Let me first admit that I took piano lessons for three years as a kid and I hardly EVER practiced. I played by ear, so whenever I sat down at the piano bench, I was much more interested in working out my own version of the latest pop song than practicing. My poor music teacher did manage to teach me a couple of songs, including the one in the video at the end of this post, but when I realized that learning to read music messed up my ability to play by ear, I went with my ear.
We had a piano in our home when our kids were small, and I played it often and hard. (I think to this day, hearing “Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog” pounded out on the piano strikes fear in the hearts of my children. They knew if Mama was playing that song, they’d better back off!)
We got rid of that piano in a move, but over the years, I’ve really missed having a piano. Playing is therapeutic, it is worship, it is fun, and it is great for contemplation. A great tool for a writer, in fact.
Unfortunately, whenever I did have an opportunity to play, I was shocked at how rusty I was and how many of the songs in my repertoire were just lost.
I was thrilled to discover an Airbnb we booked a few years ago had a spinet piano to play. But I’ve always had a dream—one that seemed silly since I play only for my own enjoyment—of owning a baby grand piano. If you’ve read my novella in the O Little Town Collection, you won’t be surprised to know that when I wrote about Rachel’s baby grand piano, I was really dreaming about my baby grand.
Two years ago when my sweet dad gave each of his kids a nice chunk of money from the summer’s wheat crop, that baby grand seemed possible for the first time. I even went and looked at several offerings at a local music store and one beautiful, but in-need-of-serious-work baby grand on Facebook Marketplace.
My sympathetic husband bought me a darling antique child’s toy baby grand, and I do love it. But it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. 😉
I finally gave up my search and decided it just wasn’t meant to be. But then we went to Texas and our fifteen-year-old granddaughter was learning to play the piano. She and I tinkered around and had so much fun!
And then our Missouri grandkids got the piano their dad had grown up with and we tinkered around and had so much fun. And I started dreaming again.
After a scam attempt (that I was onto right away—and sadly there are many out there), I almost gave up again. But then a piano showed up in a nearby town and it seemed legit. The piano wasn’t exactly a baby grand. It was what I call a “snub-nosed” baby grand: three-legged and the shape of a baby grand with a lifting lid, but only three feet wide, so it would fit in our house much better. And the piano was electronic—not something I’d considered—yet suddenly, all the pieces started falling into place. I learned that not only do electronic pianos never need tuning, but you can also plug in headphones so the world (and your husband) isn’t subjected to your <ahem> therapy sessions.
And then the owner told me that he’d been praying—praying!—that the right person would get the piano. Honestly? I confessed to him, “Well, you need to know that I don’t even read music. I only play for fun. So I’m sure there’s someone who would be a better fit for—”
He didn’t even let me finish. “It sounds like you might be just right for this piano.”
And so, we went to see it—and just look at it! Beautiful! I played it, feeling a little self-conscious—but a whole lot excited. The piano was almost twenty years old, but in excellent condition. It has a full keyboard, and the keys are weighted to make it feel like playing an acoustic piano. The sound was so clear and bright! And the price was right! Not even 1/3 of the budget my dad’s gift allowed!
So I bought it! It about killed me that we couldn’t bring it home that day, but we needed to round up four strong men to load the unwieldy piano. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get a photo of our youth pastor and the three awesome, muscular high school kids he enlisted to help. They did a fabulous job. The piano now graces our living room and I am over the moon!
I’ve been thrilled to find that all the songs I knew and played as a young girl and later a young mom, were still right there in my brain just waiting to get out! Isn’t that amazing? Decades later, measure by measure, all the songs are coming back, and the amount of “practicing” I’m doing would make my music teacher so proud! Haha!
Yesterday our Missouri family all came over and we had a blast playing together. The grandkids discovered that Mimi’s piano can sound like an organ or a jazz band or a string quartet! And it has a percussion option! (I may wish I hadn’t disclosed that little fact! Ha!)
I’m not ready for a recital—I have no desire to ever play in public—but oh, the joy of music! Hymns and worship songs and pop songs from my youth and a few classical pieces—all played badly, but with great gusto.
