J- and I have signed up for half-hour piano lessons on Thursdays. The lessons are well-priced and the studio is a short walk from the house. She’s been teaching herself lots of music – Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Still Alive. No substitute for lessons, though, and it would be good for her to develop her technique and get better at playing both hands smoothly.

Music is like math or programming or language: a game of practising seemingly disjointed pieces that slowly come together into fluency. She practises on her own, running through the melodies of computer games and classical music. She’s starting to get those experiences of flow, I think. Sometimes I take a break to help her through a difficult chord or play a sequence for her, and then she’s off again.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons why people encourage kids to get into music – those early experiences of being good at something, being able to turn imagination into experience. 

Me, I wouldn’t mind brushing up on lessons and getting better at playing. I sometimes help J- with the tougher parts of music, and I do enjoy being able to play some of my favourites. Looking forward to sharing stories!