John Lennon's Piano

Okay, it’s not really John Lennon’s piano in the photo at the right. It’s not even a copy of John Lennon’s piano. But last month, October 9th, would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday and, in honor of that, Steinway is offering an exact commemorative replica of the Steinway grand piano that he gave Yoko for her 38th birthday in 1971. That’s the piano on your right and Steinway is selling it again.

It’s been a while since I’ve laid out any piano musings. But Thursday is usually the day for it, (though this will probably be published Friday since it’s already 11:30 p.m.) Today was my 123rd lesson and the beginning of our annual intense marathon holiday push to learn one carol a week to give a family concert on Christmas Day.

 This is always a stimulating exercise as the usual repertoire consists of four or five pieces that we take an entire year to master for the spring auditions of the National Piano Guild. So to do as many pieces in just five weeks is really quite an exciting change of pace. Of course, the carols are not the same level of difficulty as the repertoire, actually about two levels down. But they are quite pretty and, this year, she has me doing jazz arrangements of some traditional carols and they are really quite unique. Also considerably more challenging than last year’s. I may only be doing two or three. As of today, she’s assigned me a jazz rendition of Handel’s "Joy to the World" and it doesn’t sound anything like "Joy to the World" as we know it. But, boy, is it cool!

I’ve already mentioned several times that I am currently at the 6th level of the guild curriculum, which is the final level of elementary, and it is my goal for the year to get accepted to the 7th level (the first of Intermediate) for next spring’s audition. In prep for this, Pam has really kicked it up quite a large notch and has me studying Clementi, Khatchaturian, Schumann and Bach and they are all very beautiful but also very complicated technical pieces considerably beyond what I’ve done before. I’m astonished that these are still considered Late Elementary repertoire, the mastery of which is required BEFORE admission to Early Intermediate.

I mentioned in my daily email a couple nights ago that the Tuesday Musicale featured a special program this month of all the top high school kids who were students of the Pontiac area Musicale branch members who are teachers. Since I’m sending tweets now, it may have been too cryptic, so I will now flesh it out. Pam, one of the top teachers in the area, was represented. Have I mentioned that she’s also the chair of the Oakland region of the Guild? She’s been playing piano and organ since she was five and has been the musical director of St. Ben’s since she was sixteen. Pam chose this young lady I’ve spoken of before who is a 15 year old sophomore by the name of Ashley to play at the special concert on Tuesday. She was wonderful. Ashley has been my chief competitor for the last couple of years in terms of the amount of time we spend practicing. We’re always sort of neck-‘n-neck, both of us striving to put in two hours per day.

She has a particular sense of urgency since she only started lessons five years ago but decided pretty quickly she wanted to do this as her career. So she’s been trying to get caught up so she can qualify for a piano major at a prominent music school. I’ve already written extensively about how tough that is, that most music schools expect 8 to 12 years of study before you apply, the auditions are extremely rigorous, and most schools won’t even take your application if you’re over 30. The rationale is that it takes twenty years to groom even an advanced student to be a professional so, after 30, it’s already too late to make a career of it. Oakland University seems to be one of the few exceptions. Still reputed to be one of the most rigorous programs anywhere and with a faculty that can easily rival U of M or even Julliard – but they will accept anyone who qualifies talent-wise. And even if you don’t qualify, you can always take piano as a general music major (as opposed to the far more competitive performance majors) or even as a non-major as a general elective and you’ll still be studying with the same professors who teach in the performance program and who are the judges at the auditions. This is actually a good way to get in, starting as a general music major and letting these world class concert pianists on the faculty get to know you for a couple years.

Anyway, that’s Ashley’s dilemma. She’s gotten a late start. She’s trying to do 12 years of work in 8 so she can qualify for a university piano program. She is one of Pam’s top students. At 15, as a sophomore, and after only five years of lessons, she’s already at the 9th level. I would not be at all surprised if she qualifies for the 14th level by the end of her senior year, and that should be plenty good enough to get into any conservatory. The 20th level is considered the equivalent of a degree from a major conservatory. (And maybe if I can keep up these two hour practices, I’ll even be caught up with her by the time she graduates. I’ve got three years!)

So we’ve been running neck-‘n-neck for two years now practice-wise, so much so that Pam, who before I came along never recognized adults for practice awards at the spring recital, has now twice in a row begun a new award just for me to recognize my practice, not only because I’m so far ahead of all the other adults but also because I’m considerably ahead of most of her kids, rivaling only her her most advanced students. Pam really appreciates my dedication. She says the kids come to their lessons every week and just stand in awe of this adult who practices so much, as she posts all the practice times on a board in her studio. She says it motivates the kids to practice even more, so she’s grateful that she’s able to offer me to them as an example.

