Just Average

You’d think after the fanfare of a big Blogger anniversary, I would have something profound to say today. When in fact, I’m simply going to say how grateful I am to be average.

Yesterday I played music with people who mostly live on Capitol Hill and come together to play for each other every month. We call the group “Works in Progress” to try to make it less like a formal recital. It’s acceptable to play the same piece for several months or to stop in the middle, announcing that’s as far as you have gotten.

The star of yesterday’s show was a 10-year-old golden-haired little girl, who couldn’t even reach the floor with her feet. She played a sonatina by memory and everything about her performance was perfect. The person who played last was a very accomplished pianist who thrilled us with three very difficult dances by the Argentine Alberto Ginastera.

One person struggled hard with the two waltzes by Schubert and Schumann, never quite settling into that 1-2-3 cadence. She persevered to the end, often trying a phrase again. As she retired to her seat amid our unfailing applause, she muttered that she had played them both perfectly at home before coming.

That left the rest of us smack dab in the middle feeling good about being good enough, or even just average. Deborah and I played a lusciously romantic Adagio by Johann Geissel. There were no major glitches and the couple of times we were not together, we managed to find each other without our audience knowing what had happened. I then played a Chopin Mazurka (#45) and it was acceptably good.

I’m already thinking ahead to what we will play next time. I would like to try something a little different, perhaps hoping to score points for originality! Deborah and I are learning an aria from Rigoletto. It is written for a duet of male voices. I’m thinking it might be fun to find a tenor and a bass who would be willing to sing while we play.

But that’s for another day. For now, I am feeling oh-so-good about playing my pieces with confidence and enjoyment for my small band of friends on a cold Sunday afternoon in December.