Cat's Spring Piano Recital

Cat is doing so well on the piano!  It is amazing to see how far she's come in less than two and a half years.  The piece she performed for the Spring recital last month was "Tarantella" by Prokofiev, which she learned in about 3 months.  She worked hard on this piece, and really enjoyed playing it.

A couple of weeks before this recital, she participated in a solo festival.  For that, she played this piece and the first movement of the "Sontatina" by Haydn, which she learned last year.  She received an "Excellent" rating.

  

I apologize for the blurriness in this video.  I was in a hurry to start recording and didn't focus properly.  On my camera, the only way to adjust the focus once you start a video recording is to zoom in or out until the focus is right.  Ughh.  At least the sound is pretty good  :-)

PS> A word about having a child learning to play piano, especially when your child claims she doesn't want to learn to play piano.  It's hard.  I mean, sometimes it feels like combat.  While Cat doesn't fight me as much as she did for the first couple of years she played, she still has times when she resists so much that she will sit at the piano for an hour and a half and do less than 15 minutes of actual practicing.  I feel like I am always working on ways to get her motivated.  She knows that certain things such as screen time, play dates, and other "fun" things are contingent on completing piano practice, but sometimes that's not enough.  (On a "good" bad day, a piece of gum at the end of a practice session is a decent motivator, haha.)

I have laid down the law that ALL OF OUR CHILDREN WILL PLAY PIANO UNTIL THE AGE OF 16, AT WHICH TIME EACH MAY CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT TO CONTINUE.  OTHER INSTRUMENTS ARE OPTIONAL.  PIANO IS NOT.  Cat doesn't agree with this law, and tells me frequently.  Too bad.  I am thankful for the opportunity piano presents to teach children the importance of hard work, consistency, time management, achieving mastery, and accountability.  In my mind, the music itself is a secondary benefit.  I love that Cat now has, and will continue to develop, a useful and pleasant talent that will bless her life and the lives of others around her.  I love that the study of music also has benefits in other areas.  And I kind of look forward to the day when she thanks me for forcing her to play piano.  At least, I think she'll thank me one day...