Loved2Love Piano School

To be accompanied, frees me to be focused on the lyrics and my singing. My son at the piano…

O Holy Night (Elize Swart Cover - public domain) This is one of the oldies I love. Thinking of how Christ laid down his godliness to become one of us. What a wonderful privilege to have access to the throne...

A life lesson learned while playing Bach compositions...

Ever felt that you were born to stand out?

I was indignant as I looked down on the report in my hand. I had felt good after the piano exam and was excited to receive my results. Now this.

Reflecting on my journey, I thought, "Could he not hear how hard I worked on this?!"

My eyes scanned over the other marks: I did well overall because of my other pieces, technical work, even sight reading received high marks! However, I received a mere mediocre mark for my Bach work, bringing my average down significantly.

I sank into the chair as my thoughts meandered their way through the last few months. Although I knew interpreting Bach was potentially contentious, I loved playing Bach so much that I took the risk to choose his work. I worked particularly hard on his pieces, because I understood the technical challenge they brought.
I remembered how I was thrown in confusion when I started with a new teacher, and the contentious issues were screaming at me to choose on whose side I was with the use of pedal, dynamics and articulation – a hint of pedal or strictly no pedal; legato or slightly non-legato; meticulously sticking to step-wise dynamics or subtle use of gradual change in dynamics at appropriate sections… My muddled mind cringed as I consulted with a third teacher to round things off, suggesting a third set of possibilities! I ended up mid-way and was now facing the opinion of the examiner.

I called a mug of coffee in to be the judge: had the examiner relied too much on his own opinion and judged me unfairly? No answer. A thought crossed my mind which settled the ongoing inner battle:
"For the rest of my life, I am free to play the works of Bach in whichever way I please!"

I loved this idea whilst realising that a different examiner might have penalised me on opposite attributes. After all, it was just an opinion. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be as much debate about this. Unfortunately, we can't consult the composer - JS Bach closed his consulting office.

It dawned on me that I had the power to choose how I looked at my report. I pondered on my so-called failure or accomplishment and recognised the life lesson: there would always be people who might applaud my performance or decisions, while others might dislike it, even strongly so, and the rest might be quite indifferent. With this reality in mind, I should pursue my unique style without hesitation.

We are inimitably created with a unique set of gifts, personalities, circumstances and purposes to fulfill in our lives. Copying others because they seem to be successful or trying to fit ourselves in theoretical boxes of how ministry must be operated, is quenching the flow of the Holy Spirit and disregarding our individualities.

If I dare to be completely different than other ministries or individuals, it releases an abundance of creativity mixed with the specific flavour of my personality and set of gifts. Obviously, it is not a desperate effort to be different for the sake of being different, but an authentic use of what I have to offer, and to present myself as a gift to God and others. Spiritual gifts do not come in little labelled boxes that we can add to our resume but are rather organic. They aren't stagnant, but develop with use; furthermore, God may surprise you by giving you a gift of the Holy Spirit in a specific situation, that you hadn't thought to fit in your arsenal. In fact, His Word promises to give us exactly what we need in every circumstance to accomplish what He sends us to do!

Now, I want to challenge you: are you trying to live up to someone else's expectations of who you should be, or are you clay in the Potter's Hand to do whatever He sees fit to do? Are you striving to achieve what only God can achieve through you? We are merely the conduits – there is less pressure on us than we think! Do you trust God to complete the work He has started in you, and are you stepping out in faith to be obedient in whatever He is calling you to do, today? If you do, your faith will grow, and tomorrow will bring a new challenge, needing a new level of faith, but also allowing your faith to grow even more. Go ahead, and ‘play Bach’ in your style – the world needs your unique touch!