Why Do You Play The Piano?

There is an article in the July/August issue of Clavier Companion (www.ClavierCompanion.com) by *Julie Jaffee Nagel.

She poses the question... Why do you play the piano?
It's an interesting article, starting with ...
"While I cannot speak for you, nor can I give definitive answers (the answers to this question are by nature complex).
i am going to address how music affects many people, how it leads to taking piano lessons, playing in recitals, and, for some, becoming professional musicians."

The article goes on to talk about ...
Age
Employment
the power of music
First Contact (Do you remember your first contact with a piano?)

*Julie is a Ph.D, a graduate of The Juilliard school, The university of Michigan, and the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute.
Her website is at www.julienagel.net

We aren't going to get quite that deep, or are we?

Why DO YOU Play the Piano?
So go ahead, tell us Why you play the piano, how did you first get interested, who or what inspired you, what keeps you going?

For me the answer is pretty simple.
My dad played, my older sister still does.
Dad was an iron worker by trade, worked hard building sky-scrapers, bridges, and other huge steel structures.

Yet he loved to play piano, especially pieces like the Poet & the Peasant Overture, the 1812 Overture, and novelty pieces like Tico Tico and Nola.
As a young boy I'd dance around the room while he played, caught up in the wonder of watching my dad's fingers produce great music out of our old upright piano.

And I was fascinated by the mechanics of the piano, I wanted to know what made it tick. I took the old upright piano apart, and after much struggle managed to put it back together again.

I wanted to learn to play, and chose Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as the piece I wanted to learn. My dad showed me where middle C was on the sheet music and where it was on the piano keyboard.
Then he taught me what the tic-tac-toe sign meant on the music.
I worked from middle C counting all the lines and spaces up and down on the sheet music, and up and down on the keyboard. It took me forever, but I stuck with it and finally figured out the first movement. I still love to play that piece even today.

Then along came a new band from England, some long haired chaps called The Beatles and everything changed forever. I wanted to be in a rock band, and by the age of 15 I was in one.

I'll fill in some more later, but not it's your turn...

I first took piano lessons as a child. We didn't own a piano and were too poor to buy one. For some reason, my mom let me take lessons anyway. After completing 3 or 4 lessons, I quit. 40 years later, I bought a piano and started taking lessons again.

I play because I find it relaxing. I only play for myself, no audience....I tend to choke. I'm really not that good, but I enjoy it anyway.

For me it's partially about all the lovely memories I have growing up. And how the Piano was always there taking in all the emotions and moments from friends and family and giving it back for us to hear, see and share with each other. The music binds all that together in a very powerful and poignant way.

Today, it's a way of remembering all that and at the same time bringing it all forward into the now and the future.

In the spring of 71' my parents allowed me to begin piano lessons. About 6 weeks in I had been making progress but of course the rate of progress was becoming more difficult, requiring me to devote more time into practice which I was loath to do 😟. By then school was out for the summer, lots of other activities to enjoy that did not require me to study and concentrate to be good at, like baseball .... if only piano had come so easy and naturally for me like sports. I copped out and decided to quit piano, parents would have preferred I stick with it but left the decision up to me. A day or two later a dear aunt and uncle made a visit like they did often, uncle enjoyed walking our dog and asked me to come along. Along the way he turned to me with sincere look in his eyes and said "buddy, i understand you are thinking of giving up piano but I hope you will reconsider because I am afraid that if you do quit, you will come to regret the decision when you are older. " Here I am, 45 years later, 2-plus years into beginner lessons, half way through book 2 of Bastiens' 2 book course for adult beginners, remembering uncle's words AND , every time I sit down to practice and encounter difficulty, regretting that decision long ago;argh!

I've decided that since the clock can never be turned back, I want to play piano while still physically & mentally capable and drink up the regret as much as possible along the way ! ; and at least develop enough proficiency to derive my own personal pleasure. This goal has already been reached somewhere around the 18 month point. The next goal is to continue practicing, learning and getting better so that perhaps one day I can play for the enjoyment of others. The studio where I took lessons had voluntary recital opportunity, once a month, to play for a small audience. It was around the 18 month mark I tried a recital for the first time, "Christmas student showcase". That turned out to be very rewarding, somewhat nerve wracking at the moment of my performance, and a bit like a snippet from a Seinfeld episode. Prior to the start of performances, all performers were herded into the back room to wait their turn. I was the only adult surrounded by twenty some children 7 to 15 years old, all of them a lot more nervous, anxious and fidgety than I but no doubt will be far more accomplished than I by the time they mature .... it was rewarding and educational to be in their company a brief while .... visions of Kramer in Kar-a-tay, but I kinda caught the performer bug, did showcase 6 months in a row.

What else would I do with it?

I had no real exposure to the piano when young. My best friend's mother had a piano. He played cello. His brother played violin. But when I visited his home I'd do little more than a one-finger tap on the piano, trying to find a simple melody. Until my early 30's my total time at the piano might have been ten minutes.

