The event, tought by Professor Abby Anderton, was a hands-on experience on how to play the blues on a piano. Personally, I had a really good time learning some fundamentals of piano playing since I don’t really have the time to do so myself. Professor Anderton showed us how to coordinate our hand and fingers on the piano so that we could have a more fluent “touch”. Watching her I realized that having the piano “touch” requires a lot of time, patience, and skills. She made playing the piano seem so easy and finally when I got the chance to play the notes on the sheet music, I could really feel the excitement people have playing an insturment. Even more so, the theme of our music genre was the blues so the music itself was really exciting. It was interesting to see how the blues has its own rhythm and culture. For instance, when she played the “12 bar blues song” one could definietely tell that it has an old, southern feel to it. This specific song, is called a 12 bar blue song because it is the foundation of all blues music. Artists use the 12 music bars to conduct a 4/4 time signature, and in this way, it is easier to play and distinguish the first (I), fourth (IV), and fifth (V) note.

Ironically, I took a music class last semster and did not enjoy it at all, mostly becuase I had no idea how to play or talk music. Professor Anderton actually teaches a music course called, “Music in Western Civivlization” at Baruch, and through her methods I was finally able to understand more clearly what a chord was, or what a note was. Most importantly, I was finally able to hear the many different sounds that each term meant like a “12 bar”. What was also interesting was how Professor Anderton showed us that the piano itself can be another instrument simultaneously, like a harp (by plucking the strings behind the keys). It made me realize that an instrument is not only a single playing tool, but that through creativity, it could also be something else. I belive that’s something very important to think about, especially as a musician.