one day he'll be charming crowds and impressing his friends with his musical prowess, and we'll bring out this video as a reminder of his humble beginnings. After all, he's only seven! 

Proud of this talented guy!

Noah and Mrs. Bri