"I took piano
lessons from Nancy for twelve years, and over the years I learned much more
than how to look at little dots on a piece of paper and press a corresponding
lever. Nancy encouraged and drew out from me emotional
involvement and conscious thought about music, both in general and specific to
certain pieces. Essentially, she taught me how to listen, one of the most
difficult skills there is both to teach and to learn."
Recently I asked whether she had any friends who shared her love of Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. Not surprisingly, the answer was no, despite the fact that many of them had studied piano. Her explanation: They had had that music forced upon them. She had come upon it out of deep involvement with contemporary music and with improvisation. This girl, at nine, had told me: "I don't practice; I don't have time." Clearly her relationship to sound was developing at a very deep level.
