The Music Ma'am

POST FALLS — Over nearly 60 years of teaching, Post Falls piano instructor Pat Weeks has brought the love of music to more than 6,400 students.

"When we have a problem with our piano, she's right there to help us, and if you ask her to play any different kind of song, she knows almost every song on the planet on the piano," said Weeks' student of five years Brenner Drake, 12. "When I started I did not want to start at all, but now I've grown into it and I do it every day for 40 minutes a day, more than that even.

"Mrs. Weeks has given me the love for piano, and my family loves it and I love it."

Weeks reciprocates that love. On a wall in a music room in Pat and her husband Elton's Post Falls home are photos, newspaper clippings and letters from former students whose lives Pat has touched through the years — proof of the thousands of patient hours she and her pupils have dedicated to refining their musical talents.

"Playing the piano is the hardest thing in the world to do, in my opinion, in the fine arts. It just takes hours and hours,” Pat said, sharing how amazing it is to watch her students grow from beginners to beyond.

“It’s a tremendous joy because you can see and hear the progress if they practice,” she said, situated between her beautiful white baby grand piano and the wall of student memories. "I had a lot of them that never practiced enough, but I enjoy the kids, even if they don’t practice. I know they’re not going to be concert pianists, but they take away a wonderful experience with music. Some more than others, but it’s there."

Pat began her music career as a little girl in the Midwest who played piano by ear. But with the help of her parents and her sister's ability as a singer, Pat was able to take lessons and even accompany her sister on the radio.

"My mother was a dedicated slavedriver,” Pat said with a laugh. “My sister was a coloratura soprano. She won a national contest in Chicago. She was just absolutely great."

Pat is a nationally certified teacher of the Music Teachers National Association, a founding member of the North Idaho Music Teachers Association and she has been active with the Spokane Music Teachers Association for many years. She played professionally for six years at the Sheraton Hotel in Spokane and a little more than a year at the Cloud 9 restaurant in the old North Shore, where The Coeur d'Alene Resort is now.

"I didn’t feel like a celebrity, no, I’m pretty realistic, but it felt good — it was a super job for me," Pat said. "I couldn’t have had anything that I enjoyed more at the time."

“Did I tell you that I met her on Cloud Nine?” Elton asked with a sweet smile. "Not everyone can say that."

Pat admires musicians Sergei Rachmaninoff, Roger Williams "and all the greats," but she also has had some interesting students who have gone on to do amazing things. One of her former students is Akiane Kramarik, a child prodigy who began drawing at the age of 4, sold one of her works at a young age for $1 million, and who continues to create incredible artwork while being featured on TV.

"I was looking at one of her paintings in the gallery, and she says, ‘Mrs. Weeks, do you see this painting? There are 26 layers of paint on this,’” Pat said. “She’s a perfectionist. She tends to go fast, then she’s not happy with it. Same with music; she composes and she’s going to have a record out."

"She was on 'Oprah,'” Elton added. “She was a prodigy in art. She really is. And she was one of Pat's favorite students."

At certain points through the years, Pat has found herself with as many as 50 piano students. Because of health challenges, she has downgraded her piano playing and is no longer taking new students, but she is continuing to teach the ones who have stayed with her.

Jennifer Drake's sons Brenner, Hudson and Asher are taking lessons from Pat. Jennifer said they absolutely love having her as a piano instructor.

"She is amazing," she said. "They love her to death. She's great because she really holds them accountable. She has high expectations for them, and she's like a grandma to them."

Jennifer said her boys enjoy their time with Pat as well as the recitals she holds for her students and the Christmas parties where they all perform one song and play bingo while enjoying their peers' company.

"I've learned a lot and I love her because we always have fun talks with each other and we laugh during songs," said Asher, 8. "I just think that she's the best teacher that we could find ... Mrs. Weeks teaches every little thing that is in the music."