An education

I remembered one of my Electone lesson was like this. My miss was talking with another teacher outside the classroom. I was practicing a song hardly inside. The door was opened I suppose? From time to time, she shouted behind the door and pointed out the parts I played wrongly.

I was about 13 at that time. Later I changed the teacher and continued learning Electone until I entered university. I dropped out finally before graduation. I think almost 10 years should prove that I have no special talent in it. Nor passion as well. A passion that is strong enough to drive me doing this thing crazily. Perhaps simply make me enjoy doing it.

Then there were some days I went to music concerts with my friend Michelle. She likes Jazz but she doesn’t play. She brought me to Jazz piano concerts, live shows, etc.
Another year, one of the shows in Hong Kong Art Festival was performed by a Japanese female Jazz pianist. I forgot her name and all the songs she played but the way she played it still lasted in my memory. She played the strings of the piano instead of the key. And tonight I learned that that is called String piano.

The next day I read the comment on her show in a newspaper’s column. The author told her story. When she was small, she met a teacher who inspired her by adding colourful notes on piano sheet. Which parts are showing feelings of joyful, which parts are about pain…All these colorful illustrations make a world class pianist.

Tonight I played a fortune telling game on the internet. It said that I am not a lucky person. Well. If the chance of meeting a good teacher, or someone who is inspirational, depends on luck, then the game is correct in a sense that I am not lucky on my music path. But I don’t trust fatalism. I believe in destiny but it should be in control of people’s free will. And I believe in education. That’s also the reason why I choose to donate to education projects by Oxfam.

I would not blame my music teacher. Thanks to her I wrote an easy opening for this post. She is part of my life experience. And the conclusion is that “teacher matters most”.

Continue reading: gatesfoundation Blog: Teachers Matter Most - Vicki Phillips