The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
My Piano Lessons at the Detroit Conservatory of Music
I don’t remember how long our church organist came to our flat to give me piano lessons, but when I was ready, my mother enrolled me and accompanied me every time, for several years, on bus rides to the downtown Detroit Conservatory of Music, part of Wayne State University. I didn’t appreciate Mom’s sacrifices of time and expense at the time, taking me to lessons, requiring two busses each way.
Fortunately, we can look back later and think about our parents’ labors of love. She knew it all meant alot to me, though, because I often told her years later how happy I was to have had my piano lessons then, and was able to pick up where I left off at different times in several places to study with other good private teachers.
Conservatory lessons were one-half hour, in tiny studios; I had two teachers. I liked them both, except for the heavy BO (body odor) present in the studio of one of them. “Idd her roob I had to breathe thru by bouth idstead of by dose because of BO.” (Read that line out loud to get my meaning.)
By the time I was in the sixth grade I was learning Clementi Sonatinas, Czerny exercises and Heller Etudes, still enjoying my daily practicing. The Detroit Conservatory had regular exams and recitals in an auditorium on the main floor. The exams involved a lot of preparation; the judges always asked for a memorized scale, and we didn’t know ahead of time which one they’d ask for, in two octaves, hands together, and the arpeggios of the scale, so one part of my regular practicing included all the scales; both major and minor, memorized, with both hands.
Sight-reading, which I think was always my strong suit, was required at these exams. We were presented with some little-known music we wouldn’t have seen before, at our level, to play for the judges, and finally we played at least one memorized solo.
I quit lessons when I was 12, not wanting to go on for even one more lesson, and I think my mother was wise not to force me to continue. When any of my piano students wanted to quit around age 12 to do other things, I told the parents and the students that, “they can always return to lessons anytime and pick up where they left off, sometimes much later in their lives.” I did that myself two or three times!
In my teens I was able to play music I wanted to play, and I still have a song called Symphony, made popular by Nat King Cole, which was the first popular music solo I bought myself. I also learned Boogie Woogie, and other music which I bought and learned on my own. (Not the music my teachers would have introduced me to.)
To be continued…
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee (1931 – 2024) built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
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