Piano Lessons at Juilliard

The opportunity for literally anyone to take piano lessons, or more officially, Piano Performance (I-IV), at a top conservatory, is something I'm guessing you could only do in a handful of cities. New York is obviously one of them and Juilliard's Evening Division is the official teaching arm that lets you do this.

I can only offer a look at the piano version of the experience. There's voice, string, theory and a slew of others. If you're a pianist, you have to "audition", that is, play a small portion of a piece in front of your prospective teachers. For the uninitiated, i.e., *me*, many moons ago, this was a bit intimidating - a small room with two beat up Steinways and four or five people who are almost literally breathing down your back.

Once you're placed into a class, you get to meet some pretty interesting New Yorkers and a peek at the life of a professional musician, your instructor. I've had two teachers so far, and both were exceptional.

I especially enjoy the social aspect of being friendly with people who love classical music. Even in a cultural city like New York, not a whole lot of people know even a tiny bit about much. It's like that line about reading classics. A classic is a book you've always wanted to read but never get around to. Or something like that.

Some students have an incredibly vast amount of knowledge about music and/or have attended countless concerts and recitals, not to mention, a huge library of recorded music and music scores. They all offer useful feedback on your playing and notice things you just don't recognize on your own. Your tempo is too fast, your not playing with enough legato. That sort of thing. All come from all walks of life, and many are very bright people - doctors, lawyers, PhD candidates and Columbia students.

The main reason I signed up was for the instruction and to get used to playing in front of people, and this you get plenty of chances to work on. I have to say that I'm much better now, then when I first auditioned, but nowhere near as polished as I could be. I rarely get nervous in class now - daresay I could probably handle playing in a small hall. We pianists spend much time practicing on our own, but more and more, I enjoy the performance aspect. Music is much richer experience when you're sharing it.

Some side benefits you get with the classes is access to the library, which pretty much has almost every score you could want. You can borrow the scores or make copies. You can also sign up for the practice rooms, but I have to warn you - most of the pianos are worn out as you can imagine. The practice rooms can be distracting or intimidating, when someone next to you is belting out some impossibly hard Rachmaninov or Prokofiev and you're tempted to listen. I know of students who were learning their pieces, playing them not so well and the student (probably full time undergrad or grad) next door plays the same piece perfectly, just to let you know how it's done.

One unanticipated benefit, offered by my current instructor, is the chance to play at outside venues - the famous piano stores that make up New York's Piano Row. I've been lucky enough to have played Bechsteins, Steinways, Bosendorfers, Yamahas - some of them concert sized grands. Also, on occasion, someone in your class might have a wonderful piano that sits in some abode out of Architectural Digest with a glorious view and you might get invited to play. That, or a hovel of an apartment with a piano that needs work. Either way, there's lots of fun to be had.

Walking the halls and seeing the black and white photos of famous musicians still occasionally gives me the chills. I still have yet to notice any musical celebrities though. Maybe one day, I'll almost get run over by Itzhak Perlman - I hear this is not an uncommon occurrence.