The Kids are Dyin’ to Hear Some Mozart

School of Rock is one of my all time favorite movies. Cuurently at Holy Cross I’m having withdrawals because I want to see the movie, however I forgot it at home, and I’m not brave enough to venture onto one of the illegal movie websites to watch it. So what do I do to fufill my music fix?

I play the piano.

In my first semester at Holy Cross, I am enrolled in a class called Fundamentals of Music. In the class students are required to take piano tutorials, or lessons, every 3 weeks with our teacher. Then, a week or two later, we are quizzed by playing a selected song/tune/melody for our teacher.  However, none of us have ever played the piano before. The curriculum for Fundamentals of Music teaches students the basics, or skeleton, of music such as notes, scales, and chords, and with the information we learn in class we have to apply it in our piano tutorials and then quizzes.

Currently, I am facing one of my biggest obstacles since being at Holy Cross and that is playing the song “Andantino” by Igor Stravinsky (believe me I know, without even seeing the song it sounds hard because of the composer’s name).

 After spending extra time practicing for this song for my upcoming piano quiz, I have a new innate appreciation for anyone that can play the piano. Anyone who can fluidly move their left and right hands to play different notes at the same time, while simultaneously looking at the music has earned my respect.

My "Everest" at Holy Cross

However, as hard as this song is, I have developed an interest in the piano. As hard as playing the piano might be for me, nothing feels better than playing a measure (or the music contained between two bar lines for all you non-Fundamentals of Music experts) successfully after practicing it repeatedly. Isolating myself in a room with a piano has become relaxing, shockingly. Playing the piano has allowed me to clear my head from any other stress I have at Holy Cross, even if I’m not very good at it.

If you have seen School of Rock before, you should know the line where Jack Black’s character tells Joan Cusack’s character that “the kids are dyin’ to hear some Mozart,” in his attempt to sneak away from the school with his class to have them play at the “Battle of the Bands.” So although my piano skills are nothing like those of Mozart, isolating myself by playing the piano has given me a way to relax, and free myself of stress, even if I sometimes play the piano as well as this guy.

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