Today two of my kids began piano lessons.  I think music lessons are very valuable, but they’re so expensive.  Especially when you have more than one child in lessons, it adds up fast.

A couple of years ago I started my oldest two kids in piano lessons, and simultaneously began my then 7 year old with tin whistle lessons.  Even though I found very good people who were charging low rates, it was adding up fast. I think that our schedules had a long interruption for Pesach (Passover), and somehow, we never got back on track.  Not because I didn’t think it was worth the money, but because money was tight and it was easier to push it off.  So until now, music lessons have remained in the ‘nice but not crucial’ zone.

A month ago, I bumped into a neighbor I rarely see (as she puts it, she’s chained to her desk at work) who told me that they just bought a new baby grand piano.  It was a major purchase, one they were thrilled about as she and her husband are both passionate about classical music.  She then asked if any of my kids took music lessons, and if they’d be interested.  I often get asked if my kids take lessons of some sort, almost always followed by the person then asking if I’d be interested in signing them up for xyz. 

So I told her what I told you, that they’d started, but it got pricey, and as much as I would have liked to continue, it didn’t work out.  Then she said, “The reason I’m asking is I was wondering if you have any children who would be interested in piano lessons.  Now that we have this new piano, I really want to share it with others.  I’m not a trained piano teacher, but I’ve played for years and love music, and would love to teach them for free if they’d be interested.” 

Well.  Wasn’t that incredibly generous?  I told her that I’m sure more than one child would be interested, and we agreed to be in touch to set up something definite.  But when I called her she wasn’t in, and we played some phone tag.  Two of the three children who were interested went to camp, life was busy, a month passed – and we still hadn’t connected.  Then we bumped into each other at one of the weddings on Tuesday night.  (I always find it ironic when I see neighbors at public events who live just a few doors away from me that we see more of each other there than we do at home.)
 

The nine and almost 12 year olds each had a lesson first thing this morning, one after another, and enjoyed it very much.  The keyboard that has been on a shelf for over a year came back out today and has been used all day long.  The 13 year old is scheduled to go over on Tuesday night. 

There are a couple of other great things about this arrangement, besides the price and the very pleasant woman who made the offer.  🙂  One is that she’s so close that my kids can easily walk – it will take them about two minutes, if they aren’t going too fast.  🙂  I’ve found that having kids in extracurricular activities outside the home can eat up a lot of a mother’s time, driving back and forth to get everyone where they need to go, and I’m very grateful that they can enjoy this opportunity without me needing to add more driving to my weekly schedule.

The other is, she said that since she works all day, no one is home, and if the kids want to practice on her piano when she’s gone, they’re welcome to.  We did buy an electric keyboard when the oldest two started lessons, but practicing on a real piano would definitely be better.

Another thing I especially like is that she’s not a trained teacher.  I think that the best person to teach something is someone who really loves what they do, and she truly loves classical music and the piano.  Being around someone who has a healthy passion for something is so valuable for kids to see.

Avivah