“…I am very grateful to my mother for having made me start with it: I can read music and I understand just some of what goes into serious music playing, and in a general sense, what is necessary to produce anything of genuine quality…”
“…I realized that being really good at piano was a huge asset. I was winning district wise competitions for piano, it was a huge asset to my concert and jazz band, and it was something that set me apart from everyone else. I was also at the level where I was significantly more knowledgeable than most people I talked to, so for the most part people left me alone. I could also make money off my performances and that was pretty cool…”
“…You never hear someone say, ‘man I really wish I had stopped practicing the piano’, but you hear lots of people say ‘man I wish I continued the piano’… “
“….When I was a kid and taking music lessons (piano and violin), I hated practicing after school. I was drained and didn’t have the focus for it, so when I did sit down to practice it wasn’t good quality anyway. Then my mom started making me practice in the morning before school. I would get up and just go straight to practicing (in my PJs) before doing anything else. I’m definitely glad my mom pushed us to continue with music as kids…”