The Bible and Music

The first day of my piano lessons required all of my attention and challenged me at times, however it was a great experience. My roommate is a Jazz major and is currently playing the trumpet, but is taking a few piano classes at Butler. He is extremely knowledgeable about music, how to read it, and how to properly play it. The first part to the process that we started with when dissecting what makes up the piano is the pedals on the bottom. We used a Yamaha 88 key piano that is in the basement of Residential College and my first curious question was about the three pedals. The next step we took together was learning about the keys and distinguishing between each one. This was mainly new information for me, because I do not have much background knowledge on pianos. Other pieces that we discussed included octaves, sharps, and how to position your hands properly. We finished the lesson by looking at reading music and started with simple notes and songs. I wrapped up by learning how to play “Mary had a Little Lamb” on the piano. This simple nursing rhyme was a song that I could play one handed and I hope to learn a few more as each lesson progresses.