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Most of the traditional instruments are best played in a group, and require you to go to group practices and then perform in groups. I wanted an instrument that I could enjoy myself without the pressure of performing all the time, and challenge myself. Music has always been a big part of my life, and I love the classical choices that piano brings...

Plus it releases stress!

I love the emotions I get listening to and playing music. It's a big ol chemical release in my brain.

This is my first post and the reason I registered in this forum is to read reviews of digital pianos. I am definitely looking for a good sounding 88-key digital piano under a $1,000 that I can practice. I have been to music stores and by leaps and bounds portable digital pianos have greatly improved and nearing the actual acoustic level of feel and tone.

I can no longer remember if wanting to play the piano was my own choice or was it my parents’ as part of my upbringing and education. Anyway, I was enrolled in a piano class to go along with my education. I learned to read notes (solfege) and play the piano based on notes. It was what you call a forced learning similar to learning and recognizing letters in the alphabet in order to read and write. Although I like to hear songs and music, I do not consider myself musical. Then, I played Chopin, Mozart, etc. classical piano pieces as part of my piano lessons. However, I cannot play piano by ear nor can I accompany a singer with it.

Actually, I belong to the audience category in music who simply likes to hear and see performers do their thing like I enjoy seeing and listening to Sarah Brightman and Sierra Boggess in Phantom at the Opera stage presentations and other gigs. I have, however, a collection of songs and music I want to play in the piano for my wife and hopefully rekindle romance for the once hopelessly romantic via piano key strains.

I play piano because my entire life has always been music, and piano is the first instrument that I have discovered can be played for my own enjoyment without needing any additional support (from a band, orchestra, etc).

I play the piano because I find it constantly challenging me to make myself better, and there is always another piece in the nearly endless library of classical period (romantic, baroque, modern) to learn and perform.

I play because it is an emotional release, something I can enjoy without judging from others, and without care in the world (well except the downstairs neighbors of I play at 2:00AM)

I play piano because of all the instruments I have played (oboe, low brass, mallet percussion, drums) piano allows me to express my own emotions.

I play piano because I love music, and playing piano is fun!

Its funny I spent about 30 minutes trying to compose a reply that explains why I play the piano - and then realised the reason why I was having such difficulty answering the question.

The real answer is "I don't play the piano"

I had lessons when I was a teenager, and I have a piano which I practice/play on.

But if you asked me to play something for you, I wouldn't have one piece in my repertoire that I could play all the way through.
I have several pieces that I could barely stumble through, and then some "fragments" of pieces that i've started and then not had the discipline to polish. I can't sight read and can't play lead sheet.

So I suppose the real question for me is "Why do I want to play the piano".
That's easy - i fell in love with the instrument when my father first exposed me to Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and all the other usual suspects when I was about 6 years old (i'm now 54).
For me, "playing the piano" now means having the discipline to learn and polish some repertoire so I can play something that someone might one day listen to and think "do you know - that fellow can play the piano"

Why do I play the piano?

Because it's fun.

This reply got inspired by the relaxation thread, where some poster said some bad things about having fun.

-whenever I hear song with good piano accompaniment, I wish I could play it
-feeling of achievement when I'm able to play a piece after practicing , more so when I pass a grade
-most of the time enjoy the practice itself too
-set example for my kid

Music is an entry point to a world of harmony and emotions, powerful enough to take me from both mentally and emotionally from work and other duties. Even a few minutes of listening to pieces by Ludovico Einaudi is transformative for me.

Growing up in a family where no one ever played any musical instrument, I was just a passionate listener for many years and came to discover piano actively only after I turned 40 and only after tried classical guitar first.

Without a teacher but trying out all kinds of apps, I experimented at first but the turning point came with the books I read from W.A. Mathieu that really helped me open up to active experimentation with sounds and music.

Having learned to read music first in my classical guitar lessons (much simpler for me with only treble clef), I recently discovered Haostaff notation of music which has allowed me to try and learn play piano pieces well beyond my current ability.

Finally, another reason I sit down to play piano for my own pleasure every day that I do not travel is my daughter (age 8) because she loves to play and brings her enthusiasm and playfulness into her playing which is contagious.

Why I play the piano .
By twelve years old I realized I was hearing music all the time ...even when there was silence .
My mom was an Actress -Yvonne De Carlo she was constantly rehearsing her nightclub act and
she had a "piano room "
So I got up the nerve to sit at the piano one day in my childhood.

The first time I sat at the piano and every time since then ,
I composed a piece of music to go along with my impressions .

In that first case it was music for my feelings towards a school girl
who I liked .
The piece is very old fashion as is my old fashion idea of romance.

So I play piano to make music to match my feelings.
The best themes happen accidentally during warm up .
Composing music "by accident " is something like magic to me .
Now I am composing music to score my Science Fiction Series "Project Lodestar Sagas"
Cheers
Bruce

I'm 80+ now so it could be a long story but I'll keep it brief. My Mother played the piano and my Dad played alto sax and they played together indoors and in a dance band. I was therefore put to the piano when I was 6 during the last war.

