Piano Parties

Monday was piano party day!  It’s always a riot, year after year, seeing these students get together to share.  Every age group is so very different.  The littlest group is a little nervous, kind of quiet, and very polite.  They relish their snacks and have a good time playing “Name that tune.”  They are cautious, and full of smiles.

The middle group is a rowdy affair, and they eat me out of house and home!  Seriously.  They ate a bag of celery, 1.5 bags of grapes, a party pack of cheese, two plates of crackers, 1.3 pans of brownies and 2.5 dozen cookies, along with a bag of carrots and a bag of snap peas.  I don’t mind a bit.  It’s a once-a-year affair, and they look forward to it ALL year.  They are bouncing off the walls by the time they leave.  Actually, they are bouncing off the walls as soon as they arrive.  We zip through their musical selections that they’ve chosen to share, and we are off to refreshments.  They usually go back for fourths or fifths all throughout their heated game of music jeopardy.  Music jeopardy has become a tradition for piano parties.

Sometimes we don’t have a teenage group because they are all so busy with other activities and work, but this year about half of my teenage students came, and they were joined by YaYa and Mr. SP, who just couldn’t stay out of the game of advanced music jeopardy.  I made the questions hard for these guys, and I was impressed with how much they knew.  They seemed a little apprehensive when they walked in the door, but by the time they left, they were very much joking and goofing around.

This was Mr. TOF’s first year to participate in piano party day.  He’s been waiting for YEARS to be included, and if you asked him, he’d tell you that he ate four brownies and three cookies along with a lot of crackers and a few slices of cheese.  He followed me around all day as I was preparing and baking.  “I’m so excited!  I’m  just SO excited!  I can’t wait.  I’m also feeling a little bit nervous, but mostly the excited feelings are eating up the nervous feelings.”  Look closely at that top picture, and you will find him, grinning away.