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Learning the Piano
People have mixed experiences of piano tuition. Perhaps you got a lovely, cuddly old lady who nurtured your talent and hand-fed you jelly babies. Or possibly you were subjected to the manipulations of a failed concert pianist, who hit you with a pot plant and called you Wooden-fingers.
Maybe you never went near a piano for the duration of your formative years. Whatever - it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the learning the piano is still up for grabs. Piano courses for adults are the new feng shui and its time to seize your sheet music and start tinkling on the ivories.
The first piano was produced in the early 1700's in Italy, by an enterprising young man by the name of Bartolomeo Cristofori. He adapted the harpsichord so that small hammers struck, rather than plucked, the strings, allowing the player to control the sound of each note by hitting the keys in different ways.
Marketing was obviously not a big influence at the time, however, as Cristofori decided on the catchy 'gravicembalo coi piano e forte' as a suitable title for his new invention. Happily, this was later shortened to piano forte and eventually simply to piano. Perhaps because of its unfortunate title, the piano didn't catch on for until the latter half of the eighteenth century. Luckily, it had two high-profile enthusiasts - Mozart and Beethoven.
Mozart created his first piano pieces when he was young enough to still require a night-light and went on to compose enduring pieces, designed to get the utmost out of both the performer and the instrument. Beethoven, greatly influenced by Mozart, composed 32 piano sonatas and 5 piano concerti. Nothing if not dedicated, he was known to go at the instrument with such vigour that both strings and keys went flying.
During the 19th century, composers such as Franz Liszt took up the pianist baton. Liszt was the Tom Jones of his day - talented, charismatic and possessed of the ability to make women go all floppy. Ladies were known to faint during his recitals, and jewels were sometimes thrown onstage. More damaging than knickers, certainly, but a lot more pawnable…
Pianos were firmly ensconced in popular culture by the 19th century. Middle and upper class women were encouraged to tinkle the ivories in between brushing up on their needlepoint and cookery. The 20th century saw composers such as Scott Joplin contributing to new musical styles like ragtime and jazz and the rise of innovative new contenders such as Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Starer.
If you think that the piano is for you, then perhaps you should take a look at some self-teach books before you buy the Baby Grand. These will cover the basics - how to hold your hand in a rounded form when you approach the piano (think of yourself as a little monster), how to sit correctly and the nuts and bolts of reading music. However, these books are no match for a good teacher. It takes human eyes and ears to make sure that you are both relaxed and concentrated while belting out Chopsticks.
Your teacher will help you work out fingerings and challenge you to improve your abilities by choosing the right piece for your interest and level of ability. It is also difficult to continually motivate yourself to practice when you hit challenges that seem beyond your capabilities. This is where your experienced teacher can step in with the right mixture of carrot and stick to help you work through your block.
Learning the piano does need an amount of commitment. To progress at a reasonable rate, you'll need to commit at least an hour a day to practice. But what seven hours a week in comparison to the joy you will inevitably bring to your friends and family? Think how you much will add to social occasions - providing a rousing accompaniment to your drunken uncle's Fields of Athenry; giving Linda a boost from the Yamaha keyboard as she belts out I Will Survive at the karaoke bar.
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