Then my wife decided she wanted a piano. One of those used classified-ad pianos. Knowing she'd drop a hobby as quickly as she started, I bought her a $200 Casio keyboard. She gave it a go. I was not especially interested, but with actual beginner books in the house I tried too.

She gave it up, but I tinkered on. (No teacher, no lessons.) Meanwhile I took a liking to classical music (LPs and CDs), finding there art that had ever escaped my attention. Eventually I bought a used Kawai upright in 1995 and gave it some semi-serious attention. All self-taught without the benefit of any real method, and with mediocre results.

In 2008 I decided the piano maintenance was too high so I bought a Clavinova, and I gave more attention to the piano. Still no lessons, but quite a bit more commitment. Had I taken lessons I'm sure I'd have some real ability by now. But lacking such, I muddle on just for my own enjoyment. An audience of one.

The experience has been mind changing. There is more in the music than I ever knew. And there is more in me than I ever knew. Music was always right in front of my face (and ears), yet the art and the beauty had completely escaped my notice ... until I got serious with the piano. It's fun all around. I just wish I had started earlier, taken lessons, and given serious time and attention to it when young.

Always wanted to learn as a kid, but we couldnt afford the luxury. So i joined the school choir. I love music, in many forms. Upon major life changing event, I was reminded of my dream, here I am teacher in toil, and I am loving the expereince. Also, playing the piano has taught me much about life lessons too! Life is short, and I choose joy! With enough perseverance, and patience, the results are beautiful and enriching. I would say, nothing is ever too late to try, come back to, and anything is possible if you put in the time.
3 years of lessons, finally my chopin prelude 4 was deemed concert ready. The effort to learn, going beyond the technical challenges of a score and putting my feelings into a piece finally earned my place as a pianist.. working on a recital program for my virtual performance! I am doing this for me, and it feels great!

It's a form of personal expression. I have been a church pianist for decades and one comment that has come back many times is that I seem to communicate my enthusiasm effectively this way. I am not the one most at ease in expressing emotion verbally, but it seems to be natural musically.

I started playing piano and taking lessons *officially* at the age of 43, back in December 2015. My exposure to it before that was just what a girlfriend had taught me in my early twenties and some stuff from the Alfred's books.

There was always a piano in my home growing up. I never touched it. I did play trumpet, but gave that up for sports in middle school.

I've always liked the sound of a piano though. After being in school for a long time and working, I decided to do something for myself so I invested in piano lessons, thinking I'll give it a try for 6 months and see where it goes. I never imagined I would be where I'm at now and playing the things I can. It's really a lot of fun and relaxing. The only bad thing about piano is that it is taking away the time I would have normally been cycling on my bike!! Haha.

The school I'm enrolled in will be going to NYC in February to play at Carnegie Hall. I signed up for and figured I'd make a trip of it since I have family near NYC on the east coast. I think it will be a fun experience!

There was a piano sitting in my childhood living room-- but always unplayed and no one in my household admitted to knowing how to play it. This was from a generation of 'every living room needs a piano'. There was also never any music played at home by my parents.

But somehow I knew as a preschool child that I wanted to play that piano and make my own music, so I begged for piano lessons. I remember the 'mom-lecture' before my first lesson as clearly as it was yesterday, rather than decades earlier. 'If you don't pay attention, or don't practice your teacher will not keep you as a student, as she thinks you are too young'. So, lessons began, and indeed I did practice for hours every day. I would walk through the living room, see the lonely piano sitting there and sit down for a few minutes.. which turned into a few hours. Other instruments were added as the years went on... but piano was, and is, my first love.

There was a multi-decade gap for very complicated reasons, but two years ago, I bought a new piano and again started weekly lessons. The feeling for me is like meeting a long-lost love many decades later, and finding out that you still love each other..... and filling the hours with trying to regain what was lost over the decades.

There are just few things that can compete emotionally with making your own music.

When I was a child, my mother played piano. I don't recall exactly how I got interested myself, but I turned out to be the only one of the 3 children to end up taking piano lessons. They lasted for about 3 years, and as I got older I got interested in other things since I was only learning music that others picked out for me (classical mostly). While playing piano faded away, my thoughts about it never really did. While most people tapped their foot to the beat of song from the radio, I often played "air-piano" with my fingers playing the melody.

Fast-forward about 50 years, and I finally had free time to myself after I retired. I already had a small MIDI keyboard that I messed around with, but decided to get more serious, so I bought a Yamaha DGX640 keyboard and got started trying to recover whatever skills I had as a child. While at first I found it frustrating, it eventually became a relaxing endeavor. I've since upgraded to a better digital piano and now to an acoustic upright. I now play only music that I want to play. While I play for myself, it would be nice for friends or family to ask me to play something for them once in awhile - but it never happens. I'd love to reach the point where I could occasionally play at senior centers, nursing homes, etc.

