Teaching Piano Keys with Grandma's House

Isn't Beethoven a Saint Bernard?

When my mother was ten years old, she and her sister were gifted a piano for Christmas. That piano moved from her childhood home to mine and now sits in the living room of my own children's home. It is worn and well-loved, but as a gift for my thirty-fifth birthday my mother had it tuned to perfection and those old keys were given new life. And being able to play every key on the piano without any sticking or off notes has brought new life to my practice as well. 

We've finished dinner and I've just popped a dozen balls of homemade chocolate chip cookie dough from the freezer into the oven. Ten minutes to spare and I settle in at the piano for a short burst of practice. Opening my book to Fur Elise, I begin practicing the right hand. I haven't worked on this piece since I was a girl, and it was never perfect then. I swap my right hand for left and then attempt both hands together. 

Drawn to the music, Peter scoots up next to me on the bench, watching my fingers work the keys, inexpertly, but with passion and a desire to improve. 

"Fur Elise" he reads, very phonetically, at the top of the sheet music. What's that? 

"It is the name of this piano piece, composed by Beethoven. He thinks Beethoven is a giant Saint Bernard. I explain that the dog in the movie was actually named after a famous composer, whose very popular piece, Fur Elise, is one of my favorites. 

I continue to play and then pause to ask him what he thinks. He looks unsure and I assure him that the piece actually sounds much better than my mediocre abilities portray. I'll have to play a recording for him tomorrow so he can grasp the beauty of the music. 

And since he's sitting here, showing an interest, I feel inspired to give him a little piano lesson.

The Story of Grandma's House

"Let me show you where Grandma lives. This is Grandma's roof," I say, using my second, third and, fourth fingers on a grouping of three black keys in the center of the keyboard. Let's go down into Grandma's house. My fingers slide down to the four white keys beneath the roof. 

I play the F key. "At the front of Grandma's house, we have the front door. F /f/ front door. And when we open the front door, we see Grandma standing there!" I play G and say, "G, /g/ grandma." 

Peter adores stories, as most children do, and he is captivated so I keep going. "Grandma's making apple pie. Mmmmm mmmmm, A /a/ apple pie." I play an A. And at the back of Grandma's house, what do we find? A back door. B /b/ back door."   

By this point Vivian hears that a story is unfolding at the piano and squeezes herself onto the other side of me to get a good look at what magic is happening on the keys. 

"Now, behind Grandma's house, is the dog house. Here's the roof, you see? I place my second and third fingers on the set of two black keys to the right of the three black keys of Grandma's roof. Then I slide them down to the three white keys beneath and play the C. "In front of the dog house is a cat. The cat is always at Grandma's back door, meowing to come inside. C /c/ cat. And inside the dog house is the . . . " "Dog!" Peter fills in. "That's right! D /d/ dog." But behind the dog's house, sad because she's too big to fit inside, is the elephant. E /e/ elephant. And that's Grandma's house!"

Peter and Vivian are looking at the piano as of they can really see Grandma's House, in awe of this sweet little tale. And then the timer dings and Grandma is forgotten, for tonight, in favor of soft baked cookies topped with vanilla ice cream. 

In this moment, I'm reminded of the importance of my example. What's important to me will be important to my children. If they see me play the piano, they will want to play too. If they see me reading, they will love books too. And if they see me studying the life of Christ and trying to live as He did, they will strive to be good disciples too. It's a beautiful reminder of my responsibility to live well, not only for myself, but for them. 

Sincerely, 

Elizabeth Erin

This story can be found in the introductory piano book by Music Unveiled, The Musical Neighborhood.