Breakthrough

Last night I had a breakthrough. While practicing I became aware of my left hand.

This may seem like no big deal to you, but it was for me. For the past three weeks, I've been attempting to play two lines of music simultaneously. This is what you do on a piano. I think Teacher (or Alfred) likes to throw you in to sink or swim early on. The left hand plays the Bass clef. While I've been attempting to play the--admittedly simple-- Bass clef directions along with the melodies, my awareness has drifted back and forth in a kind of semi-controlled confusion between one hand and the next. My right hand has been aware of its position in space. If I played each hand separately there was no problem. But when attempting to combine the hands, the left hand sort of floated over there and it's taken a lot of concentration to get it to properly play the C, G7 and B Chords to accompany the exercises in my lesson book.

Of course, as soon as my concentration drifted to my left hand, my right hand went off on its own journey of exploration, like a cat left to its own devices. After much repetition, my performance improved, but my left hand simply wasn't aware of itself. I had to keep an eye on it or it misbehaved, like my cats when they think I'm not watching. Actually my cats don't care if I'm watching or not.

Last night I realized at a certain point I was simultaneously aware of both hands. It happened while I wasn't paying attention, naturally. Connections finally took place in my brain and my left hand caught up with my right hand.

Now the funny thing about this is that last summer while in physical therapy over a shoulder problem, I found out I was probably born left-handed. The reason I say this is funny is because all my life I've been right-handed. You see, back in the early Sixties when I went to school, if you were left-handed, the teachers re-trained you to be right-handed. I had a friend who had his left hand taped shut so he wouldn't use it. I remember he cried a lot. I know my left hand is smarter than my right. I also know my left eye is dominant because of archery and my optometrist says so.

My leftiness was verified in physical therapy after some tests revealed my shoulder problem came from a lifetime adjusting to using the wrong hand. Researching this condition, I found entire web fora devoted to people who had similar experiences. Thanks, Society, for your unreasoning prejudice against the Bar Sinister! If Leonardo and Michelangelo, two of history's most talented lefties, had had their left hands taped shut, the Renaissance would have been a bleak period indeed.

The period before my hands coordinated was frustrating. I wonder how many people give up before reaching the point where their brains begin creating the necessary connections? Considering the number of keyboards for sale on Craigslist, I would say quite a few, which is too bad. It's kinda neat to discover you can do something today you couldn't do yesterday. Especially when you're an old geezer.