Practice Makes Perfect, 1999, by Carlee Guthrie

From MemoryArchive

Who: Carlee Guthrie
What: Practice Makes Perfect
When: 1999 and on
Where: Bardstown, Kentucky

I have been taking piano lessons since I was in second grade. I have a good musical ear, which I believe is from my mother. Playing the piano is one of my favorite things to do. There's not many better feelings than the one I get when I finally master a particularly difficult piece.

I won't pretend that I've always loved to play the piano. There were some times when I wanted nothing more to do with it. To this day, I don't know why I used to despise piano so much. I guess I was just too young and restless to really practice and enjoy it.

Though at times practicing may have seemed like the hardest part, it wasn't. The biggest obstacles for me were recitals. Sometimes I would get so nervous I didn't think I could play.

Instead of improving over time, the problem got worse as I got better at piano. I loved it so much that, more than anything, I wanted to do well in front of other people and show them how much better I was and that I had potential.

I realized I was going to have to somehow break this cycle of nervousness. I made myself focus when practicing because I found out if I practiced more, I felt more prepared for recitals. I would learn recital songs inside and out until my fingers knew where to go before my brain did.

Today, I don't really like recitals, but I don't dread them either. I always feel prepared from the time I spend practicing. Sometimes I zone out and completely focus on the music, but hopefully someday I won't have to worry about messing up and I can just play the piano.