'My First Piano Lesson'

Miss Belkin sat on one and motioned for me to sit on the other. "There are 88 keys on a piano," she said, "52 white and 36 black." She ran her finger up and down the keyboard. "Notice how the black keys are grouped in twos and threes. We will play on the white keys today. OK?"

"I guess," I answered shyly.

"In the center of the piano are two black keys. The white key to the left of them is called middle C," Miss Belkin continued. "The key between the two black keys is D, and the one to the right is E. Try naming them."

I pointed to each white key and said, "C, D, E."

"Good!" Miss Belkin congratulated me. "Now, take your middle finger and play E."

I did. She smiled and said, "Very good! Now play D with your index finger."

I played D and felt sort of proud.

"That's superb," she said. "Now try middle C with your thumb."

I thought for a minute, then did it — correctly.

"Perfect," she said, "Now we can play a song."

I could hardly wait.

"Play E-D-C." Miss Belkin played along with me at the high end of the piano. "And again. E-D-C. Now C-C-C-C, D-D-D-D, and another E-D-C."

"I know that song," I shouted. "It's 'Hot Cross Buns.' "

"That's right. Let's play and sing it together."

And we did.

Hot cross buns (E-D-C),

Hot cross buns (E-D-C),

One-a-penny (C-C-C-C),

Two-a-penny (D-D-D-D),

Hot cross buns (E-D-C).

Miss Belkin smiled and I smiled. I didn't even care if she saw my two missing teeth.

Now I'm grown up, and I play sonatas and concertos. Sometimes I think of Miss Belkin — and I play "Hot Cross Buns."

Kids, click here to find out about the author of this story.

---

LISTEN TO THE STORY BY PHONE: You can also follow along as this story is read aloud by calling 1-800 LATIMES, Ext. 4KIDS (1-800 528-4637, Ext. 45437). If the computer is connected to your phone line by modem, you will need to make a print of the story first and shutdown the computer before dialing the number. This story will be available by phone through Feb. 26.