A Piano for Christmas

Since we have put off having our kids take piano lessons for way too long, and Rob and I both play a little piano and would like to play more, and since we have the floor space now, Rob and I combined our Christmas gifts this year and got a piano! We’ve heard that the Japanese pianos have the best sound, and would have loved to have a baby grand but they also cost twice as much. So to stay on budget we decided to get the best bang for the buck and rent this upright Kawai for 6 months to see how much it gets used before we commit to such a major piece of furniture with such a big price tag. It has been so much fun, and we plan to sign the kids up for lessons as soon as possible. The girls have all spent some time playing around on it. Hunter thinks playing the violin is enough, but we’ll see…

Rob and I have been playing too, and I have been surprised at how much has come back to me after not playing for years. I still can’t play a church hymn at singing speed, so don’t get any ideas church leaders ;). Our living room now has one piece of beautiful furniture, and eventually we’ll fill in with some places to sit, but for now I am content with hearing the sounds of music ringing through the house.

By the way, I just got a new calling as the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator. It used to be called the Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Leader, but the name has recently changed. I haven’t had this calling since I was living in a married student ward, so I’m nervous. But I had some great examples in my friends Heidi and Michelle from our last ward, so I may need to call them for some pointers.

1 Comment

  1. Tracy
    Jan 7, 2010

    Congratulations on the new piano! I know Mom mentioned that I’ve been teaching Adriene. I’ve been using a book called “My First Piano Adventures” by Nancy and Randall Faber. Adriene has really liked it and can play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” I’m sure Hannah and Sabrina would do great with this book, too. It also comes with a CD to play along with. It’s made it really easy for me to teach the lessons.

    I talked to the clerk at the music store, and she told me almost all music teachers use either the Piano Adventures series, the Bastien Piano Basics series by James Bastien, or Alfred’s Basic Piano Library by Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus, and Amanda Vick Lethco. All of these have beginner books that are easy to jump into.

    Hope this helps! We had a good time watching your Christmas video with the girls!
    Tracy