Books

I had long forgotten about piano lessons. But something strange happens on the rare occasion when I sit at the piano at my mother's house. My fingers remember the first few notes of a Clementi sonata, a classical piece I memorized years ago. It's a feat that almost always shocks me since I cannot remember the lesson itself.

It wouldn't shock Tricia Tunstall. As a gifted piano teacher and musician, she understands the deep connection those lessons have with students' souls. She understands that the lessons, when rendered by a creative teacher, can teach you some of life's most poignant lessons (courage, fortitude, trust) and leave you with a lifelong appreciation of music. In case you have forgotten all of this, as I did, Ms. Tunstall has written Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson.

"What I can say – what I do know – is that piano lessons are not only about music but also about trust and confidence, chaos and order, spontaneity and discipline and patience, sometimes even about love ... and once again, and always, about music: its beauty, its power, its capacity to convey profound emotions beyond the reach of words," she writes.

Ms. Tunstall starts with her tiniest students and progresses to the most brilliant. Her gift for writing has us holding our breath at the recital, marveling at what has been accomplished (or not) in those 45-minute lessons each week. Interspersed along the way is her memoir, the significant events of her life vividly recalled through her musical path, which ultimately leads to love.

The beauty of her teaching, though, comes through in the moments of connection she allows us to witness. Every generation bemoans the death of classical music, thanks to popular music. But Ms. Tunstall believes that the two genres can co-exist with each leading to the appreciation of the other.

To meet students where their music interest begins, she teaches them to plunk out the melodies that flow from their iPods. There's Dave Matthews' "Satellite," Coldplay tunes and even hip-hop. But something miraculous happens. A love for classical music arrives.

Most of Ms. Tunstall's students will never become concert pianists. Some will surely tuck away their lessons with other childhood memories. But the vast majority of her students, and her readers, will be forever enriched.

"What do they hear in classical music, and what does it mean to them?" Ms. Tunstall writes. " ... The simplest and most appealing answer, of course, is that beauty is inarguable."

Karen M. Thomas is a freelance writer in Arlington.

A Celebration of the Piano Lesson

Tricia Tunstall

(Simon & Schuster, $24)

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