Some people can read music really well. They can read along with someone playing without having to watch furiously and pray through the page turning parts lest they get lost. Me, I’m the laborious type. I’d rather not read music at all, but rather practice until my fingers know it by themselves, although I have to say I don’t play piano very often these days.

The readers have the advantage when it comes to a new piece. They don’t have to stumble around hitting clinkers (Oh! F-sharp! Duh…) and counting up over the top of the staff to figure out the high notes. The brain gets it and the body just has to catch up.

In the music of life, I am also not a reader. This makes change hard. I have lost all sense of rhythm with the recent changes. I don’t know how the song goes yet. I think it might sound awful, but it might be my playing rather than the piece itself. All the same notes are there, but moved around. Where’s writing? Where’s exercise? Didn’t there used to be rests in the music?

Practice. That’s what I need. More practice. Better get the ear plugs.