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I was one of those people who always dreamed of playing the piano but never thought I could. At least I was until I came across some short, simple lessons on the basics of piano playing. I decided to give it a try, and I have been practicing ever since.

Right from my very first lesson, the way I viewed the piano changed. I realized suddenly that the keys on the piano make a pattern and that pattern allows the keys to be separated into sections. When you break the piano down in such a manner it suddenly doesn’t seem so daunting or confusing. I never realized that the keys could be looked at individually rather than as a collective group.

It all started with simple lessons in material I already had before me. I realized that it was quite fun to try out the new ideas presented in each lesson and later on even test myself to see how much I had improved. I learned to practice playing and writing notes, clapping rhythms, and eventually stringing together melodies. The more I practiced these things the more improvement I could hear.

I developed my own practice schedule, finding time between my work and daily chores. It was satisfying to accomplish so much so quickly. The slow pace of formal lessons may be good for children, but as an adult, I appreciated the ability to go at my own pace.

There came a time when I wanted to play music that was easy for me – music that I recognized rather than what I was writing out in my exercises. So, I went to the music store and bought two books. I chose an Easy Piano Book and a Fake Book, just as the lessons had suggested.

My Easy Piano Book was filled with familiar Broadway show tunes that I had heard throughout my life, and after learning rather quickly to sight read I was able to actually play many of them quite well.

The Fake Book, on the other hand, was full of modern pop songs. I had read through the lessons and found out how to use a Fake Book, so I quickly began. I did not know all the chords, so I looked up the new ones before I tried to play each song.

Eventually, I found myself playing songs directly from the radio and my friends would have a blast singing along with me. Finally, I was playing real songs that I loved to sing and was creating a fun time for my friends.

Now that I know the basics of the piano I am a much happier person. I set out to learn something new and I accomplished it much faster than I imagined it would be possible. I will never be a professional performer and I am definitely not an expert on the piano, but I am a very content player who has taught herself something quite remarkable.

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