Who Am I

 ALT Magazine Blog for December

 

If you were to ask someone, “Who is Suzie Tyler?” Their first thought would be bling and shoes! But… There is another side of me… the music side!

I learned to play a musical instrument when I was ten and played an accordion or piano in a church service at age 12. I heard tones in my head and matched them to the sounds coming from the keyboard. I had no idea where B flat was on a piece of music or the keyboard, but I knew the three chords used to play a hymn in the key of B flat.

If you hummed it, I would play it! My parents didn’t realize the importance of lessons because I could play anything I heard!

I also was a curious child. It was not enough to hear and play it. I wanted to know the structure of what I was playing! I didn’t realize it was the theory of music!

I’m sure I made a nuisance of myself asking questions of every good pianist I heard! I watched and asked why and how they knew what to play!

Probably the turning point was when our choir director in Conroe wanted the choir to do a cantata for Easter! But, I couldn’t read music, so I went to my daughter’s piano teacher and thought she could teach me in a few weeks!

Wrong!

After telling me she didn’t teach adults, especially those who played by ear, she reluctantly agreed to teach me the basics, and I would have to apply myself to learn the rest!

I was determined and literally said Every Good Boy Does Fine and wrote out above the notes for each vocal part and memorized the music.

The accompaniment was written in chords, so I figured out the name of each one and wrote it above the cluster of notes then memorized them!

I had an LP recording of the cantata and played it repeatedly and matched the sounds with the notes and chords, and I was home free!

At the end of the presentation night, I felt accomplished, but the knowledge I gained was priceless! Sometimes I still hear John Peterson’s No Greater Love playing in my head!

With determination and perseverance, you can conquer anything!

Check out my blog post online. I will give you an inside look at my travels in the Houston area and my experiences playing for various groups and soloists in Texarkana!

No snake stories, but some were pretty amazing!

suzietksnippets.blogspot.com