What a relief that music books uses the same numbered fingers. “Are thumbs always number 1, even in a different book?” Micah bent his thumbs. We both numbered and wiggled our thumbs and fingers. He practiced sitting tall and curving his fingers like a cat’s paw. “Gran, what if I miss something important in the front?” Micah is methodical – before he rides his bike, he puts on his helmet, arm and knee pads, and riding gloves – so when I flipped a few pages to one that showed black notes and finger numbers for ‘Merrily We Roll Along,’ he stopped me. He asked to play the piano so he wouldn’t have to pump. Knowing Samuel and Annabel used the same book made this young Grand throw out his chest. I quickly found Lesson Book – Level 1A that Micah’s big brother and sister had used. After I played the last note, he asked, “Gran, how do you know what key to play by looking at that book?” When it was my turn, I played ‘Jesus Loves Me’ while Micah sat quietly studying my fingers and the hymnal propped open on the organ. He pumped the organ pedals and played, and like every other time, my Grand declared that you needed strong legs to pump. Creating his own melodies, his little hands have run up and down the keyboards, and he learned to play with fingers, not fists. Micah had played our piano and organ since he was a toddler – old enough to reach the keys. “Did one pump and one play?” eight-year-old Micah asked. When a Grand asks to play our pump organ, I say, “Yes.” And I often say that my grandfather and his two sisters bought the organ about 1915 when they were young adults.
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