I started taking piano lessons as an adult beginner about 10 years ago. It had

been my dream to take piano lessons since I was young. It wasn’t financially possible

for most of my life, so I eventually put it in the back of my mind until my former

boss encouraged me to consider it.

Before starting piano, I would’ve said that I loved classical music, but it was a surface-level love, and I knew only the most well-known pieces. So there were a lot of composers I wasn’t really familiar with – one of them was Chopin.

My first encounter with Chopin came fairly early in my piano journey. My piano teacher was starting to get me into actual literature. One of the first real pieces I learned was a Chopin Prelude. After I mastered one, I worked on 3 more. I was immediately drawn to his style, relatively understated, quietly dramatic, melancholy. I felt like I understood him – the notes on the page may as well have been words!

As I started to look up more of Chopin’s work, I discovered his Nocturnes, more specifically his Nocturne #1 in B flat minor. It was hauntingly beautiful – the left hand playing a steadily flowing river and the right hand a meandering stream, the melody simultaneously plaintive and hopeful.

It was immediately captivating, and even now after hearing it numerous times,

it remains my favorite piece and never ceases to affect me. I decided that it would be my bucket-list piece. I knew when I first heard it that I didn’t have the technical capability to attempt it and wasn’t sure I ever would. But a couple of years later, my mom had given me the book of Chopin’s Nocturnes, so my piano teacher decided I was ready.

I worked painstakingly to get the intricate melody down – the contrasting rhythms made it a real challenge. But my love for the piece spurred me on through mistakes and frustrations. And eventually the puzzle pieces began to come together. I won’t pretend that I ever played it masterfully, but I played it to my satisfaction and felt every note. To this day it remains the hardest piece I’ve ever played and the one I’m proudest of!