The last few years I have been doing more teaching and fewer gigs. I still perform one to two days a week, but as I grow older I prefer a less hectic life, so I now do more teaching than performing. I have years of stories to tell, but little time to write it and lately it’s been on my mind because I’m finding that some of these memories from the past are getting hazy and I don’t want to forget them. I want to share them. Here.
So let me start off with a story from many years ago, from when I was a child taking piano lessons.
I was probably about 11 years old when one day after church, Maxine, my Sunday school teacher from when I was younger approached me about playing the piano for the early elementary Sunday school kids. At that time I was a very shy, self-conscience girl and scared of my own shadow. I told her I didn’t think I could do it. She sensed my nervousness and told me that if I made a mistake the young kids wouldn’t care. Of course my mother said right in front of her, “Shannon, you can do this!” and encouraged me to take the job. But I told Maxine that I had to think about it and that I would tell her the following Sunday.
So that entire week I’m going back and forth with the idea, wondering if I could do it. She had told me that the music was all songs that I had sung when I was in her elementary class. But I knew that singing them was NOT the same as playing them. All week my mom was encouraging me, (I would not be where I am today without her encouragement) and finally decided I would do it.
So the following Sunday I told Maxine I would be her piano player. She was delighted. So Maxine handed me the music that she wanted me to learn. I looked at it and was horrified! It looked so hard! I’m panicking wondering how I’m going to pull this off. I didn’t want to disappoint, so I took the music from her and prayed. My mother’s words were ringing in my head, “We need to always give God our best”. I thought, “How can I give God my best when it’s so hard!?”
That following week along with my school work, my normal piano practice and my household chores, I practiced and prayed, working diligently on the music. Thankfully she only gave me only a few of the songs to learn. The rest would come later. So I worked on my right hand alone. I worked on my left hand alone. Then I put my two hands together and worked and practiced and before I knew it Sunday arrived. I was not confident. I was scared and nervous but I knew that God would be with me. Maxine gathered the children in a big circle around the old upright piano in the Sunday school room and I played Jesus Loves Me while the children sang. Did I mess up? Yup! Did anyone care? Just me. Just as Maxine said, the kids didn’t care!
I continued playing for the early elementary kids for a long time and learned more songs as the time passed. Of course the music that Maxine gave me was not difficult, but at that time in my piano learning journey, it was hard. I look back at it now and consider it my first gig. Little did I know that there would be many more gigs in my future.
Wow, that experience shaped my entire life. I wanted to run when Maxine asked me to play. I had a real fear of playing in front of others. But with my mother’s encouragement, I faced my fear as a child so many years ago and every time I played in front of anyone other than my parents, it continued to get easier and easier. From then on, I’ve pretty much been a church piano player and I still am to this day. Do I still get nervous? I still sometimes do, but just a little bit.
Thank you mom. XOXO
Shannon Janssen Piano Studio 