So Ashley is motivated by her desire to become a piano major in college. And I’m motivated by my desire to complete my first 2,000 hours of practice as quickly as possible so that I can reward myself by trading up to my dream Yamaha. I figure it’s going to take another five years. My dream Yamaha is a used mahogany baby grand for about $10,000. I’ve already got $7,000 in trade-in value on my Ritmuller so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Also, at 2,000 hours, I’ll be able to more competently evaluate my future in piano. But I doubt I’ll need to. I decided after just the first few months that I will never get to the point that I know it all but that it hardly matters. I’m doing this because it’s teaching me a whole new approach to my creative endeavors. I’m also doing it because it’s just so damned beautiful! I want to be able to play as beautifully as the pros I’ve seen. Many people have told me it’s not realistic to think I’ll ever be a concert pianist. My response: certainly it’s not realistic, not with that attitude!

But one thing that filmmaking has taught me is that, in highly competitive professions, you simply don’t listen to people telling you what you can’t do. If I had, I’d never have made my first short film, let alone my first feature. I’m one of a handful of my graduating class that went on to have a career. There was only one reason for that: refusing to listen to all the people who said I couldn’t do it, that it was unrealistic. People tend to become that upon which they focus, so there’s only one reason that we fail and that is because of our own failure to commit to doing the required work. I mentioned it in my Halloween essay: there is no failure as long as you keep getting up every morning and getting right back in the swim. Because you DO become what you focus on.

The greatest thing about piano is that the entire Guild curriculum from first grade to concert piano is laid out in a detailed 65 page outline – every step, year by year, week by week, and day by day. It is the most incredible roadmap for a profession that I’ve ever seen. So it only took me about 200 hours to realize that I’m in this for the long haul. The 2,000 hours will only be the beginning. That’s the first goal. The second goal is to complete the High School Diploma course. I would hope by then to be well-established in my new MBA career, hopefully as an investments professional. My third goal will be the completion of the Collegiate Diploma course. By then I hope to be well enough off to upgrade to my dream Steinway, a fully restored used Steinway mahogany grand for about $50,000. People drop 50 grand on cars all the time, why not on a world class piano that will only appreciate in value? Then after my first blockbuster movie, do the ultimate – get my dream Fazioli – the M. Liminal – the world’s finest piano -- $400,000! (But I am already quite happy with my Ritmuller, and there is a distinct possibility that I’ll be keeping it for life. But both my tuner and my teacher have told me that, as I continue to progress, I will eventually be able to bring out the much superior sounds in a Yamaha and Steinway. So no worries. I’ll be keeping my little baby at least until that happens.)

But that is currently my commitment, to go all the way and complete all 20 levels of the Guild curriculum. So Ashley has her sense of urgency. My only sense of urgency is that I’ve only got about 30 years left in my life and that may not be enough time to do everything that I want to do. Still, it’s far better to have ambitious goals than no goals. I don’t really even consider this to be particularly ambitious. I’m simply committed to going as far as I can in two hours a day and in the time I have left. I’m committed to all 20 levels if I live that long. Whether I make it is irrelevant. Whatever happens, I’ll be a better pianist than I am now. The process is what counts, not the results.

So I was very impressed by all these kids on Tuesday (and by all the wonderful performances at OU just an hour before) and once again came away thinking, ‘I want to play like that!’ The finale was performed by this incredible 18 year old violinist who was said to be busy now considering which top conservatory she was going to attend next year. I mentioned her to Pam today and she agreed this young lady was one of the most talented students in the area. I asked if she was on her way to Julliard next fall. Without a moment’s hesitation, Pam responded, "Oooh no, she’s not quite ready for Julliard yet. I’m sure she’ll be attending some other conservatory. Maybe Julliard in four more years."

I was astonished. Someone with an expert ear could listen to this girl for just a couple minutes and immediately determine exactly where she was on the road and how much further she needed to go. I’m always amazed how much professionals are able to hear that most of the rest of us, certainly not I, have any clue about.

And today I got one more push in the right direction from Pam at my 123rd lesson. I mentioned about how much I enjoyed Ashley’s playing on Tuesday and suggested to Pam that she might put me up there in about five years. I expected a flip remark like, "Hey, let’s get you out of Elementary first, guy!" Instead, she said something very encouraging. "Sure! I think in five years you’ll be ready for that, maybe even sooner!" She said there are very advanced adult students who get invited to this each year but they always decline, say they’d feel foolish playing with these kids. I said not at all! These kids are incredibly talented. It would be a privilege to be counted among their company.

So now I’ve got a new litmus test, a new measure for how I’ll know when Pam thinks I’ve finally become a real pianist. When she chooses me to be her representative at the annual student concert of the Tuesday Musicale, I’ll know I’ve made it.

And, by the way, this final photo is from the Steinway web site showing John Lennon playing on the now famous Yoko Ono Steinway in his Manhattan townhouse. I’ll be going to the Steinway showroom soon to get a lot more information about it, then write more about it. I may even come to the Steinway showroom in Manhattan sometime to play it. Incidentally, this Steinway is still in Lennon’s Manhattan residence.