As I’ve mentioned in several of my blog posts, my musical preferences shifted from popular music to jazz while I was in high school. In my efforts to develop my skills at the keyboard, I sought out musical models by listening to records as well as jazz radio stations. Because I grew up in Westchester County, I lived close enough to the Big Apple that it was possible to get to New York City by car or train within about an hour.

One of the benefits to being near this cultural hub was that my early exposure to jazz included some transformational experiences that have had an impact on my entire musical career. Sometime between attending the two concerts that I wrote about in my Summer in Central Park Brings Memories of Great Music blog post, a friend of mine introduced me to the music of the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

In addition to sharing some of his Brubeck LPs with me, he and his father invited me to attend one of the Quartet’s concerts held at Lincoln Center during the ensemble’s Take Five heyday period. Needless to say, as an impressionable young pianist, I was blown away by the performance.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that Brubeck (often with long-time partner saxophonist Paul Desmond) had an extensive discography that featured interpretations of the standards of the American Popular Songbook. Even though two of my three Brubeck records fit into this category, it was only much later that I realized how important this contribution was.

Sometimes my students can get frustrated because they have some trouble understanding an important musical concept. The more they learn, the more they realize how much more there is to learn. I always encourage them to persevere. Experience has taught me that the longer you stay on the path to musical growth, the more things begin to make sense.

And so here I sit writing this article to conclude my Beguine blog post series with the Rodgers and Hart classic This Can’t Be Love as the featured selection. It’s been more than four decades since I first heard the song on the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Bossa Nova USA recording. If you’re curious, the track is available on Amazon.com.

The impact of this early inspiration remains imprinted in my musical memory. To transform the Brubeck Bossa nova arrangement into a beguine bass accompaniment for my recording for today’s post only took a minor adjustment. So my advice to all of you piano students is to “take heart, eventually the pieces of your musical puzzle will create a colorful picture!”

One of my long-time adult students once told me that his motivation for taking piano lessons year after year has been his enjoyment of the process of musical growth. He finds that it also fuels his energy for his extensive explorations with creative photography.

Composer Richard Rodgers spent the first half of his career in partnership with lyricist Lorenz Hart on thirty musicals from 1919 until 1943. Nineteen years after their Broadway beginning, This Can’t Be Love was composed in 1938 for the show The Boys from Syracuse. It ranks as one of the team’s most popular songs. Like Cole Porter, the composer was far from being an overnight success. Then, rather than give up or simply live on his reputation after Hart died in 1943, Rodgers continued to evolve and grow.

His work changed and developed in his 17 year collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II. Although his track record of popular success was less distinguished after Hammerstein’s death in 1960, Richard Rodgers remained dedicated to his own process of musical growth until his illness and subsequent death in 1977.

As we prepare for the holiday season and bid goodbye to the beguine blog series, I hope that those of you who play the piano will be encouraged to continue to grow and develop your musical skills and knowledge. If you are taking lessons, please be assured that all of us who are professional pianists have faced the same challenges that you face. There is a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes as you pursue your piano playing proficiency.

That being said, you don’t have to try to make the journey on your own. Taking piano lessons can make your learning process simpler, shorter and certainly more successful. Our Instructors at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are dedicated to guiding you along the way to better piano playing sooner than you think. Contact us today to find out how you can get started with your piano lessons.

Whether you come for your lessons to our convenient Natick studio location or to our centrally situated Hudson Studio in the historic Oddfellows Hall, you can be assured that our piano instructors will be delighted and dedicated to helping you Learn to Play the Music You Love!