A real piano!

For the past 6 years, we’ve had a 66-key electric keyboard. I never played it because 1. keyboards are wimpy and wobbly and don’t sound as good as real pianos and 2. all of the fun music requires more than 66 keys to play—something I didn’t know until I tried playing it on the keyboard. So it’s been a while since I’ve played the piano regularly. I was never very good at playing. I learned the requisite 10 or 15 hymns for my Mom as a teenager and didn’t really play much after that (unless you count the creaking, grudging opening hymn for seminary class).

It all started 6 or 7 months ago, when our friends the Peters got a new piano. They offered to give their old one to us for free, and of COURSE! I said yes right away. Then I became deathly pregnantly ill and stopped caring about anything except my next hurl. Jeff was completely occupied taking care of our life without my help. So the piano plan was left hanging.

Then a few weeks ago, the patient Peters family offered us the piano again because they were really ready to get rid of it. Can you believe they kept two pianos in their house all that time, waiting for us?? They are so nice! With some clever over-the-phone measuring, we discovered that the piano would fit in our van. Jeff set off with his father one Saturday afternoon, and they came back an hour or so later, drenched in sweat, hauling a piano. In our minivan. I chose not to watch them lift/slide/whatever it out of the van because that kind of thing totally stresses me out, especially when I am incapable of helping in any way (or even doing a nervous dance). Somehow they maneuvered the piano into our basement to its spot behind the couch. And just like that, we had a piano.

It’s not a fancy piano or a recognizable brand, and it probably should be tuned sometime soon, but it IS a real piano. I was slowly saving up for my dream beautiful Baldwin piano (like the one we had when I was growing up), but we were still a solid 3-4 years from having enough $$ for one of those. Now that we have this little piano, I’m kind of tempted to reallocate what little had accumulated in the piano fund elsewhere, like to have our current piano tuned. Because when you’re no expert, a piano is a piano. As long as it’s in tune.

Having a real piano in my own private home has inspired me to play the piano often. Since we got the piano, I have been playing it 5 or 6 times per week! Laaa!  What’s really surprising is how much fun I’m having with it. I must be an adult. I never really enjoyed playing piano when I was younger. It was just something I had to survive. But now I’m finding such satisfaction from playing our “new” piano. The nice thing about never excelling in my past piano playing is that I am at about the same skill level now as I was 10 years ago, ha ha. The only way to go is up!

I have a very modest music library including a hymnbook, a mini Primary songbook (hard to read those teeny notes), The Man from Snowy River book, and a book of simple kid songs (love that one). To supplement this slim library, I ordered the Piano Guys’ new songbook as well as a Les Miserables piano book from trusty Amazon.com last week. The latter is a comfortable challenge and the former is WAY out of my league, but still fun to attempt. When I sit down to play, I just pick up whatever music I’m in the mood for and go with it. I’m not actually practicing much, just playing and stumbling along for fun. It’s bound to help some eventually, right? Rose loves to sit and listen to my hesitant plunking. She says “Mommy, this song is bootiful,” even to a messy rendition of The Wheels on the Bus.

I’m still working on the decor for that giant wall. [Any ideas?] 

On Sunday nights, Jeff has started his very own sing-along. He stands behind me and sings hymns and kids songs at whatever pathetic or choppy pace I set. Often he sings the same note over and over or holds it long while I fumble around to find the next chord. My favorite so far was his rendition of Skip to My Lou—he pulled out his faux-opera voice for that one and sang it long, warbly, and slow to match my unpracticed tempo. It’s even harder for me to play when I’m LAUGHING MY HEAD OFF! It’s so much fun.

 

We have a real piano!

That’s the story, morning glory.