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Introduction |
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Paul’s Life | ||
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I was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota on June 11, 1941. When I was about seven, my parents bought a piano. Without taking lessons, I was able to play by what people call “playing by ear.” However, this was not what was taking place. I was born with an eye disorder called myoptic degeneration. It created a “waffle” effect which result in visual in and out of focus depending on which I saw the images. When musical scores were used, the notes appeared to be moving; therefore, the same note could appear on a line or a space. At ten, I began taking piano lesson from Helen Olson, a well known piano teacher. While practicing, I would see the notes inaccurately because of my faulty vision. When I played what I had memorized for my teacher, wrong notes would be played. If this were not enough to confusion and frustration, my talent of being about to play without notes made it tempting to play with easy while practicing rather than struggling to read the notes in my piano book. At times I would take complicated scores my aunt Phev Mortenson’s library and pretended to be playing them. The selections with many sixteenth notes I pretended to play. The mention of piano playing and having to practice while my friends were outside having fun, soon hindered my growth as a piano student. By the time I was twelve, this phase of my piano career ended. I listened to my aunt Phev’s collection of classical recordings, and before long I had listened to the entire collection. After being inspired by those recordings, I purchased my own hi-fi record player and joined the Columbia Record Club. I would listen to a recording each night as I went to sleep. Singing was another matter. With an ear for musical sounds, I did not have to read the notes. Once I heard the notes played, I could pick out my part. I sang in choruses under the direction of Mr. Robert Myers. I looked to Mr. Myers as someone to model. I desired to be a concert pianist or a choral director, but I new I had too many limitations reading musical scores. After graduating from Albert Lea High School in 1959, I had planned on attending St. Olaf College. With a name like Christiansen, I might have fit with the well known music tradition of the Christiansens at St. Olaf; however, I was encouraged by Phil Pagel to attend Dana College. As it turned out, Dana was a good place for me. I was especially encouraged by Miss McCullough, Miss Mac as she was known. While at Dana, I majored in music and history with intentions of being a music teacher. I sang in the college choir and took piano lessons. I did grow some during three and one half year of piano instruction, unfortunately my visual handicap and my musical talents were ignored or never perceived by the music teachers. In spite of these limitations, I hold degrees of B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. I became a school teacher, administrator, university professor, business man, was considered a pioneer in computerized education and author of articles and books. | ||
