Sitting Still
WHEN I WAS a little girl taking classical piano lessons in Chicago, I took sitting still for granted. Reading music seated on a piano bench reminded me of reading words seated at my desk in school. My grandmotherly teacher did not ask me to sing or clap out a rhythm. At home, the piano was in the living room, not a place the kids hung out, and aside from my practicing no one touched it. The adults in my family didn’t sing or dance or listen to music, either on records or on the
