A year ago, Kai performed his first piano recital. Ahead of the big event, my wife and I were very nervous. Not so much about how well Kai would play, but whether he would be able to play at all. We were stressed over whether he would get irritated about something and have some type of public meltdown.
As it turned out, he did not have any issues, and ended up playing beautifully, too.
I suppose it is a sign of progress that this year we were far less concerned about the potential for any behavior issues.
However we were concerned about the quality of his play.
He would perform two songs this year. And in the days leading up to the recital, Kai could not seem to get either one right. He has been more silly and hyper than usual recently, something his school noticed as well, and his piano practices suffered from his lack of seriousness and concentration.
At the recital, he made a mistake right at the outset. But he knew to keep going. He made a few more errors. It wasn’t his best performance. But he played better on his second song than on his first. He was one of the few students who remembered to take a bow at the end. All in all, it was not too bad.
Though it’s not always top-of-mind with us, the reality is that Kai has raised the bar with us, not just in his piano skills, but in his ability to cope and get through life.
And when I see it like that, this performance, though flawed, was a triumph nonetheless.
Good job, Kai.
Good job Kai! I hope he continues playing. Besides the discipline he is learning now being able to help with everything in the future. Once he gets to the intermdiate level, he will be able to transpose music heard from other instruments and play it on the piano. He will really love playing for the rest of his life.
ReplyDeleteHe has a ways to go before he gets to that level. But I do hope he reaches the point where he really enjoys playing.
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