I have always wanted to play piano well, but I hated practicing. My mother was a pianist when she was my age, so she made me start to learn piano at the age of four. At that time, almost every children learned piano or at least some kind of musical instrument, so learning piano was not that special, but the age of 4 was still a young age. My mother was so passionate that she even bought me a piano, which was too big for my house that it almost took up the half of the space of the living room. Whenever my family members moved in our house, piano was on our way.
When I became 9 years old, I stopped learning piano in the academy, because my mother hired a piano tutor who taught me piano one by one. She was quite young, was in her mid or late 20s, and had long black hair. Thinking back, maybe she was a college student. She was pretty and nice, but not very good with the kids. I didn't like her, but didn't hate her, either.
The problem was that, the new teacher made me practice piano five times more than previous. Before, I usually practiced a single song for about ten times. When we practice, we had to color the apples that teacher drew. The new tutor drew flowers for the practice. I had to color 5 flower leaves to finish a single flower, and there were flowers as the number of the apples.
One day, I was really in a bad mood. I asked mom to change the lesson schedule, but the teacher said no, since I had changed the time so many times before. The teacher came in, and suddenly, I became really sorrowful. Just before the teacher took off her shoes, I started crying.
"I really hate piano!!!"
I still remember the face of my teacher. A young college student, probably had never seen a kid crying before, didn't know what to do, almost in panic. My teacher went in to the kitchen with my mother, talked for a few minutes, and came into my room with me.
"Do Yun, do you really hate piano?"
She started to explain why she became a piano teacher, and why music is important in my life. I was listening, but couldn't remember what she said. Actually, I was hearing her voice, but not concentrating in what she was taking. I was concentrating on her face, which seemed so beautiful to me. It was about 5 pm, I remember, so sunlight came in to my room through window. My teacher was stoking her hair, looking at me in the eyes. She was like an elf in the woods.
Since then, I have rather positive feeling toward piano, other musical instruments, and music in general. Even now, when I listen to piano music, I recall my teacher.
My name is Kim HeeSun.
ReplyDeletea. The scene where you described how your piano teacher looked like in the sunlight made this experience seem real.
b. I didn't get confused while reading.
c. I think you could start with a better introduction.
d. The basic verb of this writing is past tense. Past tense is appropriate because she is talking about her childhood experience.
e. If you revise this writing, I think it would be nice to express how the teacher's face looked like when you were crying
I'm Yoo Jin Jeong
ReplyDeletea. Definitely the piano teacher and sunlight scene, but also that tiny detail about how the piano got in your family's way every time you moved.
b. There were no confusions.
c. It's okay, but maybe a more interesting first sentence. Something unusual. I think almost everyone who plays musical instruments hate practicing (I know I do)
d. The basic verb tense is past tense, and there are a few shifts to present tense where appropriate (like changing from a child's perspective to an adult's).
e. What exactly is the connection between how the teacher looked while explaining and your sudden positive feelings towards the piano?
What musical instrument do you play? For me, I cannot play any. Then do I hate musical instrument? My answer is no. I have always wanted to play piano well, but I just hated practicing. My mother was a pianist when she was my age, so she made me start to learn piano at the age of four. At that time, almost every children learned piano or at least some kind of musical instrument, so learning piano was not that special, but the age of 4 was still a young age. My mother was so passionate that she even bought me a piano, which was too big for my house that it almost took up the half of the space of the living room. Whenever my family members moved in our house, piano was on our way.
ReplyDeleteWhen I became 9 years old, I stopped learning piano in the academy, because my mother hired a piano tutor who taught me piano one by one. She was quite young, was in her mid or late 20s, and had long black hair. Thinking back, maybe she was a college student. She was pretty and nice, but not very good with the kids. I didn't like her, but didn't hate her, either.
The problem was that, the new teacher made me practice piano fivefold more than previous. Before, I usually practiced a single song for about ten times. I had to color apples that teacher drew each time I play a song. But the new tutor drew flowers with five petals for the practice! I had to color 5 flower leaves to finish a single flower, and there were the same number of flowers as the number of the apples.
One day, I was really in a bad mood. I asked mom to change the lesson schedule, but the teacher said no, since I had changed the time so many times before. The teacher came in, and suddenly, I became really sorrowful. Just before the teacher took off her shoes, I started crying.
"I really hate piano!!!"
I still remember the face of my teacher. A young college student, probably had never seen a kid crying before, didn't know what to do, almost in panic. Her eyes were moving really fast and she was standing still with only one shoe on her right feet. My mother then asked my teacher to come in to the kitchen with her, talked for a few minutes, and came into my room with me.
"Do Yun, do you really hate piano?"
She started to explain why she became a piano teacher and why music is important in my life. I was listening, but couldn't remember what she said. Actually, I was hearing her voice, but not concentrating in what she was talking about. I was concentrating on her face, which seemed so beautiful to me. It was about 5 pm, I remember, so sunlight came in to my room through window. My teacher was stoking her hair, looking at me in the eyes. She was like an elf in the woods.
Since then, I have rather positive feeling toward piano, other musical instruments, and music in general. That event made me to want to learn music again, so I started clarinet and flute when I was in high school, and am learning guitar now. Now, I even listen to piano music, which I used to hate so much when I was young. I sometimes recall my teacher, so beautiful and nice that even made my most hated to something favorable. .