I found that I could soon remember the tunes and play them without the music which was severely frowned upon in those days. I remember being able to play the Warsaw Concerto well before I was 9. However by the time I was 13 I told my Dad I was fed up with the music teacher because she wouldn't let me play the modern tunes of the day, so I finished that and bought the new music in Woolworths.

At the youth club I soon found that I could attract the girls when I played the piano which is what kept me going. But then a chap asked me if I would like to play in a band and my life changed when the guitarist introduced me to chord sequencing. I became a semi-pro at 16 playing in most of the London East-end pubs learning my trade. I also taught myself the alto sax and still play both instruments commercially today. I ran the dance band in the RAF and had a lifetime of fun and satisfaction from music.

I did teach keyboard and have developed my Daughter along the same lines and she is taking over from me.
I one thing I encourage all musicians to do is the busk if they can - it is a gift that few can achieve.
Brian

Hello Brian and many thanks you for your very inspiring post above.
... I myself started to play the piano after I suffered a severe stroke, which left me half-sided-paralyzed and my husband thought learning to play the piano might be a good idea to "get me going" again and he was right. He first bought me a little electric piano and I was sitting there for hours trying out all sorts of little tunes and my arms and hands began slowly moving again without me even noticing, because I concentrated so much on the music. It was a perfect way for me to rehabilitate from the stroke. And then one day we visited a "bric-a-brac" exhibition and there we saw it: a very old forte-piano with a lovely harp-tonality for the "high" tones and plenty of wonderful "growling" for the deeper tones and the pianoforte also has a very light touch, which suits me perfectly. Whilst we first listened to it, we both noticed that it was love at first tone and it has been ours ever since. Whilst living in a small apartment/flat in a major city, one has to consider the neighbours and fortunately our piano is not loud at all and there have been no complaints. I must add here that I have a very "soft touch" when playing the piano and with its beautiful harp-like-sound, it has inspired me to specialize in "old music" like pieces from a copy of Anne Cromwell's Virginal Book 1638,Thurston Dart's Edition of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, lots of J.S Bach, Friedemann Bach, F. Couperin etc.
Why do I continue to play the piano? Because it feels great to play wonderful pieces of music which my husband and I would normally have no chance to listen to. It is also satisfying to be able and discover wonderful tonal pieces of music which are not played anymore and it is wonderful to try different ways of playing unheard pieces whilst trying to figure out how the composer might have meant it and what the composer tried to convey etc.
Last not least ... I also had to learn read music from scratch and feel very lucky that now I can play new pieces directly from a new score and that is just wonderful.
Kristina.

A couple of thrilling posts, Brian and Kristina.

Why do I play? Many reasons, but let's stick to one.

I'm an adult learner and never thought I'd be able to cope with piano. Mum tried teaching me when I was little, but I wasn't having any of it. The biggest hurdle was learning bass clef having learnt 3 instruments in a different clef (violin, recorder and viola).

But then I saw the 1948 film 'Roadhouse' and Ida Lupino wandering casually up to a piano and starting to play 'One for my baby' and just so wanted to be able to do that. (Well naturally I'd also like be that glamorous and that talented!) Three years later and I'm up to Grade IV but still can't yet play 'One for my baby'. But it's fun, I think it's good for the brain, I'm discovering lots more music and composers I'd never heard of (Kabalevsky for one) and I just hope that one day I'll be able to sit at a public piano and play something.

Ruth

I don't play piano... yet. When I was a kid I took music classes: notes, arpeggios, flute, etc. At home we had a kids Hammond Organ (but it was a real instrument but smaller than the normal ones) and fooled around with it. Then I never paid more attention to music until many years later, staying at a friends house in Ibiza. She was playing keyboards in a pop band then. That was for my 36th birthday, almost 10 years ago, I saw a documentary on Jaco Pastorius, the great bass player. He was killed on a September 21st, at 35 years of age.It was my 36th birthday, September, so something went click in my head, I phoned a cousin who is a pro bass player in LA and Canada, and asked for tips. Got a nice second hand bass, started fooling around, got a wonderful teacher who was mainly a jazz guy, and joined a mainly Deep Purple covers band.Then got my dream bass (Rickenbacker).

For a short time we had a great classical trained keyboard player, but he left the band. Maybe 5 years ago, that was. Just then I bought and old second hand Yamaha PSR500 synth keyboard, very cheap as it had some dead keys, and subscribed to an online piano course... and practiced for two-three weeks before a small martial arts injury (a freak injury between the annular and little right-hand fingers that the sports doctor that attended me said was really uncommon) took me out of piano practicing for ever (until now). When I came back to the bass one-month later, I had to play with my two fingers tied together so they didn't move at all. It took me long months to recover, and when I did, I had completely forgotten about playing piano.

Now I play bass on a rock power trio (non-professionals, we play mostly at biker events, May have 6-10 gigs a year tops). We play our own stuff, plus 4-5 covers. We have band practice once a week.

