A Piano Lesson for Two-Bits

Mrs. Robert Campbell on her 95th

birthday. She lived until 1977. (This

appeared in the Ponca City News.)

            Mrs. Robert Parker Campbell was born in 1877 in Illinois. When just a toddler, her family moved west to Kansas. She began giving piano lessons at age 16 in 1893 in Kansas. When she and her husband moved to Fairfax in 1916, she continued teaching private piano lessons. In 1928, she gave three-year-old Maria Tallchief, the world-renowned prima ballerina, her first piano lesson. A year later, the young Osage phenom performed an advanced composition for an American Petroleum Institute in Tulsa.

One of the Gate Posts at the entry of
Tallchief Mansion. Photo was taken
by blog author for her third grade
Fairfax History Unit in 1984.
       
            My mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, took her first piano lesson on May 28, 1938, at  Mrs. Campbell's home in Fairfax. Mrs. Campbell's residence was the two-story home of the late Charlie and Edith Crabtree. My grandmother, Gladys Rainey Smith, a self-taught pianist herself, had given Mother basic instruction in reading music. Mrs. Campbell expressed surprise at about how much the thirteen-year-old knew. After hearing how well she played, she assigned Mother more advanced piano pieces to master. My grandparents paid a quarter for each lesson. That would be equivalent to $4.36 today. A quarter was the minimum hourly wage in 1938.
           They lived a little over 12 miles from Fairfax, but at that time, my grandparents did not have a vehicle.* After the summer of 1938, Mother discontinued her piano lessons. She was only able to take eleven lessons.
          My sister and I recognized many years ago that our mother’s innate musical talent far exceeded ours. My teaching mentor, Ruby Rice, praised Mother’s hymn stylings on the piano.
         She has retained her excellent musical “ear” even at her age of 95. Her appreciation of a wide range of musical genres continues. Southern Gospel Style, Classical, Jazz, Ragtime and almost any other style played well suits her fine.
         As Angie and I practiced, Mother stressed accuracy. She disliked intensely “fumbling the notes.” That standard for a pianist fed my desire to practice and continues to drive me to practice daily – if I can arrange my schedule. Expressive playing rated second only to accuracy for Mother. She felt expressive performance drew listeners into the musical experience.
        The negative aspect of her perfection passion fuels her resistance to play the piano since she cannot play at the level she once did. I have tossed back to her the advice she used to give my father in his early 90s, “Use it or lose it.” Her perfectionism has driven her to allow a congregation to sing unaccompanied reluctantly after repeatedly requesting a pianist to come forward!
        Finally, she deplores that so few young people are encouraged to learn to play the piano. Brain research supports her belief of music’s necessity for healthy development in children as well as wholesome aging.
        Mother still loves singing and has even told me, much to my surprise, she occasionally sits down to play with her arthritic hands when I am away from the house. Just don’t ask this savvy, talented senior citizen to play for you!

Mother’s Biblical Basis for Developing a Strong Practice Ethic in Her Daughters
Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a loud and joyful sound.

*Even though Mother's family had no motor car, Grandpa drove the two-seater Model A touring car belonging to his mother-in-law, Rosa Jarrell Rainey. Each week, Grandpa took "Granny" into town to sell her eggs and get any needed staples. Great-Grandma Rainey's husband, Bill, once told her, "Rosie, you're a good worker but no manager." Great Grandpa Bill Rainey would have never imagined his widow would save enough money to buy her own car, even though she did not drive. Mother recalled riding a flatbed wagon with sideboards drawn by a team of horses, the most faithful being Bess, a tried and true equine. They rode the wagon to brush arbor revivals held south of the present location of Scott and Shelly Doshier's home. Mother and her parents also used the horse-drawn wagon when visiting relatives and friends in the Bend.