Is the piano your equal ?

[m1469]

Is that how you see it ?  Or do you think of yourself and feel yourself as superior to it ?


Funny question, I know.  But, I just realized that I approach the piano as my equal, and maybe it is not.   Maybe I need to approach it differently.



m1469 

[pianistimo]

i use it as a tool, but it feels like an extension of myself because it helps me communicate.  i would say it is on par with earphones for a person going deaf, or braille for a blind person.  it helps express my unspoken language and for shy people  (who hide behind pianos), this makes them feel empowered.  but, when they stop playing the piano they again become their weaker self.  (i use the piano like some kids use action figures).

also, i like the idea of dressing up for a concert.  half the fun is looking really good.  this can confuse your audience.  take helene grimaud for instance (*wait a minute - she came out in a blouse and pair of pants but still looked good).

[ted]

People are much more important than pianos, but this is very elementary and perhaps not quite what you meant ? Pianistimo is right, it is a tool, a highly sophisticated, complex tool, and one which is used on a very deep mental level, but still a tool and therefore vastly inferior to a human being. I do not, however, see it as an adversary to be belted into submission, which image so readily comes to mind with many classical players.

Like all tools, it is used best when it becomes a virtual extension of a human being, in the same way as the most enlightening use of computers occurs when they are regarded as useful complements to the minds which conceive the programmes.

[m1469]

People are much more important than pianos, but this is very elementary and perhaps not quite what you meant ? Pianistimo is right, it is a tool, a highly sophisticated, complex tool, and one which is used on a very deep mental level, but still a tool and therefore vastly inferior to a human being. I do not, however, see it as an adversary to be belted into submission, which image so readily comes to mind with many classical players.

Well, I have to admit, I sort of think of it as having a soul  .  It seems alive to me  .  It's my friend.  (But, I have also been known to name a car).

And, I feel a little bit as though I would have to be crazy to think I can control it... like I might be overconfident if I thought that (on an impersonal level).  I am starting to think though, that I am fundamentally approaching it wrongly.  It needs to be more like a toy maybe, or I guess a tool as you both have put it.

But, yes, what you have said is definitely along the lines of what I am talking about.  "belting into submission"  he he... yeah, that's something like what I mean.


m1469

[Jacey1973]

I feel the piano is my equal - if anything it is more superior than me. I feel i have so much to learn.

Sometimes we get on great, but other days we fall out and i refuse to even look at my piano! But we always make up! Hehe...

[whynot]

This is such an interesting question.  I've never heard anyone talk about this, although I have thought about it myself.  Like m1469 (do I say that a lot?), I think pianos have souls, or at least personalities.  No, actually, I think SOME pianos do.  Some do not!  I respect a piano that I perceive to have a soul, which may or may not be an instrument that I actually like--that's not the criteria.  I respect it and try to win it over.  There's a piano in my community that gets played by everyone, and I was the only one who liked it for years and years.  It was unusual in many ways, and it was very difficult to make it sound good.  But I made friends with it years ago, and I swear, it really did sound nice for me.  But because it was problematic for everyone else, a bunch of work was done on it, and now it's COMPLETELY different and has been robbed of its personality.  Now it IS just a tool, and I don't want to have anything to do with it.  I'm sick about this.  When I first played it after its lobotomy, I just wept.  I think a piano that's been made with care and attention has its own secrets and we can coax them out-- or not.

To address some previous posts, I agree that (generally) they are not superior to human beings.  But when it's one-on-one, I don't feel superior unless it's a certain kind of piano--not a certain make, but made with a certain philosophy.  I can't be more specific because it would be offensive to many people, and I'm trying to improve my manners.   
   

[lisztisforkids]

This is such an interesting question. I've never heard anyone talk about this, although I have thought about it myself. Like m1469 (do I say that a lot?), I think pianos have souls, or at least personalities. No, actually, I think SOME pianos do. Some do not! I respect a piano that I perceive to have a soul, which may or may not be an instrument that I actually like--that's not the criteria. I respect it and try to win it over. There's a piano in my community that gets played by everyone, and I was the only one who liked it for years and years. It was unusual in many ways, and it was very difficult to make it sound good. But I made friends with it years ago, and I swear, it really did sound nice for me. But because it was problematic for everyone else, a bunch of work was done on it, and now it's COMPLETELY different and has been robbed of its personality. Now it IS just a tool, and I don't want to have anything to do with it. I'm sick about this. When I first played it after its lobotomy, I just wept. I think a piano that's been made with care and attention has its own secrets and we can coax them out-- or not.