Here’s a song I thought was lost, but it all came tumbling back over the course of a few hours of practice. If anyone knows what this piece is called or who the composer is, please tell me! And please forgive my mistakes and know that I’m aware my fingering is poor and my rhythm is non-existent. I’m just tickled pink to be playing again. (Thank you, Daddy!)
Do you play a musical instrument? Have you kept up with it over the years since you first learned? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your story!
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What a fun post! I always wanted to learn to play the piano, but until I started writing I had a bad habit of not finishing what I started. Not that I had to be a master but as soon as it got tough, I tended to bail. Mom was not happy with me when I dumped band my senior year for the school newspaper. I just love how God had the perfect piano for you at the perfect time! Enjoy!
Deb,
I took piano lessons for about 7-8 years from two different teachers. I loathed the required practicing, but also acquired the skill of sight-reading when I skipped the required minutes! 🙂 I have played since 2nd grade, using my gift of music to serve the LORD by playing on Sunday mornings (not every). So thankful for the incredible gift that music I’d. I’m thrilled for you to have this dream come true and know you’ll have lots of good times on the piano bench….by yourself or with those you love. ❤️
I was a beneficiary of your hours of practice and hard work, Patricia! So thankful you stuck with it! ♥️
Oh, that was me, Kelly! Bad habit of not finishing what I started, especially when it got hard. But like you, I discovered writing and suddenly knew it was what I’d been created to do. I think, given your gifts, that you made an excellent choice trading band for the newspaper.
I love your story and here we go again. 😊. I grew up with an upright piano in our home. After three years of lessons I was barely better than when I started. Ohhhhh, practice, what was that again? My dad played the accordion and harmonica by ear. My mom played the piano for us. When my sweet mama went on to Heaven I received 1/6 of what she left for us. It was more than enough to get music back into our own house. I bought a keyboard. Not exactly a piano but good enough for me to sit down and play for me. It is fun to sit with grandkids and make music though. One day it dawned on me that playing the piano was a lot like mastering Mario Brothers on the Nintendo and I should have viewed my practice time at the piano with the same gusto. It’s all eye-hand coordination repeated over and over. And the songs that still are burned in my memory is amazing. Chopsticks duet anyone?
I love it, Ann! And I’d love to play a Chopsticks duet with you! 🙂
Oh, Deb. I love this whole story!
Thank you, Karen. It warms my heart thinking how it all came about. I still pinch myself every morning when I walk into the living room and there sits MY piano! 🙂
I loved your story! I learned to play piano as a child & as a teenager my parents bought a nice piano and my teacher taught me how to play hymns. After I married & became a pastor’s wife my parents gave me the piano & I used it to practice the children’s songs that I taught in children’s church and Sunday School over the years. As I got older it got uncomfortable to play due to arthritis, so I sold the piano & my new son-in-law who is a piano technician helped me pick out a Yamaha electronic piano that has the weighted keys and is easier to play. I love it and am retired now & play old hymns & new Getty hymns for my own enjoyment. And yes, it is great therapyy!
Oh, that all makes me so happy, Nancy! That is so neat that your son-in-law was able to help you find a piano that worked for you! Enjoy your “therapy sessions!” 🙂
Finally the story I was waiting to hear.😊. My dad played about seven instruments by ear. You have that same gift! I had six years of piano and two years of organ as a teenager. I even played a pump organ for a small Episcopal church in the country when needed. I didn’t play for first 25 years of marriage because we couldn’t afford a piano. Our last church was desperate for a pianist. I was rusty but soon improved. We bought a used ebony Kawaii when we built our current home. I agree it’s very therapeutic. I have one instrumental piece that inspired a story yet to be written. And the only music I’ve come close to memorizing.
Your piano has great sound! I was tempted to buy an electric piano recently when in a music store looking for an accordion case. ❤️
Oh, I love your story, Daphne! It seems like far fewer people play piano now than used to, and it makes me wonder how many “desperate for a pianist” churches are out there now!
