Last night, my 13 year old son played Mozart Concerto in A Major K488, Mvt. 1. It was kind of like a dream come true for me. In fact, when he finished his cadenza and I completed the 2-3 concluding measures, I felt a little teary eyed. It was a huge accomplishment. His fingers flew on the scales. He ended his phrases beautifully. At one spot, he backed off so nicely that I looked up in pleasant surprise.
What did it take to get to this point? Several teachers. Though, it probably was only several because they all moved away from the area. Mika Inouye, Lindsay Richards, Martha Smith, and currently Diane Perett. We've been so lucky to have had such fine teachers.
Now you might say to me, "You're a teacher. Why didn't you teach him?" Of course, I went through that discussion with myself. When the older two boys were young, I tried to be their piano teacher. We accomplished some, but it was difficult. It was hard to be consistent and they didn't always want to listen to me. When we became a little more financially stable, the younger boys were able to take lessons from other teachers.
Here are some reasons why I'm glad I had other teachers:
1. I can say, "You teacher said to. . . ."
2. Other teachers had really great ideas. I could always practice with my sons at home, but the other teachers were initiating the ideas and requiring the practicing.
3. Actually, I have learned a lot from them too---new and better things I could do as a teacher
It was so interesting to see him come to enjoy this piece so much. He had been struggling a bit to find something he liked and wanted to work hard on. I was rather skeptical when his teacher gave him a concerto (maybe 20 pages long) to learn. But, he caught the bug and we outlined what he had to do each week to stay on schedule to perform it for the Concerto Festival that was held March 6-8, 2015. He did it!
