I just have to say it again:

Thank you, Stephen.

This is truly the best gift I could have given myself.

Reconnecting with the piano has brought so much joy back into my life — more than I expected, and more than I even thought was possible at this stage.

When I was a child, I learned piano through the classical method. I stayed with it for about five years… but eventually, I became frustrated and quit.

But here’s the truth:

I never really stopped playing.

No matter where I lived, I always had a piano nearby. I would sit down and play — not perfectly, not technically, but enough to express something inside me.

I always loved music.
Especially jazz.

But I didn’t understand it.

I didn’t know about chords, chord progressions, or jazz theory — the things that actually allow you to play freely. Those were things I was never taught in the classical approach.

Everything changed when life took an unexpected turn.

Someone left a vibraphone at our place, and I started experimenting wi...