To address some previous posts, I agree that (generally) they are not superior to human beings. But when it's one-on-one, I don't feel superior unless it's a certain kind of piano--not a certain make, but made with a certain philosophy. I can't be more specific because it would be offensive to many people, and I'm trying to improve my manners.
 

I totally agree with you.. Pianos are alive somewhat. And do have their distincitve personality. My teacher's majestic Steinway, the talkative Kawai at school, my lazy Baldwin. I always say hi to my pianp before I practice.
This goes with all musical insturments and works of art. Breathe life into them and they
will breathe life into you.

[ramseytheii]

Well, I have to admit, I sort of think of it as having a soul  .  It seems alive to me  .  It's my friend.  (But, I have also been known to name a car).

And, I feel a little bit as though I would have to be crazy to think I can control it... like I might be overconfident if I thought that (on an impersonal level).  I am starting to think though, that I am fundamentally approaching it wrongly.  It needs to be more like a toy maybe, or I guess a tool as you both have put it.

But, yes, what you have said is definitely along the lines of what I am talking about.  "belting into submission"  he he... yeah, that's something like what I mean.


m1469

Strange I don't think either way, as equal, superior or inferior to this big black box.  Since the piano won't do anything unless we ask it to, we aren't in the business of controlling the piano, but controlling ourselves.  I am sorry I can't find this exact quote, but I am reminded of what Rubinstein said of Richter... "He played the piano... and the piano responded."

Walter Ramsey

[contrapunctus]

A piano is something that vibrates the air at a frequency controlled by the player.

I am not seeing how it would be equal with a human being.

[rob47]

It is wise to think of yourself as a crocodile and the piano as a wilderbeast(?wildebeest) taking a drink from the edge of whichever body of water you happen to be hanging out in. You must be that crocodile and sneak up on the unsuspecting beast and pull it into the murky depths locking your massive jaws around its throat and smashing the life out of it, or by drowning and eating it slowly in the case of say a nocturne  We must always be plotting with our mind, always be one step ahead of that hairy smelly piano, and just dominate it from limb to limb.

However we all have bad days when we are just to tired to focus on the kill.  This can be extremely costly.  The wilderbeast senses your weakness, and in an act of suicidal bravery, instead lunges into the water to attack you for years of murderous tyranny:

Gonzalo takes on a crocodile

Yes on these days it is sometimes best to let the wilderbeast drink or swim deeper thus avoiding the wretched feces-eater altogether. 

[alzado]

Think of yourself as the piano's "owner."

Unfortunately, this is not so clear-cut as one might imagine.

We have two cats.  We are their "owners," technically, but the cats pretty much do what they want. 

---------------

Looking at the whole matter differently, I would feel inferior to a Steinway, but would superior to a Wurlitzer or Kimball.

I like to think of my piano as a "great voice," and my role with her is to awaken her "great voice."  That is what I do when I play. 

For about eight years I did not play our grand, which sat silent in our living room.  I felt sad and guilty because her "great voice" was silent.  Because of my laziness.

[m1469]

well, there are a bunch of great and fun posts here, regarding this topic.  Alzado's post reminds me of one year in particular, where I did feel strongly that the piano has a voice that I need to awaken (now that thought is just tucked away in a sea of other thoughts).  And as somebody else mentioned (but I can't seem to find it.. sorry) it is like they have these secrets and if you can, you will coax them out of that piano.

Sometimes I have looked at a piano and it just looks like it wants to speak.  And, I start feeling sad for it... so I sit down and try to help it.  Often leaving quite humbled.  I just never seem to learn all of its secrets. 


m1469

[gruffalo]

to me, because i am not a proffessional and not good enough to be one, i think of the piano is better than me, and i have to learn to master it. i almost feel not worthy of it.

[m1469]

I like to think of my piano as a "great voice," and my role with her is to awaken her "great voice."  That is what I do when I play. 

For about eight years I did not play our grand, which sat silent in our living room.  I felt sad and guilty because her "great voice" was silent.  Because of my laziness.

I just re-read this and it hit me a little differently this time.  Maybe I cannot explain it very well, how it hit me this time, even though I responded to this particular point before.  I just realized something like the piano is one thing.  It's not many keys and hammers and all these separate elements that we must try to control.  It is one "great voice" as you say.

I don't think there is any gravity in what I am trying to explain.  It is just that, being a vocalist also, I appreciate any ties that help me to better understand.  I just really like the concept and want to keep growing with it.

Thanks, Alzado,

m1469 

[gruffalo]

yea i see where your coming from. i too am a singer. is singing your 1st or 2nd instrument?

[gorbee natcase]

Man made piano
Piano didn't make man