The Piano Sits Waiting - If Your Piano Could Talk

She hurried home from school where her best friend, a piano, sits waiting for her. The only time she felt her mother's love and approval was when she played the piano. At times her mother was even moved to tears, especially when she played a Beethoven Sonata.

The little girl made a discovery. If she played the piano well, her mother would give her attention. And if she played her mother's favorite classical pieces, perhaps that was how she could win her mother's love. Oh, glory!

The minute she sat down on the piano bench she felt at home like she belonged there. Even difficult musical phrases were a joy for her to practice. Hour, after hour, she would discipline herself to perfect and conquer challenging passages. She displayed amazing patience as the same measures of music were rehearsed ten, twenty, thirty times or more. Repetition became a competition with herself. She wouldn't quit practicing until every note was perfectly executed.

As her fingers melted into each key, upon contact she released every emotion inside of her small, fragile body. Her hands and the piano keys became one. Was she the music, or was the music itself her?

I wrote the following poem as if my piano were a living, breathing, entity encompassing feelings and emotions..

The piano sits waiting...waiting

When will my lid be lifted once more

I long to feel the warmth of her small fingers

Gliding over my black-and-white keys ~

I wait patiently for my exhilarating work-out

My music comes to life as she sings her song

I breathe in rhythmic elation with each phrase

Listen as my soundboard vibrates its emotional colors~

My strings shimmer with her interpretation of

Musical geniuses born in another time and place

Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, bring me your gifts, your etudes, your polonaise~

She will open each one at the proper time

Unwrapping notes hurled across old pages

My excitement owns the joy I feel

When she unleashes her own passion~

I catch her salty tears tapping gently on my keys

Then how I ring with vibrancy when she smiles

We flow with inspiration, surfing out to sea

Lost in a kaleidoscope of major and minor

I, alone, have been her escape from pain

Her deep expression of love and want

I, alone, lock in her secrets

I have been there for her from the beginning~

I will be there for her until the end.

"I always make sure that the lid over the keyboard is open before I start to play." Artur Schnabel, after being asked for the secret of piano playing.

• The world’s largest piano is a giant grand at 11 feet, 8 inches long. It weighs over one ton and has a total string tension of 30 tons. Created by the Challen Company, it is thought to be located at a private French estate.
• A new piano should be tuned four times a year with a shift to twice a year after that.
• A piano should be placed next to a solid wall and avoid windows.
• The first note on a standard 88-note keyboard is A.
• The last note on a standard 88-note keyboard is C.
• Although pianos are stringed instruments, they are considered percussion instruments and are placed in that section of a symphony orchestra.
• Pianos generally have 220-230 strings. The strings are made of steel and are strung tightly to create the tension needed to produce the sound. They are strung so tightly to about 168 pounds per string, the total tension can equal 18-20 tons.
• The word piano comes from the shortened word "piano forte" meaning soft and loud.
• The inventor of the piano is Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua in the year 1700-1720. The piano evolved from the harpsichord.

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