Santa brought me a piano!

Well, I asked for a piano keyboard and Santa delivered. Sitting right next to me is a second-to-cheapest-I-could-find 88-key keyboard with a stand and seat.

I have been using FlowKey about 30 minutes a night.

When I was between eight years old, I took piano lessons. I quite after three months.

Learning the piano is not easy. But I like to jump into things.

I have watched Youtube videos on music theory and chords. I have forgotten most of it I have downloaded a number of note apps, so that I can learn the treble and bass clef (really the bass cleff) notes.

Learning to play the piano creates new pathways in the brain, similar to learning a new language. This sounds like a big demand for the noodle. I failed to appreciate the complexity of reading music in real-time and getting my left and right handle to play together.

Ignorantly, I thought that perhaps my software engineering background would allow me a little easier time with striking the keys and what have you but, nope!-- this is difficult. I doubt I will get to the pedal this year.

To be forty-two and trying new, albeit difficult, hobbies is the spice of life. What a gift! But man! It's humbling.

I have decided to take the long road, not shaving corners -- I spent 20 years shaving corners -- making sure that I hit the keys precisely before moving on. I do believe that if I am to learn this the hard way, and correctly, that this hobby may be a multi decade undertaking.

The knock on effect is that my son wants to learn. And my daughter hits them ivories, too.