Why Do You Play Piano?

[nicko124]

Hello


I hope that this thread is in the right section of the Forum.
I know this topic may sound simple and obvious but i think it is important to acknowledge it. If you are a serious dilligent pianist than piano study will take up a large portion of your life and i think it is interesting to discuss the incentives.
I have discussed this topic on other forums and many have similar views to me as to why they feel the need to play.
My reasons for studying piano and loving it. (in no particular order):-

1. When i perform music that i respect/admire/love it can move me and i can express what i like about the piece onto it. It can become very personal.

2. Related to 1. is the challenge of learning pieces. It means that when i finish learning a very tricky piece (in my case Liszt - Un Sospiro) it was very rewarding however difficult it was to learn (for me).

3. I have to admit that i get a real kick out of moving others such as my girlfriend and i really appreciate it when people say they enjoy hearing me play. I have often thought that this can be superficial but it seems like the main factor of being a pianist. I don't think it is as important as moving myself which is why outside of the Grades i do not study pieces i dislike. (other than to improve technique)

4. This is in a way related to 3. I think there is a great appeal in practising pieces etc to impress others. First of all it is entertaining to see the people impressed with something that looks 'near impossible'. Second of all it can get you a hell of a lot of respect amongst musicians and non musicians in different ways. I have heard that Gershwin relished the oppurtunity to show off his piano skills at parties.
Something that makes it ok is that the 'showing off' can be the reward for practicing.

I cannot stand arrogant musicians though because they look rediculous next to equally skilled musicians who are very modest. I understand that Jools Holland has 'God Like' piano (boogie-woogie) skills but he is so arrogant that i would never like or support him.
I don't think there is a problem in knowing that you are good but not being arrogant to others about your skill though.

Anyway that is my original contribution to this ambitious thread, please elaborate on what i have said, add in your own ideas. Apologies if my philosophy on piano study has a lack of eloquence but sometimes i am not completely sure why i play.

 

[Ed Marlo]

Interesting.  For me it's..

1)  I love affecting people, and getting them to ask questions.  To question their opinions, outlooks, thoughts, predjudices, motives, logic.  As well as the piano I paint a lot, and perform magic.  I find that the 3 combined cover most bases of getting people to question what they usually just go along and accept as the norm.  I'm a certainly an unorthadox painter - the day I paint a realistic flower, vase, or landscape I ask someone to shoot me on the spot.  I'm a rather unorthadox magician, and I try my best to break the rule book a little when it comes to piano.

2)  Definately an enormous selfish element.  The satisfaction garnered from playing these masterpieces myself is enormous.  All through my childhood being able to play the piano has been a seemingly unattainable goal.  My eldest brother plays very well, and I am very envious of him because of that.  I never took the opportunity when I could, and then exams and school took over.  Glad I finally grabbed an opportunity to start!  This element is the same as with magic and painting - I love learning the magic effects, I love being able to do them, and I love being able to paint. 

3)  As tacky as it sounds, and I think everyone will be saying this (permission granted to copy and paste  ) - I love music!  A life without music is unthinkable.  Playing piano has vastly broadened my music knowledge and understanding, and more importantly my enjoyment.

4)  There's no denying that the 'wow' factor is here somewhere.  Of course it feels good when someone hears you and really enjoys it.  Although, I don't think this is a reason why I play piano, just one of it's perks.

5)  Keeps me busy.  I hate, detest wasting time.  I always have to be doing something, learning something, expanding my knowledge and skills.  Piano is another 'thing to fill the time'.  A 'very very important thing to fill the time' mind.

6)  Relaxation.  Playing the piano is one fo the few things that can fully relax me after a stressful day/week/lesson.

7)  I just love a good challenge - and some pieces certainly are for me!  I certainly don't aim low..


It makes me very happy to think that I am developing this skill that me and others can enjoy.  Very happy to think that  am doing something I love.  I see so many children in school learning piano because mummy and daddy want them to.  The fact that they get no enjoyment does not seem to matter - they will play the piano and they WILL be good.  I have never understood this.  You should only play the piano if you enjoy it, and in my view you can only play it well if you enjoy it.  Really enjoy it.  I'm not sure what is achieved by forcing a child to spend hours of time doing something they get no enjoyment out of at all.  I do pity them, and wish they could be in my position of doing something I love by choice. 

Anyway, that's my 2 pennies.

[pies]

­

[dynamicallyidle]

I exclusively play romantic music on the piano, and I play it because it speaks for my soul, and speaks to my soul at once.

