Schiff 1

Brian Schiff
1 October 2014
Paper 1 Final Draft
Development is Key
At age ten, I was walking with my mom through the Town Center Mall when she spotted
a grand piano. She said, Brian please play the piano, it would make me so proud! Despite my
resistance she convinced me to sit on that piano bench and play some Chopin pieces I had
partially mastered. Eventually a crowd formed, which made me extremely uncomfortable. As I
played, she would converse with spectators who were impressed with my performance.
Unfortunately, this became a regular event as I went to the mall every week after school to eat.
It was the first time I had played piano publicly and it certainly wasnt the last. Most children
had to clean the gutters, do laundry, or clean their rooms. For me, the piano was my chore. I saw
no practical use for the piano in daily life. I had spent many hours of my life not only tempering
the hand eye coordination required to play the instrument, but also spent a gratuitous amount of
time learning music theory. I had to learn to read notes quickly and efficiently in treble clef and
in base clef. Eventually, it became as easy as reading a book. To me, these abilities seemed
absolutely useless, but to my Mother, they were so much more. Every day that I practiced piano,
my mom would always tell me how proud she was of me. I always wondered what my mother
saw in the piano that I didnt. What I realized looking back is that she didnt just love the piano
because it was a beautiful instrument, she loved it because she saw it as an important builder of
character. In retrospect, my pursuit towards literacy in the piano over the course of eight years
had significant effects on my personal development throughout my childhood to present. It took
me years after I quit the piano to realize how dramatically it had impacted my personality.

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I was first introduced to piano in the first grade. One of the courses I was required to take
was an intro to music theory class which was taught by Mr. Sandoval. He had a fun way of
teaching where he taught us music theory in an interactive way. He had small games where he
had a mat with piano keys on it and when he asked us about different notes and scales, we
jumped on different keys. My teacher saw potential in me as I was quick to understand the
course material. A month into taking his class, he gave me an opportunity to join an after-school
keyboarding class. It was not a traditional class in the sense that a student was lectured. The large
white room was lined with keyboards where children could put on headphones and play
individually. Occasionally Mr. Sandoval would walk over and put on his own set of headphones
to listen. He would always give constructive criticism, encouraging us to get better on our own.
The first song I ever learned to play was a piece called Chopsticks. Every day after school, I
would sit down at a keyboard and practice the same measures over and over again. When I
finally mastered the song, I felt an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. I loved the class
because it helped me develop my creativity in a way that writing and drawing never could.
Following my keyboarding classes, my mom hired Simona Armbruster as my private
piano tutor. She had been a piano teacher and a concert pianist for many years. Mr. Sandoval by
this time, had nothing more to teach me as he only had basic knowledge of piano and music
theory. I was age nine at this point and Simona was having a much more difficult time
instructing me than Mr. Sandoval ever had. At this time, piano was less of a fun, creative form of
an expression for me. It became stressful work. Instead of a learning at my own pace, I was
required to practice the piano one hour every day. While only an hour of practice doesnt seem
like much, to a nine year old, it is grueling. Time moves quickly when you are having fun and
when you arent, it moves at a snails pace. I tried to avoid playing the piano for a full hour

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everyday but my mom was strict. What I did manage to do was to avoid learning. I would play
the parts of a piece I already knew repeatedly and not practice parts that I did not know. By the
time Simona came for my lesson, I had learned very little. One day, Simona assigned me the
piece Jingle Bells. She said, Brian, I expect you to have mastered this song within the next
three weeks. Of course I gave her my typical, sarcastic response, Dont worry about it. The
song only had eighteen short measures and within the three weeks, I learned four. I kept myself
busy looking out the window at the golf course nearby my house and playing the same four
measures repeatedly. It drove my entire family insane. When Simona finally realized I was
procrastinating, she told my mom. I was subsequently grounded indefinitely until I finished
learning Jingle Bells. I learned the entire piece within the next week. This was crucial in my
pursuit of literacy as it accelerated the pace at which I learned significantly. Practicing only what
I knew prevented me from developing any new skills. What this experience taught me was that I
can learn in an environment where my time is constrained but I learn better at my own pace and
in an interactive environment. Furthermore, I had never procrastinated before starting the piano
and it is an obstacle that I still havent quite overcame. I still tend to procrastinate on most
assignments.
At age thirteen, Simona entered me into a festival for the Federation of Music Clubs.
Among the students, it was known as the notorious Federation. It was a competition where a
panel of judges would rate songs technically on a scale from one to five, five being the best
score. At the same time as me, my twin brother, Daniel, was also entered by Simona into the
festival for piano. This put a large amount of pressure on me. Since we were children, we have
always had a complicated relationship where we have always tried to outperform the other at
different tasks. He started playing piano at the same time as me and progressed at a pace far

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beyond mine. Unfortunately for me, I have never had the natural talent that he possesses. He not
only has brilliant hand eye coordination, he has perfect pitch and can learn any song he pleases
by ear. Just recently before the federation, he figured out Snow by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
on the piano after hearing it on the radio. Of course, still having my juvenile competitive attitude,
I practiced for weeks to perform the best I could. I chose a piece by L.M. Gottschalk called The
Banjo and Tarantelle by Chopin. When I sat down on the wooden bench in the large
auditorium, I was almost overwhelmed with fear. Every little sound echoed throughout the large
room and the grand piano on the stage felt significantly different than the one I had at home.
Every key felt thinner and easier to press down. The judges as well as over two hundred people
were all staring at me. I took a deep breath and played to the best of my abilities. Fortunately,
very few people tend to notice errors on a piano. I scored a four on Banjo and a five on
Tarantelle. Right after I played my pieces, my brother went on stage and scored fives on both of
his pieces. At the time, I was sad that I lost to my brother but it made me realize that healthy
competition can be a beneficial motivator. I was proud of my performance and I respected
Daniels natural talent. This respect helped form the basis of the great friendship that we have
today.
One year later, I quit the piano despite my Moms protests. It was the result of built up
frustration after playing for so long. At that point in my life, I lacked the motivation to dedicate
my time to playing. I felt that the piano was not only a poor use of my time but also an
unpleasant instrument to play. When I practiced a piece, I would have to play it hundreds of
times. Eventually, I would get sick of and hate my own music. Every key I hit felt like nails
driving deep into my brain. She told me, Brian, you will regret quitting the piano after playing
for so long. At the time, I was ecstatic to have ridded myself of my chore. When I ask myself

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today whether I regret quitting the piano, it is not hard for me to give a definite answer. The only
part of playing the piano that I really enjoyed was seeing how happy it made my Mom and the
competition with my brother.