My first piano lesson? Open the book, look at the page, use the right finger and count. A couple of years later, this emphatic directive was found on the page, “COUNT!!!”, implying I was lacking, didn’t measure up, wasn’t “practicing” or maybe Dracula was in the room. As an 8-year-old, you don’t question the “all-knowing” teacher but I knew I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t the problem. Nobody could convince me I was. In BP#4, we’re 23 minutes into this thing and already playing jazz chords. Here’s a hard truth: teachers can only teach what they know. If you engage a teacher who’s solely a reader, guess what? That’s all you’ll ever learn. I was stuck in readers’ prison for 13 years before breaking out. Freedom and independent thought changed my musical life and it can change yours, too.