Pregnancy has definitely been affecting my musical abilities. I sing and play flute (and piano, but I won’t be doing that this fall), and I’ve noticed a lot more trouble with longer passages. Part of it is babies crowding out my lungs; I have a hard time taking a deep breath now unless I’m in just the right position. But also when you’re pregnant your need for oxygen goes up and so does your respiration, so whatever breath you take just doesn’t last as long. I’ve even been breathing faster at night
Piano was my first instrument; I started that when I was four. I was originally trained to be a concert pianist, but when my parents moved to a different town we never found a teacher quite as good as the first, so I just kind of went my own way. Since I was 12 I have played oboe, bassoon, viola, guitar, harp, clarinet, and flute. A lot of the time I can’t stand listening to myself long enough to get the necessary practice in; I think I only lasted a couple of months on the clarinet! I think it’s better for kids to start learning an instrument when they’re really little, like I was on piano. That way, they don’t know how bad they sound and get disappointed. I can’t wait to teach piano to these three.