Humans of NGU: George Case
Ashley Merck, Staff Writer
George Case plays piano and has been teaching himself how to play by ear since he was about 15 years old. Photo Courtesy of Ashley Merck.
For NGU freshman George Case, music really is a lifestyle.
Case, a business administration major, has been teaching himself how to play piano by ear since he was about 15 years old after his church director lent him a piano to practice with.
His first spark of interest occurred when he saw a piano player at his church and he thought to himself that he could do that as well.
While Case enjoys playing the piano in his free time, it didn’t come easy to him when he was beginning to play.
“I took piano lessons for three weeks and became frustrated because I wanted to learn how to play Mozart now. I wanted to learn how to play Bach now, but my teacher started out with the basic fundamentals,” said Case. Shortly after, he stopped taking lessons and began teaching himself.
Despite becoming frustrated in the beginning, learning how to play the piano has taught Case some valuable life lessons.
“Playing piano has taught me patience. I’ve learned how to do with what I have right in front of me…and achieving the goal in the end,” said Case.
“Practice is also very important if you want to master anything in life. You have to dedicate a lot of time to getting to the next step,” added Case.
His favorite type of music to play on the piano is classical music of artists including Mozart and Bach. However, one of his favorite songs to perform is “Northern Sky” by Brian Crain, which is more of a contemporary song. Case would also like to learn a hymnal and perform it as an offering at church in the future.
Although playing the piano is one of Case’s many hobbies, he does not see himself making it into a career, but someday he would like to memorize and perform songs at group functions.
