On Music...Continued

Dear Kat,

Your question has a long answer, which is a good thing because I like a very meaty post.  Don't you?

What kind of musician are you?

I am a musician in a variety of ways, but my main thing is the piano.  I started lessons at the age of 4 and continued on until I was 16.  We didn't even own a piano when I began lessons, and I had to go to a neighbor's house to practice.  Please don't let that time span fool you, though.  Other people who took lessons for that long are much more accomplished than I am. 

My dad tells of his aspirations for me when I was young, that he would like me to have become a concert pianist.  Ummm... he really should've checked with me first on that ambition because that was the farthest thing from my mind.  I just played for enjoyment, and I wasn't really sure anything would come of it.  Little did I know what God had planned for me.

Right around the time I turned 16 we went from attending a church of 1,200+ to a little church of about 25, including mice.  Our family was there for a year to help the church get on its feet and basically start from the ground up, and we ended up staying past a year.  Actually, we're still there and will celebrate 20 years as a church in July.  But back to what I was saying.  There was a pianist who filled that need when we got to the church, but after a few years she moved out of state.  There was no one to play piano.  NO. ONE.  Guess who they looked for to fill that ministry?  Yep.  Me.

So, just fresh into college, I took on that ministry with hardly any experience of having people sing while I played.  I had to accompany the choir, too, and we started with very basic songs.  I got stretched through the years by our choir directors, and however the Lord works those things out, I can now play accompaniment that I never could've tackled when I first started.  I guess you learn as you go.

As for other instruments, I played French Horn from 5th grade through the 11th.  I haven't touched it in a couple years, but it is a very cool instrument.  I also bought a flute on eBay several years ago because that's the instrument I always wanted to play.  I taught myself some basics on it and then set it aside, being distracted by other interests.  I ended up selling it on eBay in order to turn around and purchase something else.  I don't remember if it was a guitar or my purebred dog.  Anyway, I eventually bought a guitar because I wanted something portable I could sing with.  As you can imagine, it's very hard to drag a piano anywhere.  I love that guitar.  Of course, I missed the flute then, so I had to grab another one off eBay.  It now sits next to the piano, waiting for some new pads.  But it's there when I'm ready for it.

I sing, too.  I have video I want to share here on the blog of some stuff I've done, but I haven't yet figured out how to format it correctly in order to make that happen.  One of these days I'll get it figured out.

I'm sure that more than answers your question, Kat.  Thanks for asking.

Sincerely ~ Liz