I could never play for another person again and still be perfectly content in playing the piano.

[jazzyprof]

I play because, well...


I don't play anymore.

And why don't you play anymore?  You do not love the piano?  You have no joy in it?

[steinwayguy]

1. I love music
2. I love expressing myself through music.

[keys]

I think I have some sort of piano gene that makes it impossible for me to quit. It is such a huge part of me that it has become a part of my personality. For me, playing piano is the way I worship God. I also love to perform piano and enjoy being a part of the music community. I've thought about the reasons I play before, and haven't been able to figure it out exactly. I just know that on the days things really aren't working, I sometimes think "If I could give this up I would." I couldn't give it up if I wanted to.

[m1469]

1.  I enjoy learning about and demonstrating characteristics and qualities this way:  committment, perseverence, trust, strength, humility etc

2.  I like to experience music this way; it engages my entire being rather than just listening, playing any other instrument or singing, does for me.

3.  I just can't seem to bring myself to quit, yet...

4.  I need it 



m1469 Fox

[lostinidlewonder]

I need to do something that totally takes me away from this world. Playing piano is defniatly one of those things. Also it pays my bills and keeps a roof above my head. lol 

[soundtrk]

1. It takes my mind off the insanity of school. When I go into a little practice room (in the music building on campus) and it's just me and a grand piano, there's unique sense of tranquility and isolation that I can't get anywhere else.

2. That sensation of "being in the moment", though rare, when it happens, is worth all the times when it doesn't happen, and is miraculous and addictive as a mind-altering drug.

3. I find it a powerful means of self-expression. I can't paint, write poems, or wax philosophical to save my life; but I can tell a story or weave a scene or represent an emotion through the composer's notes, and add to it my own self.

4. To remind myself (and feel good about the fact that) I have more than a brain. To be able to physically hit those keys and make the sound come out is, in a fundamental way, an amazing thing. Sometimes I watch myself play the Revolutionary Etude, and marvel at my flying hands, as if they have a mind of their own and I'm merely an observer watching from a distance.

5. To show off. To have a skill that not many people have and be appreciated for it is rewarding.

Having said all that . . . I'm actually quite a bit more of a realist than a dreamer, and times when the above are true is actually very rare. I don't practice much . . . actually the amount that I do play can hardly be called "practice". I easily let other parts of my life take over my entire life and I would not play for weeks or months at a stretch. But strangely, it's more often after a long absence that the above mentioned thoughts become reality.

[soundtrk]

I see so many children in school learning piano because mummy and daddy want them to.  The fact that they get no enjoyment does not seem to matter - they will play the piano and they WILL be good.  I have never understood this.  You should only play the piano if you enjoy it, and in my view you can only play it well if you enjoy it.  Really enjoy it.  I'm not sure what is achieved by forcing a child to spend hours of time doing something they get no enjoyment out of at all.  I do pity them, and wish they could be in my position of doing something I love by choice. 

Just thought I'd add to this: I was one of those children who was forced to play the piano by my parents. I don't think I really enjoyed it when I was little. I practiced because I was told to, and I went along with lessons and everything because it's what an obedient child does. I had a good teacher who was patient and caring, but now thinking back I felt that she had taught technique brilliantly but never quite made me feel like I learned interpretation on my own. After I aced every theory exam and got my ARCT, I stopped taking lessons and pretty much stopped practicing. My piano activity around this time was limited to accompanying my school's choirs, which kept me busy enough. But this was 5 years ago. Now I can honestly say that I'm confident that music and piano will always remain a part of my life, and I'm glad that my parents put me through all those years of lessons way back then.

[pies]

­

[melia]

1) Its a remarkable test of my patience, perserverence and hardwork. Unless you're gifted, I have learnt that there are no shortcuts, you just have to do the practice!

2) Of course, that feeling when the impossible you hear those concert pianists play suddenly becomes possible (after months or years of hardwork!!) - thats TRUE satisfaction  

3)  The intrinsic rewards are so that I feel good at being good at something. Whether its painting, writing, etc.. I guess we all want to be REALLY good at what we love, maybe not the next Horowitz (ha ha) but achieve something that you can be proud of.

4) Music is music - it can calm & relax, entertain, romance, worship God, the list goes on. Which one of these I do better, I'm not sure but I'd play a piece of music I know really well to express how I TRULY feel without words.  I'd play Beethoven Moonlight Sonata (3rd Mvt) if I were angry about something, but couldn't find the words to describe it, now thats real frustration! 

