Brian Schiff

9/28/14
Paper Draft 1
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 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, I 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.

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 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. Rather, it was more of a distraction. As part of my instructions, I was
required to practice the piano one hour every day. While only an hour of practice doesnt seem
like much, to a seven 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

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 siginificantly. 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 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 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. The
judges as well as over two hundred people were all staring at me. I took a 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 using a non-existent competition as motivation was ridiculous. 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. At that point in my life, I
lacked the motivation to dedicate my time to playing. She told me, Brian, you will regret
quitting the piano after playing for so long. When I ask myself today whether I regret quitting
the piano, it is hard for me to give a definite answer. I enjoyed seeing how happy my Mom was
when I played the piano. Also, after playing an instrument for so long, it felt like it was part of
my identity. While quitting gave me some free time, it felt like I lost a part of myself. What I
dont regret is playing the piano for eight years. Piano taught me patience with the hour long
practice sessions every day. It showed me the importance of responsibility, and helped me form a
strong bond with my twin brother.