Why You Should Come Watch Piano Recitals

One of my students, a girl who is 7 years old, has been kind of naughty lately, and all I can do is laugh. Maybe it's because I only see her for half an hour a week...I'm invested in a lot of stuff, just not too invested in doing much discipline these days.

Earlier this summer, we came out of our lesson and I went to check in with her dad and tell him what we did that day. "Did you have a good lesson?" he asked his daughter. "Daddy, I learned what the F word is. It's F-U-C-K." Oh my god. I totally did not teach her that. "I totally did not teach her that," I said to him. He laughed at me. In a reassuring way. I did not get fired.

The other night, after I ask her what position her hands should go in to play this one song, she says to me "Sometimes at school I kick my friend Sam in the nuts." I have a hard time not laughing, but manage to say to her "Well that seems like it might hurt. You probably shouldn't do that to your friend." To which she replies "What? He kicks me in my nuts all the time. It feels fine!"

In the 8th grade at Hamilton Middle School, the talk of the town between several of my students is a piano song that sounds like somebody barfing. I played it once for one of my kids, and he told another, and they told a billion more, and now apparently it's all they talk about. A classical piano song that sounds like barf. This is what they like discuss in their free time. Have a listen...

The "barf" part happens right at about 46 seconds. For you bandos in the audience that are reading the music (pay attention to repeats), it's the beginning of the 5th line down. There is also a whole ton of barf from 2:43 through the end of the song.


All of these hilarious students will be performing in a piano recital this coming Sunday. If these stories don't entice you to come, I don't know what will. If you are interested, let me know and I'll send you the info.

Yay for junior bandos!