[rhapsody in orange]

Music creates order out of chaos, for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent melody imposes continuity upon the the disjointed and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous.
I like that quote. 

[tds]

it's a call,....really.

[hodi]

when i accomplish to play preety good a piece that i really like, i feel so much happy, i think that's the reason.

[robert]

If I don't, I cannot breathe.

[Alfonso Van Worden]

It is simple :

The real questio that a pianist has in his mind every morning it is :

Why DON´T you play the piano?

[Steve T]

Because it's a challenge, it's rewarding, it gives me access to the thoughts and feelings of great composers, it moves me in so many ways......oh, and it annoys the neighbours    (just kidding about the last one  )

[tomclear]

 I don't know why, but I'm hooked.
If I don't play a day, I miss the physical sensation of the keys
under my fingers, no matter what it sounds like, or if anybody hears.

[minimozart007]

1. To look into the minds and the thoughts of the great composers.

2. To express what cannot be expressed with words.

3. To show off.

4. To have a unique talent that is all my own (amongst my freinds and family).

5. Bach.

[pizno]

Because I can.  Because I love the sound of my Steinway B.  Because ever since I was young it was my escape.  Because I am in the middle of it, feeling it, making it, being part of it.  Because someone might think I am brilliant (which I am not, but I keep hoping). Because I met just get better if I keep working at it.  Because I love Chopin, Bach, Mozart and it is a privilege to be able to make the music.  Because it is so challenging, it keeps me thinking and trying.

And, it is the most infuriating, frustrating, demeaning thing ever.  But, it is mine, and I will do it until I can't do it any more.

Pi.  Play something simple, close your eyes and listen. Forget the concert pieces. For now.

[Axtremus]

Fun.

(I once had the ulterior motive of attracking hot chicks. That did not work.)

[beethoartok]

i play because..

piano seems to be an escape from reality.
it's creative and forces an interpretation.
all around kick a**

lol... i still remember the days my teacher used to tell me and my parents for me to quit...we were "wasting her time and our money." 

[LVB op.57]

1. Bach
2. Beethoven
3. expression
4. fun
5. sanity
6. escaping

[pianonut]

playing piano is like climbing a mountain. it keeps getting harder and steeper and you have more risks.  we must be somewhat eccentric in our need to take this sort of risk - some might call it crazy.  you know liszt started this whole thing.  playing piano from memory.  while it's true that you get much better expression and freedom of playing, you can also develop an addiction to taking more and more risk - until you actually live off of risk.  thereby endangering your life and the lives of those around you (for instance - remembering so many details that you become obsessed with things like the color of buttons, or exact spelling of words).

from then on, your life becomes what could be the details of a spy novel.  dreaming of patterns and mathematical solutions to equations - or in musicians cases, dreaming of sequences.  then, when you can't remember a detail you have a nervous breakdown (just kidding) or start losing short term memory so you have more long term memory.

ok. for me it is definately the challenge.  you don't have to worry about avalaches or falling into a crevace.  and, i don't really think i ever heard a concert where the pianist was booed off the stage.  does this happen?  what is the worst that can happen?  you can't remember a thing?  even this has a solution.  you bring the music out and just play from the music.  it's not really life or death--but if you are serious about music it can feel like it.  (i pray before my recitals - for myself and the audience)  you never know.  an audience may just be receptive to something if you are enjoying yourself and not just for perfection of all the notes.   

[Derek]

I play piano because it utterly fascinates me and has taken me on a journey I never expected I would embark upon. It is an endless, beautiful journey, filled with adventure, excitement, mystery, challenge, and passion.

[gkatele]

I am a returning intermediate student. I take lessons in my home about once a week. I'm 55 years old. There are no plans for performance, recitals or anything like that. I play for me.

Why do I play?

Every now and then, when I sit down, and everything's going well, like it did last night when I was playing the G-minor prelude from the Well-Tempered-Clavier (I), I get a shivver up my back. No, I'm not good, but the music is so beautiful that it moves me.

I play for the shivver.


George

[anda]

cause i can't not do it. worse case of addiction i've ever seen...

[Torp]

cause i can't not do it. worse case of addiction i've ever seen...

Same here, though I'd call it the BEST addiction I've ever had.

Also, I feel like it connects me.  (I was going to try and explain that last statement, but I can't.  That's also why I play, to explain the unexplainable.)

Jef

[Waldszenen]

1. Because Music is one of the greatest achievements of mankind, equal, in my opinion, to the greatest scientific discoveries.

