Like many of our group, I started as a child, but I stopped after about 5 years due to the lack of internal motivation. However, my interested was rekindled about 4 years later, and after a few years of lessons I was studying for the Grade 8 RCM, but I burned my hand and was unable to do the exam. After that I was too busy in University to continue lessons, although I kept playing when I could. I occasionally played for church, and found out that accompanying others eliminated most of the anxiety, so after I retired from the public service in 2014, I thought that I would try to get involved in this. I quickly found out that there is no shortage of pianists looking to be accompanists, but in the process I stumbled upon the Ottawa Piano Group, I joined, and the rest is history.
It was the best thing I did after I retired. For the first few years I mostly played the pieces I had learned previously, although this time I had to learn them well enough to play in front of others. I have since learned quite a few new ones. Over the years my playing tastes have changed from almost strictly the classics, to include the works of quite a few composers of different styles and genres of different eras up to the present. I ended up becoming quite a fan of Scott Joplin.
In 2018, inspired by David and by constant exposure to good instruments, I finally got a fabulous grand piano, a Yamaha Disklavier, retiring my 100 year old upright. The quality of the instrument is so good that it motivated me to play even more.
Over my years of playing with the group, my anxiety level when playing has dropped greatly, even to the point where I can somewhat comfortably play from memory, sometimes at least! Playing with the group motivates to learn works to a higher standard, and the other great benefit is hearing such a diversity of music, as everyone has different tastes and interests. Having heard hundreds of pieces since I started, it is no surprise that some have intrigued me enough to learn them, although with new pieces being played almost every session, you realize that there is more music out there than you could play in a lifetime.
