This is one in our continuing occasional series of excerpts from Murphy's Banjo Newsletter articles. This is from the August 1990 issue, and appears on page 169 of Murphy's book ...And There You Have It! I think this is one of the funniest incidents she recounted about me. I remember doing this. The keys didn't even taste bad at all!

My daughter Casey, age twelve, has been taking Suzuki piano lessons for two years. The Suzuki Method emphasizes ear training, which I love. So, I'm in the kitchen (a rare occurrence, I assure you) listening to Casey practice piano, and I hear her picking out the notes to Yankee Doodle. I can tell that she'd doing it by ear because it is a little hesitant, a two-steps-forward-one-step-backward kind of affair. But, eventually, she gets it and plays it all the way through.

"That's great, Casey!" I call to her. "How did you do that?" (I suppose my question was meant to solicit a response such as "I did it all by myself" or "I did it by ear" or "I wasn't using the book, Mommy" or even "I don't know, I just did it.")

Her response? "I did it with my tongue!" She was playing the piano with her tongue. My response" "C-A-S-E-Y!!!"