Keys of happiness

I recently mentioned that along with wanting to learn to play a little guitar (that “little” is both literal and figurative!), I also wanted get back into playing the piano.

When I was on Amazon recently, I somehow came across a couple of sheet music books published by Rolling Stone, with some of their 500 best rock songs. It was for easy piano, and I thought it would be a fun way to dip my toe back into the piano pool. Well, I got one of them today, and man, was that ever fun! The first song I played was “Lola,” and then “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I had to laugh when I saw “Iron Man” in there...that should sound interesting on the piano! I’m also looking forward to putting on some shades and playing “What’d I Say.” Ha!

I’m glad these are super easy, because it’s been quite a while since I played, and I need to ease back into it. It’s not that easy for me, because I never had lessons. I taught myself to play. I’m happy that I had music classes in grade school, and I think I had some in high school, too. Even though I didn’t play in the band, I learned how to read music. I’ve enjoyed playing throughout the years, and I’m happy to have the piano that Mom and Dad gave me. It eases my mind to go downstairs and play for a bit. Sometimes I want to play really loud, but other times I like a slow, quiet song.

I’ve always played mostly classical music, but I can remember buying sheet music for popular songs when I was in high school. I think it will be fun to learn to play some of the songs in this Rolling Stone collection. I know that I’m not very good, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have fun doing it! I suspect it will be the same with the guitar. When I first manage to play a chord, I’ll probably be like, “This is AWESOME!” Haha!

One thing I’ve tried to break away from is feeling like I have to be some kind of expert at something in order to do it. Very few people are experts at anything, and we shouldn’t let that hold us back from trying and enjoying something. Would people want to hear me play? Probably not! But I know that I have fun doing it, and it makes me happy. I think it’s okay for some things to be just for you, do you know what I mean? Play a tune, sing a song, draw a picture, write a poem, do a little dance, get down tonight! You might surprise yourself, and this extremely rational and scientific person has enjoyed stepping outside my usual boundaries to be a little adventurous and creative. It doesn’t come easy to me, but I like trying.

I see so many people who are afraid to do new things. It’s okay to be cautious about certain things (you won’t see me surfing or whitewater rafting anytime soon—hey, I can’t swim!), but don’t be afraid to take a chance and do something out of your realm. You might have a lot of fun!