Piano Time Part Deux
So I'm not going to buy a piano in a vacuum. I went to the local college webcite to sign up for piano classes. After a little floundering around, I found the classes and decided that I know enough to sign up for Piano II or even Piano III. It was offered on a night that I am free and the classes are open (where most other classes are closed), yippee.
You can register on line, but it wasn't clear how long a process it was. In an abundance of caution, I called. The lady in registration said, oh, you should bring your application in--classes start next week--you are applying very late. I'm thinking--how lucky is that that I happened to want to take a piano class, right as a new semester is about to start in February of all times of the year. So I took a morning to go to the college to the registration office. I had Caitlyn with me so I was just going to drop off the filled out application off the computer. They took my form and said, you are not in the computer. I said, I know--I'm handing it in since I have to come in person. We can't take this form, you have to fill out this other form. It was exactly the same information, but now I'm filling it out with an ansy four year old pulling on me. Lovely. Done, turned in. What's next. Now you go online and sign up for the class. Can't I just sign up in person. No, you have to go online. Fine.
I'm pretty confident, so while we are at the college, we go to the bookstore and I find the music books and the instructors name and I find the book for the class. There are some empty piles so I'm a little concerned that there is more than one book for the class, but I'll start with this one.
So when I get back to the office (after I drop Caitlyn back to her mom), I go online to sign up for Piano II. It's closed. The computer won't let me do anything to get on a waitlist. Now I am a veteran of community college. I know darn well that many people drop out the first day of class, so I will attend the first class and add it.
The class started at 7:30, but I was determined to be there plenty early to speak with the instructor to make sure I would get into the class. It is dark at 7:00 p.m. and there were no lights in the parking lot. It had parking meters, so I took out my cell phone and used it as a flashlight. 2:53 was left on the meter. The class was only two hours, so there's no way I would go over 2:53. This is my lucky day I thought.
Of course I had forgotten to bring the book. I was about 15 minutes early for the class--it is a long, long walk from the car, but hey--good exercise. Anyway, the class is full of people. There was one empty piano next to the instructor, so I asked if there were any spaces in Piano II. The instructor said, just have a seat at this open piano. So I did. More people came in, some people left and by 7:30 there were two people with no pianos and the class started with them just standing. There are five pianos for independent workshops and the class had Piano II, Piano III and workshop sections all in the same room. I breathed a sigh of relief that there were enough pianos. Then a guy came in late and asked if there was room to join the class. The instructor said, no the class is full. Oh, oh.
So there I am feeling unsure that I might not be able to stay in the class and I don't have the books (there were two more required books that it felt like everyone else in the class had and assured the instructor were in the bookstore). The instructor is really good. She was able to describe orally what she wanted us to work on for those of us with no book. Since I was up front, I borrowed her book while she set up those students in the independent workshop and the people standing in class filled into the pianos. I know that she took five people out, but when I looked around--even after they were gone, every piano was filled.
At the end of the class, the instructor asked those of us who wanted to add to bring our add sheets. What the heck is that?? I was the only person who didn't have one. The instructor is only at the college before class on Wednesday and until 9 a.m. on Thursday, but I had court on Thursday, so I asked her if I could add it next week. She hesitated, but said she would try.
The great part (or horrible part if I can't add the class) is that I loved the class. The instructor is really good at explaining what we were doing. I thought I would have a problem picking up sight reading again after so many years, but I'm picking it up pretty well. The exercises are fun. I'm picking it up really quickly and I'm loving playing the piano. The only small drawback is that the next song we are doing in class is "Old Suzanna"--kind of corny. Give me esoteric Bach any day.
So I am supposed to practice an hour a day. Doing that and loving it. The piano place came out on my warranty call and tuned the piano (for 2 and a half hours--sweet). Then I played a few keys and I complained that it still had a long resonance that doesn't sound right. The guy barely spoke english, but he said "carpet, carpet, carpet". My room is tiled--sounds like bathroom echos. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I need carpeting now.
Back to Wednesday night, after class I walked the long hike back to my car and I had a ticket. It had only been two hours and forty minutes, but the meter was in fact flashing expired. I either didn't read it correctly (in the miserably unreliable cell phone light) or the meter went too fast OR the meter person has a special key to turn it to expired--that last one sounds right. Anyway, $41. On Friday, I went back to the college to buy a parking pass, $65 and get the add sheet (big pile of add/drop sheets at the information desk--call me crazy, but I think the person at registration should have clued me into that one). I went to the bookstore--big pile of the books needed for piano II right there where they hadn't been the previous week.
So now I am all set. At one of my luncheon meetings this week, I got a free canvas bag that is exactly the right size to carry my piano books. And I am even learning "Old Suzanna"--it is kind of peppy. I looked ahead in the book and some of the minuets are very similar to ones I learned years ago. To paraphrase "I'm feeling very Olympic today"--I'm feeling quite the musician.
