Sunday, June 03, 2007

Oh, weekend, I hardly knew ye!

Rather than a spurt-by-spurt description of the entire weekend's debauchery, let's just jump to the last and most wholesome part of the weekend, Daisy's piano recital.

First some background on me (Me me me me me! It's like this whole freakin' blog is about me!). I am a music idiot. I can't play an instrument. I can't keep a beat or a tune. I like barbershop quartets. So, when someone who shares DNA with me actually learns to play an instrument, I am impressed. I generally make perceptive comments like "Daisy! You done pressed the piano good!"

Hank usually pulls me aside later and explains that the tempo was off and the measure was uh... mismeasured? Ok, I don't actually understand Hank's critiques of Daisy's playing, but I nod knowingly when Hank talks just like I nod appreciatively when Daisy plays.

Anyway, so we went to the recital today. Since I couldn't see Daisy's face from where I was sitting while she performed, I decided to take the opportunity to scrutinize her piano teacher's face. These recitals take place in the teacher's living room and are very low-key and low-pressure events. The teacher sits behind the kids, prepared to offer assistance and to remind them to bow to the audience.

As Daisy played her piece, I watched her teacher's expression to see if Daisy was indeed screwing up. Sure enough! A tiny grimace here. Some surprised blinking there. The mistakes that were invisible to my ears, were much easier to detect on her piano teacher's face. (Note to self: invite piano teacher to next poker night).

It all sounded good to me. Mostly I was just happy that I didn't show up in a cape.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm also practically tone deaf, and my kids soon learned to never ask me to judge their musical efforts. It all either sounded fantastic or terrible - neither of which helped them improve.

Mike said...

Kat, agreed. I can help her with her math homework or to run a 5K. If she needs help with something artistic, she can talk to the OTHER half of her family.