When I was a small girl, we lived next door to a neighbor whose daughter knew how to play the piano. While sitting outside our house, my Dad and I would often hear that girl practice on the piano day after day. Often, he would tell me how much he wanted me to learn how to play the piano, too. Personally I really wanted to learn how to play the piano, too, but we obviously couldn’t afford it. How in the world could we ever hope to pay for a teacher’s fee, much less rent or buy a piano of our own? I wondered how and when I would be able to play the piano. It was a dream unfulfilled.

The whole set came with mic, headphones, stand, and keyboard cover. Here’s Aya practicing her do-re-mi. Pero ang totoo, props lang yung headphone at mic sa pic na ito. 😉

Mukhang totoo na ba? Hehe! We would like to thank Yamada Denki for the keyboard, and Aya wishes to thank her Ninong Epong for the cute pink outfit (all the way from S’pore!). 🙂

Some years ago, I bought myself an electronic keyboard and engaged the services of a piano tutor. I had to start from zero. A few months into my lessons, I got pregnant and had to stop because I had a very “challenging” first trimester. I never practiced at home, and never got back to playing at all even after Aya was born. Worse, when my mom saw the keyboard that had been gathering dust at home, she convinced me to just donate it to a church in the Philippines. Para naman daw mapakinabangan. I thought for sure that that was the end of my attempts at playing music.

Well, fortunately, now that Aya is having piano lessons of her own, I am now motivated to go back to learning the piano once again. There’s a definite perk to being required to attend Aya’s lessons – because I have to sit with her all throughout her lessons, I am having a sort of “refresher” course myself. Well, no, actually it seems to be more like a “beginner” course for me, too. It’s been too long since I last played, I’ve actually forgotten everything I’ve learned back then. Since we started Aya’s lessons, I’ve relearned how to play “Mary had a little lamb”. Pathetic start, but a start nonetheless. 🙂

We also bought a new keyboard. I was amused to find out that the new keyboards nowadays come with different features, such as having ports for television and computer connections. The large LCD display on the keyboard also shows the notes and guides for finger placements. There is also a teacher’s recorded voice that says things like, “Gambatte!” and “Subarashii!” (Fortunately it doesn’t say things like, “You’re hopeless!” or “Find yourself another hobby!”) The keyboard has 500 built-in original songs that can be used for practice and karaoke. Since when did these things get so hitech?!!

For now, this is just a hobby. A nice diversion from just sitting on our butts all day long in front of the computer (for us, hehe) and the tv (for Aya). Who knows, maybe in the future Aya will turn out to be a musical prodigy? 🙂