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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Bruce Claflin offers piano lessons at the Center at the Heights. Having played piano for 60 years, Claflin has been offering lessons for the past four or five years. By his measure, he is not only teaching, but learning how to teach, learning about himself, and forging new friendships. The lessons are free and last for thirty minutes each. His students range from those with absolutely no musical knowledge whatsoever to those who want to improve their skills. “I’ve had a lot of fun,” Claflin said. Which is perhaps the most important part.
The Needham Council on Aging was looking for volunteers when they called Claflin. After telling them he “couldn’t do anything,” he mentioned he could play piano, which caught their attention. “I got conned into doing this!” he jokingly said. The smile on his face showed, however, that he has thoroughly enjoyed his time teaching, no matter how it may have started. “I’ve found I learn as much from them, because it becomes a study in how do you teach someone to do something, and I have to find a way to make it work,” Claflin explained.
While he has played piano for himself for all of these years, he has discernible talent. “When I was in high school, we lived down in Connecticut and my teacher sent all of his pupils down to the Julliard School for the competitions down there,” he said. “I missed paying in Carnegie Hall by 1/100th of a point.”
To think of Claflin has simply a piano player would be to do him quite the disservice. After serving in the Special Weapons unit in the army, he taught mathematics at Northeastern for over 30 years. While he said that his “one claim to fame” is his piano playing, Claflin’s history is vast and fascinating, his knowledge of piano simply one part of that puzzle.
Through the lessons, Claflin said he is now looking at music in new ways.
“Why is one piece of music better than another?” he asks. “Why does it flow? One of my favorite chords is what’s called a dominant 7th, it’s beautiful - barber shoppers love it - but you never end a piece on that, because it has to resolve.”
Claflin’s analytical mind allows him to explore music in all sorts of ways. “I’ve really been enjoying myself,” Claflin said.
Which is perhaps the best reason to keep doing anything.