The other day (last Thursday) I was watching a stupid film on TV (the shooter), and there is a scene where the bad guy plays piano (why is it so common in movies, bad guys, playing piano??) And my old want to play piano/keyboard flame was rekindled, but this time very strongly. It was late at night already on a work day, but I know myself, so I had to pay attention to it: I started looking for keyboards on Amazon, and there is a nice cheap Yamaha PSR-F51 there... but no USB, and I will want to record, so I started digging and found recommendations to use hammered keys (like a real piano, so you can play on an acoustic one if you can some day), and to get something a bit more decent, around €400 at least. So I saw the Yamaha P-45, and searched for that vs Casio PX-160 and found a great post in this site comparing basic under $1000 88 keys hammered keyboards. So started liking the more expensive ones, which I cannot currently afford, then recalled (aye, hadn't even remembered I had it until 2 hours of internet digging between here, Amazon, Thomann...) I have the old Yamaha PSR500 stuck in a cupboard... found how to fix it in this site and other places, and I'm now waiting for compressed air from Amazon, and will start the process once it gets here. I do hope I can fix it, then I can get some practice whilst saving for a better keyboard.

My ideal is Geddy Lee, from Rush, who plays bass and keyboards. But of course, my bass playing is average, second-rate, years behind him, and my non-existing keyboard/piano play is eons. But, I play for fun, so that really doesn't worry me. (edit: but curiously enough, the songs I want to learn on piano are classical such as Pachelbel Canon in D, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, etc)

Maybe it is from the bass, where in finger play the thumb is not used except to hold the bass, or maybe because I'm a programmer, and the thumb is only used for pressing space if at all, but fooling around with proper finger placing on elemental songs on the piano, etc, (on a pad app) I'm finding that the most difficult part for me is using them thumbs. My 'instinct' is not to use them at all. But I see they are logical to use. Yep, that's how newbie I am!!! This week I've mainly practiced sight-reading, as I kid I could read simple sheets, and been looking at different apps to see if I can learn something. I'm trying to follow a counsel I read: better play every day 30 minutes than 3 hours one day.

I'm not expecting to have any more freak martial arts injuries.

It's a complete escape for me. All encompassing. Like reading a good book. It demands your full attention to have any hope of playing well. And so it removes you, albeit temporarily, from the onslaught of the modern world. The internet. Twitter. Email. Iphones. Modern mental chewing gum. The piano is more.

DiarmuidD--very well said. This is exactly true--the piano is a safe refuge.

I am trying to get back into things. I want to get my life sorted first before I seriously start anything. But the reason why I want to get back into piano, is because there are songs I want to play. To me, their beautiful or playful, and when I see other people play those songs, I imagine the feeling of the keys as each note is pressed. I want to experience what I believe they experience. The energy of the piece, the emotions that flow through you from it, that's what I want to feel. Another reason is that when I grow up, and get married, and have children, I want to play songs for them, and hopefully make their days brighter with it. A different one that's a little bit grim is for the case that I die. If I die early, what do I want my children to remember of me? Sure, maybe I spent moments with them, playing games and having fun, but that's not memorable. Playing beautiful music on the other hand, that's memorable. That's what my kids would remember if I ended up in my grave a little too early.

The kids will remember if you left them anything first, then the piano thing.

Maybe this shouldn't be a blanket statement about what children will remember: what is important to me is not what my parents left me in their wills, but the memorable events: my dad teaching me to ride a horse and to get back on it when thrown, the joy on his face by hearing me play a violin for the first time, (how could he find joy in that?) the 'life lessons' and the sharing. That is what has mattered!

If a child remembers what is WILLED to them FIRST rather than what was part of the childhood--- I feel sorry for them as the emphasis is on what is not important
IMHO, as always

Took a few lessons at a young age. Didn't get anywhere and quit. Enrolled in music class in high school. Got into playing with the school band in the strings section and got stuck with the violin. Once the teacher asked the students to do a group project on a composer. Our group of 4 went to the library and got a book on J.S. Bach. And then we got a sound recording of the French Suite #3 performed with a harpsichord for the class presentation. Enjoyed listening to "Minuet & Trio" especially. Back then considered playing piano to be too difficult and wouldn't dream of playing even an easy piece. A violin (like a flute) involves reading just the Treble Clef.

Once went to a 1h seminar with Scott Houston who later started in the PBS series: "Scott the Piano Guy" and "Piano in a Flash". Scott doesn't get into Classical music and tend to steer people away from sheet music with the Bass Clef to playing Pop songs with Lead Sheets. Didn't think an hour-long presentation would be enough to learn even the basics but decided to buy a keyboard anyway. Didn't enroll in a music program or learn with a teacher until later. Knew the basics of note reading from playing violin.

Had a lot of ups & downs in life. During times of depression found playing piano / keyboard to be a lifesaver. Over the years continued to play violin with a music group but devoted a lot of time to playing the keyboard at home. Eventually played all 6 movements of the French Suite #3 from "Allemande" to "Gigue" including "Minuet & Trio".

Coming from a family of non-musicians, others in the family think there are more important things in life everybody should focus on like advancing your career. Nobody would talk about music at family gatherings like it is a taboo subject. However, playing music on a piano is very much acceptable and encouraged in my culture. Just that the rest of the family doesn't think anybody should spend too much time playing music unless he/she is a professional musician.