I cannot speak French.

This year, I decided to take piano lessons! Every Friday from 4 to 5 I go to the art school and trade places with Claire for our teacher. Claire had a year of piano with Mr. Saniter, an amazing teacher and pianist, and loved it so much that I felt I had no choice but to try as well!


Today I had my fourth lesson, and I was not disappointed. Fridays usually end up being a difficult and tiring day at school, but lessons with Mr. Saniter always brighten up my day.

One thing I love about my teacher is that he teaches the person, he doesn't teach material. Every person to him is an individual who requires different learning methods. For me, we will focus in the future a lot on improvisation with chords and getting a feel for the piano, instead of playing complex classical pieces (I'm really bad at reading notes!). It's great to have someone who understands me musically and allows me to learn what I need to learn, but also what I want to learn.

The first song I chose for him to teach me is "Lost!" by Coldplay. Ever since I heard it I knew I wanted to be able to play it. Now, three weeks later, I can! It's not the most difficult song, but I learned a lot along the way.

My next song is "Complainte de La Butte" by Rufus Rainwright. Some of you may have heard it in the movie Moulin Rouge (in the very beginning when they're showing Paris and Christian's father is shown in a flashback). I'm really excited about it!

A great thing about "Lost!" is that I can sing along with it. However, "Complainte de La Butte" is, as the name implies, in French. Heh. I cannot speak French. But if I ever do figure out the words i will feel very good! :) (Luckily there is a "nananana" part...)