You can register on line, but it wasn't clear how long a process it was. In an abundance of caution, I called. The lady in registration said, oh, you should bring your application in--classes start next week--you are applying very late. I'm thinking--how lucky is that that I happened to want to take a piano class, right as a new semester is about to start in February of all times of the year. So I took a morning to go to the college to the registration office. I had Caitlyn with me so I was just going to drop off the filled out application off the computer. They took my form and said, you are not in the computer. I said, I know--I'm handing it in since I have to come in person. We can't take this form, you have to fill out this other form. It was exactly the same information, but now I'm filling it out with an ansy four year old pulling on me. Lovely. Done, turned in. What's next. Now you go online and sign up for the class. Can't I just sign up in person. No, you have to go online. Fine.
I'm pretty confident, so while we are at the college, we go to the bookstore and I find the music books and the instructors name and I find the book for the class. There are some empty piles so I'm a little concerned that there is more than one book for the class, but I'll start with this one.
So when I get back to the office (after I drop Caitlyn back to her mom), I go online to sign up for Piano II. It's closed. The computer won't let me do anything to get on a waitlist. Now I am a veteran of community college. I know darn well that many people drop out the first day of class, so I will attend the first class and add it.
The class started at 7:30, but I was determined to be there plenty early to speak with the instructor to make sure I would get into the class. It is dark at 7:00 p.m. and there were no lights in the parking lot. It had parking meters, so I took out my cell phone and used it as a flashlight. 2:53 was left on the meter. The class was only two hours, so there's no way I would go over 2:53. This is my lucky day I thought.
Of course I had forgotten to bring the book. I was about 15 minutes early for the class--it is a long, long walk from the car, but hey--good exercise. Anyway, the class is full of people. There was one empty piano next to the instructor, so I asked if there were any spaces in Piano II. The instructor said, just have a seat at this open piano. So I did. More people came in, some people left and by 7:30 there were two people with no pianos and the class started with them just standing. There are five pianos for independent workshops and the class had Piano II, Piano III and workshop sections all in the same room. I breathed a sigh of relief that there were enough pianos. Then a guy came in late and asked if there was room to join the class. The instructor said, no the class is full. Oh, oh.
So there I am feeling unsure that I might not be able to stay in the class and I don't have the books (there were two more required books that it felt like everyone else in the class had and assured the instructor were in the bookstore). The instructor is really good. She was able to describe orally what she wanted us to work on for those of us with no book. Since I was up front, I borrowed her book while she set up those students in the independent workshop and the people standing in class filled into the pianos. I know that she took five people out, but when I looked around--even after they were gone, every piano was filled.
At the end of the class, the instructor asked those of us who wanted to add to bring our add sheets. What the heck is that?? I was the only person who didn't have one. The instructor is only at the college before class on Wednesday and until 9 a.m. on Thursday, but I had court on Thursday, so I asked her if I could add it next week. She hesitated, but said she would try.
The great part (or horrible part if I can't add the class) is that I loved the class. The instructor is really good at explaining what we were doing. I thought I would have a problem picking up sight reading again after so many years, but I'm picking it up pretty well. The exercises are fun. I'm picking it up really quickly and I'm loving playing the piano. The only small drawback is that the next song we are doing in class is "Old Suzanna"--kind of corny. Give me esoteric Bach any day.
So I am supposed to practice an hour a day. Doing that and loving it. The piano place came out on my warranty call and tuned the piano (for 2 and a half hours--sweet). Then I played a few keys and I complained that it still had a long resonance that doesn't sound right. The guy barely spoke english, but he said "carpet, carpet, carpet". My room is tiled--sounds like bathroom echos. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I need carpeting now.
Back to Wednesday night, after class I walked the long hike back to my car and I had a ticket. It had only been two hours and forty minutes, but the meter was in fact flashing expired. I either didn't read it correctly (in the miserably unreliable cell phone light) or the meter went too fast OR the meter person has a special key to turn it to expired--that last one sounds right. Anyway, $41. On Friday, I went back to the college to buy a parking pass, $65 and get the add sheet (big pile of add/drop sheets at the information desk--call me crazy, but I think the person at registration should have clued me into that one). I went to the bookstore--big pile of the books needed for piano II right there where they hadn't been the previous week.
So now I am all set. At one of my luncheon meetings this week, I got a free canvas bag that is exactly the right size to carry my piano books. And I am even learning "Old Suzanna"--it is kind of peppy. I looked ahead in the book and some of the minuets are very similar to ones I learned years ago. To paraphrase "I'm feeling very Olympic today"--I'm feeling quite the musician.
posted by KathrynVH @ 4:25 PM
1 Comments:
At February 21, 2010 at 4:29 AM,
EZ Travel said…
Oh, I don't miss those registration days. I remember having to take a day off of work in order to get everything done since I was attending at night and it is impossible to get anything signed at night. This was of course, before I knew academia in and out. And before on-line registration.
As soon as you said you were hoping to add the class I thought, I hope she picked up an add slip. We have been signing those left and right for the past couple of weeks. For some reason they have the Academic Affairs office in the signature chain here, even though we won't sign unless the other signatures are in place and there is no way we would second-guess the instructor and the dean and not sign. But I remember being that student trudging around looking for signatures so I try to be extra nice to them.
Send me your form, I'll sign it.
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