I have no one to share my interest in piano, so I'm very happy to have found Piano World.

I feel that I've reached a plateau in my abilities, and would really like to learn to play creatively from a lead sheet, so I'm once again considering taking lessons. However, I don't want lessons to create pressure to remove the relaxation I'm experiencing now, so it's a tough decision.

So, in a nutshell - playing piano is both relaxation and a mental challenge for me. As we get older and less physically active, we need something to keep our minds and free time occupied. Playing the piano fills those needs nicely as well as provides a form of expression.

I tried it on a bit of impulse in my nephews conservatory waiting for a taxi to arrive as 4 of us were going out for my 50th birthday in November last year. I bought one 2 days later and have never left it alone ever since. There is then still a possibility I suppose that I am still in 'honeymoon phase' and still a bit giddy by the wonder of it all. I very much doubt this though. To be perfectly honest I would rather play than eat. So in answer to your question why do I play piano? My answer is not meant to be cute or clever it is a mere question of my own which is: How could I not? The question that really annoys the heck out me is why on earth did I leave it so long to get started? I have wasted all of my misspent youth drinking , chasing women and generally being a bit of a delinquent.

Why do I play the piano? That question is much harder to answer than it should be. I play the piano because I can't imagine not playing the piano.

I had always wanted to play the piano, but never had as a child. I had played clarinet and classical folk and rock guitar at various points up through my early 20s. I never got far with the guitar and generally started and stopped all the time. One day, a friend of a friend, upon hearing of my life-long interest in piano, decided to lend me her very high quality Yamaha (weighted keys etc) stage piano. What a gift that was. I was 30 years old. I taught myself how to read bass clef, poked my way through some easy score books and I was hooked. After struggling with classical guitar music, the piano seemed so easy (little did I know!)

In a few months, I bought my own piano (a digital) and started lessons. A year later I upgraded to an acoustic, which I had for 9 years (until we returned to the states, oddly, you can't take an acoustic piano on an airplane as a carry-on...)

I have played almost continuously since starting, except for one 6-month period right after we returned to the states when I didn't have a piano. That period erased all doubt (if I ever had any) that I would always play the piano, that the piano would always be a part of my life. I got my second digital after that, and now, after 7 years of digital-only, I have an acoustic again. Having two pianos in the house (as humble as they are) makes me feel like the luckiest person the planet, a feeling of joy I would have never expected.

I play the piano because I love to play, and I love piano music. And somehow, inexplicably, I think the piano loves me in return.

It's one of the truest ways I can express myself.

I can barely play in front of anyone too....and if I do, I mess up constantly because I'm so self conscious. But don't say you are not that good....(I am trying to tell myself to stop this too), because all of us are at different levels, but that doesn't make you not good.

Purely curiosity. I certainly took the long way around. I've played banjer and guitar most of my adult life. 2003 (@40)I took up violin/fiddle. Mandolin a few weeks later, and learned them concurrently. 2013 (@50) I investigated piano. There was enough musical ground work laid prior, to where piano fit easily. It's nice to have the many voices to choose from. But more than that, it has confirmed how I learn is right for myself.

Why do I play piano? As a child I had friends who played piano and was fascinated. We did not have the finances needed to purchase a piano or pay for lessons. So I took clarinet through high school. Many many years later a friend got a used piano off of crags list and started lessons. Got me thinking, am I too old? But why not give it a try. Not trusting craigs list(heard some horror stories) I went to a local piano store and purchased an upright. Had a bad experience with a teacher and found a new one.

So why do I play, badly? Because it brings me so much pleasure. So enjoyable to hear a piece come together. I will probably never go beyond beginner, but I hear the songs inside me and it makes me happy!

Thanks for the question and making me think about it.

Neither of my parents were musical at all. Yet, they were determined that we kids play the piano. My sister, three years older than me, started first. It was assumed that I would start lessons when I was 5. I hated practicing. Never really played well as a kid. Dropped it after High School. Yet years later, I started learning pieces on my own. I discovered I did love the instrument! I was an avid listener of classical music. The more I heard, the more I wanted to play. I really didn't restart lessons until I was 50. I was pushed too hard and dropped it again. Now, with my present teacher, I am enjoying lessons and playing more than I ever have my entire life. I can't imagine not having piano in my life.

My parents thought I might be a prodigy because I played tunes both hands when I was 4, without a teacher, or music.

They were wrong. First few lessons with a respected local teacher and that was it. Too young. . .it involved a bus trip, by myself. At 4. . .haha

Hated subsequent lessons, years later. And when my old teacher died. . .Ill not go there. . .but I had learned music. Might not have liked it muvh, but " Forgotten Dreams" will inspire nobody with red blood in their veins.

I have made money playing, many did years ago. But it was and is, still fun!

Can't not, so found a way to make a life doing it!