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A Piano Adds Sophistication to More than Just a Room By: Richard Chronister From: Keyboard Companion, Summer 1996 For me, what is important about this message (A
Piano Adds Sophistication to More than Just a Room) is its emphasis on
the fact that music is important for its own sake, not for all those
fringe benefits we hear too much about.
Of course, the message here refers to the importance of a musical
instrument.
But even the piano manufacturers who support the National Piano
Foundation would agree that it is the
music that is produced on
these instruments that really adds sophistication to a room.
That it is the sound
of the music that changes everyone who hears it and is touched by it.
That it is the musician
who is making the music that bestows beauty to the eye and the soul.
And, finally, that what is important to us is our love for those
things in life, like music, that enrich the human experience and have
the ability to take our thoughts to a higher realm. I have to say something about those kids hovered
over the piano. It is absolutely
the truth that when a child sits down at a piano in a public place and
starts to play, a crown will appear.
Other children stand amazed that someone can really play that
thing – and look like they enjoy it.
And some adult always says, “Oh, how I wish I had stayed with it
long enough to do that.” Of
course, it’s also true that someone will finally say, “I wish he would
stop” (another argument for digital keyboards with earphones), but the
initial reaction to someone who can really play the piano is always
positive. The big question is – will the child who is playing enroll for more piano lessons next fall, and will the children standing around the piano want to learn how to play when summer is over and mother asks the fateful question? Well, that probably depends more on us than anyone else. What will your students say about piano lessons during their summer hiatus? Will they be talking about how much fun you are? About how they love their lessons? About how much they are learning? About how they can’t wait to get back to lessons? One way to find out is to ask the parents of your students if their children can’t resist sitting down at any piano they see and won’t get up until someone says stop. Piano lessons are not about learning to play the piano. Piano lessons are about playing the piano. Somehow we have to accomplish a miracle – we have to emphasize the enjoyment of making music over the hard work of learning the language and technique of music. You can do it, can’t you?
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"Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song." Psalms 95:2 "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music." Psalms 98:4 |