2. Because I've been given the gift to enjoy music, so might as well do what I can in it.

3. Because it's a great feeling to be passionate about something.

[Dazzer]

frankly, i don't know why i play the piano... in fact i used to HATE the piano when i was little. my parents would force me to sit on the piano everyday...

but now i play the piano... there're some moments which i enjoy, but which are often shortlived. listening to other pianists makes me depressed. going to lessons makes me depressed. playing the piano makes me depressed.

i need a shrink...

[jbmajor]

I simply like the way it sounds, even when used at a fraction of its potential. 

[outsyde yn]

I play the piano because i love, love, love it.  I love making music with it.  I love telling stories with it.  I love painting pictures with it.  the piano is my friend.

bye,
Clair

[allthumbs]

For me, the sole purpose of music (playing the piano) is to enhance the positive qualities of life!

[pianomann1984]

I love performing on the piano because mastering difficult music gives me a great sense of self satisfaction, plus...i like to show off  oh and I enjoy it!  I couldn't do anything else!

[silva]

I play the piano because I love music and I want to be able to produce it and contribute to it in my own way by learning it and performing it.....

[m1469]

Okay, I finally have my answer to this.  I play the piano because it is honest work.  That's why.  There are no short-cuts (or if you take them, it shows).  That's what makes it fulfilling and satisfying for me, too.  That's why I love practising (when I am doing it right).   You get what you put in; nothing more, nothing less. 

No matter what else is happening in the day, or in the world, you can go to the piano and get better.  (and I sort of think it has a doggy personality sometimes  ... like it is always happy to see you).



m1469 

[zheer]

I blame my secondary shool teacher for putting on a piano for life.

[aspiramente]

It challenges me in every way I would want to be challenged

Physically
Emotionally
Creatively
Physcologically

Plus it has made me realise that I dont need anything except a piano to be happy.

Just a piano. It makes life a whole lot more simple and easy knowing that whatever happens, as long as I have a Piano and I guess arms and hands etc, everything will be ok.

[cfortunato]

I play because when I don't, it feels like I am doing something very, very wrong.

Read the parable in the Gospels about the workers being given talents, and how they aren't supposed to be buried in the ground.

That's why.

[pianogeek_cz]

Because of the music, the privilege to be able to communicate without words and yet call for and enhance emotions...

Because it's fulfilling (I don't know a better feeling than the moment the last chord dies away and there are the few moments of silence...).

And of course...

I play the piano because it is honest work.  That's why.  There are no short-cuts (or if you take them, it shows).  That's what makes it fulfilling and satisfying for me, too.  That's why I love practising (when I am doing it right).   You get what you put in; nothing more, nothing less. 

No matter what else is happening in the day, or in the world, you can go to the piano and get better.  (and I sort of think it has a doggy personality sometimes  ... like it is always happy to see you).

m1469 has, as is one of her great habits, worded my answer for me. 

[ada]

Because it haunts me.

Because there is so much beautiful music, so little time.

Like George K, for the shiver, man do I need that shiver,  it's better than the rush after a hit.

Because I'm obsessed, addicted, I dream about playing, think about it all the time when I should be doing other stuff.

Because for a long time I couldn't play, because things got in the way, and I have so much time to make up for.

Because of the sheer magic of watching your fingers do stuff you never thought they could, if you practice long enough.

Because if I don't, well I feel like I might just die.

[raeofsunshine]

Because there are some amazing pieces out there which i'm yet to get my hands on.

Because it makes me happy.

Because it stops my life from being empty, and is a great way to relax.

[e60m5]

Because I love playing. And I love music. 

[gorbee natcase]

Because I am a drug addict

[arensky]

What else is there to do? 

[alzado]

Because it is there.

(Pace, Mallory.)

[anathema device]

Music creates order out of chaos, for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent melody imposes continuity upon the the disjointed and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous.
I like that quote. 

I like it, too. Sounds really familiar. I think I've read this bit in David Tame's The Secret Power of Music.

Hrmm, I think I play the piano because...
1. It takes me away from my reality. Or rather, I treasure the chance to transcend the general bleakness of my life, even if just for a moment. When I play, I can get over the smallness of  my damned self.
2. As Ada said, it haunts me.
3. It makes great use out of my hearing aids. Also, I like to challenge other people's preconceived notions of what deaf people can or can't do.
4. It just feels good knowing I can produce music.

[clef]

I suppose the main reason is that I enjoy it very much.  I especially enjoy playing in a group.  The strong feeling of teamwork I feel when I play with my band is hard to explain, and can motivate me to get up in the morning.