Happy, Fit 'n Free: TBT: #Rach3foraRock

Michael and I met in a very unique way.

Well, maybe not quite so "unique" these days.

It's more the norm.

We met online.

On Tinder, to be more exact.

That's right.

We both swiped right. 😃

We did the normal messaging/texting communicating preliminary steps we all go through.

Getting to know each other offline a bit before feeling safe enough to meet in person.

They don't seem that crazy... ;)

We met one Wednesday evening back in December of 2015. Lucky for us, it turned out that our online chemistry was just as good in person. Woohoo!

I think we both knew pretty early on that this was something worth checking out and investing some time into. Certainly beyond just a few dates.

And we did all the normal "dating" things.

Lovely dinners out.

Cooking an amazing dinner. Well, he cooked. (date #3!)

Movies.

Date nights.

Meeting all our important people.

Weekend trips.

We even managed to survive a several week long summer road trip (the ultimate test!). If we could survive hours in the car together (and I'm not much of a talker ... LOL!) and non-stop days together, this was bound to go somewhere.

At one point as we were getting to know each other, Michael asked me what I thought the hardest piece of piano music was. He found out that I had studied the piano rather seriously (well, it was my career for awhile...LOL!), so it was more a matter of curiosity.

Now, like most things, answering "What is the 'hardest' thing?" of anything is a really difficult question to answer.

There's A LOT of really difficult piano music out there.

But, for whatever, reason, I blurted out " You know, Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto is pretty hard. Pianists have even given it the nickname 'Rach3'".

And I quote: “The work grows in impressiveness upon acquaintance and will doubtless take rank among the most interesting piano concertos of recent years, although its great length and extreme difficulties bar it from performance by any but pianists of exceptional technical powers.”

Actually, the guy he wrote it for wouldn't even play it.

And he was considered one of the most reknowned pianists of his day!

And that movie "Shine" that came out in the mid '90s? An Australian pianist had a mental breakdown while learning it! True story.

Yikes!

So, he listened to it and really liked it.

And as our relationship became more serious and we talked about a future together, he jokingly said "Tell you what. If you learn the first movement to Rach3, I will propose."

Thus #Rach3foraRock was born.

But I had just started a new job (elementary school music teacher ... with no prior experience!), I was still teaching private piano lessons, and trying to maintain some sort of social life while in a relationship (ya'll know how that goes!).

I totally played it off like "Really?!?! When do I have time to learn a 16+ min piece of really hard music. No way! I love you, but I don't have the time."

I think he bought it.

But I pretty much ordered the music off Amazon that night.

Because this is an IRONMAN you are talking about. I am UP for the challenge.

I started it at the end of May. When I used to have time. Ha!

And I got a pretty good start on it. Like 1/8 of the way through. LOL.

And then we took that summer road trip.

And I lost practice time.

I dabbled with it for a bit once the school year started.

But it was tough. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. Teaching little kids and being "on" all day is draining.

Then, one day in November (election day, actually), we went to a few jewelry stores and looked at rings. Oh man. He was serious about the ring.

And that day I realized I needed to up my game.

I formulated a plan.

I had a student recital coming up at the end of January and decided that I would premiere it then. Because I knew he would be there to support me, and how else was I going to lure him to a grand piano (I only had a digital at home)? A Steinway at that. 😃

So I started waking up at 4am, practicing an hour before my morning workout and school.

I would have "coffee" and "wine & chocolate" dates with my girlfriends in the evenings. Not really. I was actually sneaking off to other friends' homes to practice on their grand pianos. Because you really can't play Rachmaninov on a digital instrument (did you know he had a hand span of nearly two octaves?!?!?)

(at a friend's house)

Then we moved in together and I had to get really creative. Because if I practiced in front of him, he would know something was up. Well, I did tell him I had started working on it, but he had no idea how far along I actually was. In his mind, I was MONTHS out from actually being able to play it. In fact, when talking about getting engaged, one of his greatest pleasures was teasing me about it "So, how's Rach3 coming along?" ;)

So I got his friends involved and let them in on my grand plan. They were AMAZING and helped me get him out of the house so I could practice.

And I wanted them there when I premiered the piece. Because he doesn't really know my piano students, and it wouldn't be nearly as fun. I wanted him to have this experience while being surrounded by people he loved.

Anyway, let's fast forward to January 29, 2017.

It was recital day.

Quite honestly, I was a little nervous because he wasn't feeling well and I was afraid he might not come.

Lucky for me, he did!

I had let my students know that I would be performing at the end as a surprise so they knew something was up. And I secretly had his friends positioned in place so they knew exactly when to come in. I was performing at the Steinway Gallery in a Mall, so it was super easy for them to be incognito. And they had a lot of fun with it, too.

My last student performed. I stood up to give my closing remarks. And continued to thank my boyfriend, Michael, for all his support. And started to tell them a story about our "Rach3" challenge. And then his friends walked in. He was a little confused at first. But then I could see the light bulb go off in his head. He had been "had". 😉

Anyway, I did my thing. 18 minutes later (I hadn't quite gotten it up to tempo) I got a standing ovation. His friends brought ring pops as a joke and he got down on one knee and "proposed". Yeah. Not on your life, buddy. I want the REAL thing!