My New Instrument

Something I get asked quite often – how many instruments do you play?

Hmmm…..six?   I sing, play piano, clarinet, recorder, guitar, and can kinda fake other woodwind instruments (flute, sax, etc).  I had no idea that I’d be adding another instrument to my collection – my feet!!!

The Third Coast Rhythm Project is a tap dance school here in our lovely shopping center.  I have wanted to take tap lessons since we moved in here almost 4 years ago.  This summer, the absolute beginner tap class and an opening in my teaching schedule finally matched up.  My daughter Brynn, sister Aimee, and longtime adult piano student and friend Virginia decided to join the class with me.

I’m headed to my 5th class tonight with Barbara Phillips and I’m having a blast!  She is a phenomenal teacher and every class seems to fly by.  Instead of counting, we always dance to music –  so we can “play” our feet along with the various songs.  It’s the music that tells our feet what to do!   Many pieces we’ve been playing with are jazz standards, but she has played other styles as well (even George Michael!)

I am truly enjoying the challenge of applying my musical training to my feet – and have been surprised sometimes how tricky some steps are!  I found that sometimes it’s more important for me to hear what we’re supposed to do, rather than see it.  Once again, I’m thankful for my musical training – my ears help guide my feet and I can hear how it’s supposed to sound in my head (even if it doesn’t sound exactly the same…)

We’ve almost learned tap dance’s national anthem – the Shim Sham.  It’s a 90 year old dance that is frequently performed at the end of tap dance performances.  I’ve loved learning a little tap history along with the actual dance (maybe Ms. Aimee and I need to perform it some time!).

So now maybe after more lessons, when people ask me how many instruments I play, I might say seven 🙂