Adam’s World Weekly 4/27

This past weekend I started a journey I’d been contemplating for quite some time – I had my first piano lesson as an adult (I’d had a few as a child, but it wasn’t a good fit at the time).

For a little over an hour I began learning how to read music, and how to use my fingers in a way that’s wholly different from typing. Funny thing about that, one of the first things I noticed was that I was holding my thumbs away from the keys, and when my teacher pointed it out I said, “I’m so used to my thumbs just being my spacebar fingers” (as I type this they are hovering over the space bar, with the right one doing all the actual work. Hey left thumb, get your act together … at least when I’m at the piano!).

Once we got that sorted out I was a fairly quick study for an initial lesson. I was told I had about a month’s worth of information thrown at me in the span of an hour, and I seemed to retain quite a bit.

I wasn’t Bugs Bunny good, by any stretch of the imagination, but I might get there someday.

Why am I suddenly interested in learning how to play the piano? The reasons are three-fold.

First, I originally wanted to do this for my mom, so I could play for her when my parents moved into a retirement home. Obviously, with the passing of my parents, this has changed to learning in her memory.

Second, while sitting in hospital waiting rooms over the years I became slightly obsessed with Muzak, the laid back instrumental versions of modern pop and rock songs that play quietly in the background. I loved figuring out what the songs were, and couldn’t stop thinking about how cool it would be to be able to slow down some of my faves.

Third, I was inspired a bit by Josh Radnor, who many of you know as the actor who played Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother. He’s also a musician, and I met him a few years ago when he had a show at the old Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, and he was very open about the fact that he didn’t pick up a guitar until he was in his 40s.

So why not start playing the piano at age 47, right? It’s rare to be a rookie when you’re middle aged. I’m used to being the expert in my respective fields, whether it’s journalism (25 years as a pro), or the martial arts (40 years of training), and it’s kind of nice to be able to say – I’m a blank slate, let’s learn from scratch.

I have no desire to become a professional musician, I’m doing this purely for enjoyment, but I still have personal goals, and I’ve already bought a book of sheet music for classic rock songs. “November Rain,” here I come!

Speaking of classic songs, this week’s update is led off by my latest One Hit Wondering column, which is on Gregory Abbott, who gave us the all-time bedroom classic “Shake You Down.” What was he doing before he was inspiring us to spend some quality time together? He was a college professor, and a municipal bonds analyst. Yeah, you’re definitely gonna wanna read this story, because it takes some interesting twists, and turns.

In addition to that feature, I also have fresh editions of Pop Shots, which takes a look at the charts from this week back in 1988, and my weekly NYC Scene Report for you to check out.

Read the full story here

Read the full column here

Read the full column here

As always, thanks for reading, and have a fantastic week.

– Adam Bernard