Today is the first day I’ve put my fingers onto my keyboard since a month and a half. Indeed, the last time I played the piano was right before heading to Australia. Will it help me improve my skills ? I doubt it, but I must say that it did not prevent me from learning a few more things since September 2011. More importantly, it was not my first break of the year. Indeed, I almost did not play the piano for 5 or 6 weeks around December and January. Perhaps I need these little breaks. I remember that I improved a lot after that in February and March, learning « Comptine d’un autre été » by Yann Tiersen. And now that the piano year is close to its end (piano year being the 10 months where I’ve got kind of a teacher to help me), I’ve got to motivate myself in order to finish learning the piece of music I’ve been working on for two or three lessons. The song ? « La valse d’Amélie », again by Yann Tiersen. Yeah, I love his compositions and they are perfect for a beginner like me. But don’t worry. I am not playing only Tiersen’s songs. I learnt also this year a very nice composition by Bach (who is this guy ? 😉 ) called « Prelude n°1 in C-major » from the « Well-tempered Clavier ». By the way, I learnt a few amazing things about Bach musical skills in Hofstadters book, « Godel, Escher, Bach » which is worth reading for everyone ! Next piece of music for the summer ? Adele’s song « Someone like you ».