Kermit and the Keyboard
Three years ago, Kermit decided that he wanted to learn to play the keyboard. Many years ago, he studied music formally, and he enrolled as a music performance major at a local university. He became proficient at clarinet and saxophone and played in both the community symphony and a five- piece dance band. However, the repetitive nature of concerts— playing the same pieces time and again—eventually bored Kermit, and he dropped out of school before earning a degree. Kermit became attracted to the keyboard because he liked the idea of a one-man band. The electronic capabilities of these instruments are truly amazing. One person at the controls can indeed sound like many instruments playing in harmony. The instrument Kermit bought had many built-in features (e.g., prerecorded backgrounds and accompaniments, different voices and rhythms, the ability to play and record multiple tracks, the ability to slow down or speed up the accompaniments). As one might imagine, the instrument also came with a lengthy manual illustrating and describing all its various features and how to use them. Although Kermit learned to read a musical score when he was taking formal lessons, he has never played a keyboard before, so he spends time hunting and pecking on the keys to familiarize himself with the layout. He hauls out some old music instruction books with simple exercises in them, and he buys a couple of fake books that contain familiar popular songs. Fake books show what chords are to be played during each measure of a song. These chords correspond with shortcut keys on the keyboard, so the player has to play only one key instead of the entire chord. Kermit selects some exercises to practice and makes a list of a dozen or so songs that he would like to learn to play. Every day, Kermit plays for about an hour. On some days, he plays for longer; on others, he