Chords R Me

by Harold
(Aurora, OH)

Hi everyone, I'm enjoying myself here and thought I'd share a little that might inspire another. I'm 73 going on 29 with newly found enthusiasm to pursue a goal that I've had ever since a small child. Coming from a family of 10 children with little income coming into the house, the idea of paying for lessons for any of us was not something that even crossed the minds of my parents. However, they did have a love for music which I'm thankful for, since I believe that's where my passion for music originated.

I did have an older cousin who was quite talented and played guitar and whom I visited often, since he lived only up the street. Each time I would see him, he would break out his guitar and strum a few tunes. He never had a lesson but had a super ear and seemed to be able to play almost anything on demand. This always fascinated me. There was a piano in his house, too, which I think was half the reason I used to visit so often, as I always took pleasure in sitting down at it, though I'd never try to play it. I'd simply sit their as I listened to him, wishing I could play along with him.

I invested in a piano last year and found myself sitting at it a number of times the first few months, just barely tickling the keys at all, always being hungry for some direction. Recently, however, that's changed. One of the articles I read here at the site inspired me to get into this a little deeper. I picked up the piano chords program for playing major, minor, augmented, and diminished chords and surprised myself as to how easy that all came to me. I followed up with purchasing the 7th chords program and now I spend about an hour a day just playing chords.

The article on reading lead sheets has propelled me to focusing on learning how to read the treble clef, and that's coming along pretty well. Just this week, I purchased a real book which consists of nothing but lead sheets. For the first time, I started putting one of those melodies together with chords in the left hand! I'm doing it and I'm hooked!

I just know that if I can do this, anyone can. If you have a desire to play piano, all you need to do is supplement that desire with a little belief in yourself and some tools that can help. I'm living proof that there's so much one can accomplish on his or her own, as long as the will is there.

Good luck to all of you in your musical endeavors. It's time for me to make my way to that piano, as I have a date with "Misty."