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Kittie pix courtesy of Dave Ahl
From Heather T., who took piano as a senior at Overton H.S., and is now back taking theory as a music major at MTSU:
"I keep meaning to tell you that I'm glad I took piano from you before I started school. If I hadn't I would be so lost! Thank you for being a great teacher."
HOMEPAGE
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Cute Things Uttered by My Students
I was showing a new student, age 7, how to use the pitch bend wheel on the Yamaha piano. (It makes sounds go slightly higher or lower.) I observed it sounded like a rubber band.
She guffawed and said, "I did not see that coming!"
A 1st grader asked me to smile, then said, "Open your mouth." She peered in and announced, "You have plaque on your tongue."
I asked a 7 year old why she hadn't finished her theory assignment. She replied in earnest, "I was concentrating on the songs."
P.S.: The same girl likes to finish nearly every piece with "Cha-cha-cha"!
A student whose mom is a doctor called me on my studio phone with a question about a piece and asked, "Are you in with a patient?"
A new student who had never played in a recital before asked me, "When is the funeral?"
In jest, I told a young student he needed more fingers and could perhaps buy some at the store. Without skipping a beat he said, "I can do that. Butterfingers!"
One boy came in with sniffles and I asked if he had a cold. He replied in a loud voice, "It's allergy season." Later in the lesson when I pointed out an error, he proclaimed, "It's allergy season!"
I asked a student what he had left out of his performance and he answered, "The damnamics." Then being a good little Catholic, he profusely apologized!
I told a 6 year old prodigy that she was a really good pianist. Without batting an eye, she looked at me and said, "I can hang upside down on the monkeybars."
From a 7 year old: "You're a strange little man." She had to say it twice before I realized she was quoting from Toy Story!
A young girl who is usually very serious asked me, "Where's my other book?" and kept on playing. I realized her lesson book was missing.
I asked, "Did you leave it at home?" She said, "No." "Could it be in the car?" "No." Just as I was about to ask her mother to check the car, she pulled the book out from under her and announced with a giggle, "I was sitting on it!"
Reason for missing a lesson: "I had to go to the cemetery with the church members to visit the people who have died."
An 11 year old's response to me asking why kids like to blame me for their mistakes: "You're an easy target."
An 8th grader had a little trouble at the beginning of her recital piece.
She stopped, threw her hands in the air, turned to the audience and proclaimed, "I can do this, people!" Then she started over and played it perfectly.
I asked a new student what kind of piano she had at home. I showed her the drawing of a grand piano on the cover of the Faber method, which features a flying piano (see picture at left).
She said, "Yeah, that's the kind I have--only without wings!"
I told an adult student she didn't have to move on the bench to play an octave higher...that her arms would stretch, and she said, "But they don't like to."
When we got to the page that introduced accidentals, I said to an 8 year old, "Look, now we're starting on sharps." Her response was to gasp, "Finally!"
On seeing the recital roster, a little girl told her mother, "I'm first because I'm cute."
I played through a piece so a student could hear his new assignment. I said, "That's a pretty song, isn't it?" and he replied, "It's a handsome song."
A first grader at Eagles Nest Academy had a question and said, "Mr. Grizzly?" I asked her why she was calling me Mr. Grizzly and she said, "I forgot what your name is."
(P.S.: I don't have a beard and don't think I resemble a bear, so I have to file this one under "Go Figure!")
After a student completes a piece, I'll often cover the name of the composer and say, "For $50, tell me who wrote that song." (It gets them to pay attention to the name -- and I haven't had to pay out yet!)
But one eager girl thought very hard and said deliberately, one word at a time: "Franklin...Joe...Love...Puscious." I probably should have paid her just for originality!
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