Pam’s Corner by Pamela Blaine

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Accidentels

“I better try that ONE MORE TIME,” I said to myself as I was playing a song on the piano. It was for Sunday church and I wanted to get it right. I was having some trouble working on this particular piece because it had a lot of accidentals.

An accidental is a note change in the music that doesn’t follow the key of the music. You can be playing along quite well in the proper key with all the right timing and dynamics when suddenly there it is…an accidental. Accidentals can be sneaky that way and they sometimes cause me to stop my practicing and even yell at that accidental for rudely appearing on the page.

Yet, there’s a lesson to be learned from that accidental. An accidental teaches me to pay closer attention and try to read ahead toward the notes that are coming. If I play the accidental correctly the music will sound good but if I miss it, I will know and so will anyone else who is listening because the note played will be wrong so the song won’t sound right.

Mrs. Sue Kruger was my piano teacher and one thing she taught me was that if you play a wrong note, keep going, don’t stop, and don’t give up. Finish the song and do the best you can.

Just like in music life has accidentals. We can be living our lives and doing what we always do when suddenly something happens that was completely unexpected. One of life’s accidentals appear and we wonder why our normal life has been so rudely interrupted. Some of life’s accidentals are more devastating than others. It might be a small accidental like a change of plans for the day but it could also be a canceled vacation, a job change, an unexpected illness, or even a death in the family. In life, accidentals can be much more devastating than an accidental on a piece of sheet music. Yet, we also have a life song to play to the finish the best that we can no matter what accidentals come along in our lives.

Just remember Mrs. Sue Kruger’s teaching: Keep going, don’t stop, and don’t give up! Finish the song and do the best you can.

“I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith”
2 Timothy 4:7