Treasure 9…my piano
Posted under Material things I love, Ten Treasures
Ah my lovely, if rather neglected piano. My parents bought this for me when I was a teenager. We pooled our Christmas money from my grandmother, and pennies were pinched and savings made to find the money to buy this super reconditioned Mickleburgh upright.
I was a latecomer to piano playing, I didn’t start until I was 15. By then I knew I wanted to read music at university, but you have to be able to play the piano to do so. So it was a crazy mad dash to get from 0-60mph (or to Grade 8!) in 2 years.
Even at my ‘best’ I was average. These days I’m terrible, shockingly bad in fact, but I like plinky plonking and the children love messing around on it too. Alas they don’t treat it with the respect this lovely old lady deserves. Bertie smashed the keys with a purple sparkly recorder last year and cracked the end off some of the keys, I nearly cried. A few weeks ago I heard Diggy playing a lovely tune and was feeling all warm and fuzzy about my little maestro until Bertie shouted, ‘Mummy! Diggy is STANDING on the piano!’ I found him on tip-toe, reaching up for the paints/crayons/stamps I keep stashed out of his reach while tapping out a tune with his tootsies. Worse, he’d already got hold of a stamp and had stamped all over his face, arms and legs and, double worse, the keys of the piano.
I will have my revenge in the form of compulsory piano lessons from the age of 5 with double helpings of scales and arpeggios. Let’s see how you like it then, twinkle toes…
I too played piano but alas cannot make my hands do different things and so my lessons were shortlived, much to the relief of my teacher…. he was really weird anyway! I can still knock out Unto Us a Boy is Born when needed though. :0)
I love my piano too, and have been an expert pianist now for about 8 weeks. I can totally rock Old MacDonald and Frere Jacques. I start scales next week…
It’s one instrument I would love to know how to play. Beautiful photo
I am a terrible piano player but I love to do it anyway. The kids haven’t noticed yet, thankfully!
Who knows, maybe Diggy will make a career of toe tapping the ivories?
my mom has a gorgeous upright steinway that she inherited from her aunt and on which my 9 years of piano lessons took place. there will be a fight to the death between my sister and me for it when the parents go…sadly, i have to admit the sister plays better than i do and i think she quit lessons after 4-5 years…me, i could play whatever you put in front of me, if you give me enough time to practice, but i cannot just sit down and play something well on the first go.
My piano is a treasure of mine. I used to play daily until I got a little obsessed with photography. lol