Our daughter's solo performance & parenting reminder

We chose the Suzuki technique for teaching our kids to play the piano. This style is very different from the way my husband and I learned with an emphasis on learning to play by ear before learning to read music.  Students do learn to read music, but one of the goals is for them to be able to listen to a piece of music and then recreate the piece on the piano without needing the written score.  While my ability to sight read music has proved to be quite valuable at times, I have always wished I could play by ear.  I had assumed that was just an inborn talent, but when I discovered that it could be taught, I wanted to learn right along with my children.  Since the Suzuki method requires that a parent sit through every lesson with the student and teacher, I have been able to learn quite a bit about the method.

It usually takes two or three years to work through the first volume of the Suzuki book.  When a student has mastered every song in the book, he or she is then required to give a solo recital in which those pieces are all played from memory.  Students may also substitute in a few other pieces to make the recital more interesting.

Our daugher's book one recital was held this weekend.  She played 17 pieces which were mostly from her Suzuki book, but she also added in Little Porcupine and Mischief Maker, songs which better demonstrate her mastery of a wide variety of musical dynamics.

After the recital, her teacher presented her with an award signifying that she had officially graduated from Volume One.

Getting through book one is said to be the most difficult challenge of all the other volumes because of all the new skills that must be established as the foundation.  Students must listen to the same songs on a CD and then practice them over and over again until they have mastered each technique. There isn't a lot of flexibility to play fun, contemporary pieces during the first book, so boredom threatened to sink our daughter's piano playing ship.  She was so excited at first and did so well during her first year piano competition, but by the middle of year two, she had lost her motivation and did not properly prepare for her Young Artist audition in March.  She still got a decent score, but we knew she did not play her best.  By the time Music Guild rolled around in May, she was ready and played those pieces beautifully.  So many times, she wanted to quit, so we would take some time off until she was ready to try again.  We feel like we have all climbed a huge mountain to reach this point, so we could not be more proud of her.

After her performance, we celebrated together with family and friends while nibbling on some of her favorite party treats which included sausage balls, fruit salad, triple chocolate chunk cookies, crackers with pineapple dip, party mix, and dark chocolate covered tea biscuits.  We would like to give special thanks to her piano teacher and her husband, both of my parents, and our dear friend "Grandma Susan" for taking so much time out of your day to drive to the boonies and listen to her recital.

Postscript of thanks to the Creator:

The morning before the recital had been crazy, and I was rushing to get things ready.  Despite all my previous planning and even scheduling in an extra hour than usual to finish last minute food preparations, I was still running late.  One guest showed up an hour early, so she saw me running around in panic mode with curlers in my hair, food spread all over the counters, and so much left to be done before the other guests arrived.  So, she began helping with the food, and were it not for her help and extra help from my mother, it could have been sheer chaos. Interestingly, when she realized she was early, she sent a text to her daughter, who had planned to attend the recital as well but ended up having to work, letting her know that she had arrived an hour early.  After coming to our party hosting rescue, she received a text reply from her daughter that read, "Maybe they needed you there an hour early."  Indeed we did!

I realized that my angst to get things done on time was spilling over onto my daughter who needed to be in a relaxed, contented state of mind to play her best during the recital.  So while my friend continued chopping fruit in the kitchen, I took my daughter upstairs for a time of prayer.   She sat on my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her as we thanked God for giving her the ability to play the piano and for sending supportive friends and family to our home that day.  We asked that He would calm her spirit so that she could play her best for His glory.  We also asked that He would allow guests to experience His love and grace from the moment they entered our home.  After the prayer, she said, "Mom, it's been a LONG time since I've sat in your lap like that."  She asked me again later than evening if she could sit in my lap.

Here I have a girl who strongly desires to feel older.  She's always asking for increased responsibility and greater privileges.  She uses sophisticated speech and is as opinionated as a teenager.  Yet, she's still my little girl who longs desperately to be cradled in my arms and nurtured as an infant.  Kids never outgrow their enormous need for loving affection from their parents.  I know this truth in my head but too often forget to apply it.  I'm thankful for so many things God did for our family on our girl's special day, but that gentle reminder from my daughter was perhaps the greatest blessing of all.