Bravo, Deb! My husband has a few adult students who haven’t played since high.school but they are so excited and motivated! They are having fun, like you. Your new piano looks and sounds beautiful.
I considered taking lessons again, but for now I’m just enjoying getting back all the old songs hiding in my wrinkled brain. 🙂
Your post makes me want to get my piano tuned (something I keep saying I need to do!). I took the flute in elementary school and played for a couple of years. Unfortunately, a high school band teacher did little to make me want to continue and so I dropped it. I still have it though. I pulled it out recently (it’s in bad shape!). I took piano in high school from my second grade teacher who I absolutely adored. I hated recital time though – I am not someone who enjoys performing in front of others. When I moved after college, I didn’t have anywhere to put a piano in my apartment and then I moved a couple more times (and was glad I didn’t have to find someone to help move that!) so it stayed at my parents’ house a couple of hours away. Once I bought my house and had some sense of permanency, my brother and nephew brought it down for me. And now I keep saying I need to get it tuned so I can see if I remember anything I learned all those years ago. I’m impressed by your ability to play by ear – I’ve only ever read the music.
Joy, I can almost guarantee that everything you once knew will come back once you start playing again. I’ve been AMAZED at how music and fingering I thought was lost is coming back little by little. Every day I find a new “old” song I’d forgotten I knew how to play! And I’m excited about working up some recently discovered songs that I think I could play on the piano.
I love that you finally got your piano. I have a story similar to yours. I took lessons for awhile. I’d have my teachers play it once, so I could hear the rhythm, but after a couple years, one teacher finally figured out what I was doing, and stopped playing it for me! I couldn’t help picking up songs by ear, and once I did, reading notes was no longer necessary. My mom got frustrated, and stopped the lessons. I’ve played for church when they needed a sub, but of course was limited to playing in familiar keys, and couldn’t play anything I didn’t know.
After I got married, we didn’t have a piano for a long time. My mother-in-law decided she didn’t need the spinet in her living room anymore, so she gave it to us. I started taking lessons again to see if I could master it as an adult. (I didn’t!) Like you, I just enjoy playing hymns and it is therapeutic.
Wonderful that your mother-in-law gave you her piano. May you enjoy playing for fun and worship for many years to come!
The piano looks custom made for your living room! I know you’re enjoying playing it. While my mother tried to provide piano lessons for me, I freaked out when I got off at the wrong bus stop for one of my lessons and didn’t ever want to return for fear I’d have the same problem again. She, however, had taken lessons as a girl, resumed playing when Daddy finally bought a piano after they married and had three children. She played for a ballet studio and later for the assisted living and nursing sections of her retirement apartment complex. She would play her piano in her apartment, and the neighbors walking down her hallway would pause in the hall to enjoy her music. It was entertaining and therapeutic for her for many years!
I think it’s wonderful that your mom’s neighbors in the retirement apartment enjoyed her playing. In my novel, I have my character Rachel’s neighbors very annoyed by her playing (even though they play their radios loudly!) but the image of your mother’s neighbors pausing to listen warms my heart!
How exciting, Deb! Like you, I always dreamed of having a piano in my home, and a baby grand just seemed so romantic. My cousin was an excellent pianist, and she had a baby grand, which is probably where the dream was born. I never had lessons until I came to college and took private lessons as an elective. I already knew how to read music from playing the flute in band and singing in church. That actually hurt my piano learning, though. I just couldn’t get bass clef. Everything I did was in treble, so I had to transpose the left hand before I could play it. Sigh. I still love the idea of having a piano in my home, but it will likely remain a romanticized ideal and never become a reality, and in truth, I’d probably enjoy it more that way. Ha!
Well, don’t give up on the idea too soon, Karen! God may just surprise you when you least expect it! 🙂 Some blessings are just for a certain season of life.
I took piano lessons as a child, and finally begged my mother to let me stop at about the age of 14. I was extremely shy, and hated recitals. If I could have kept taking lessons, without recitals, I would have. I remember the old upright in my Nannie’s living room. My mother played beautifully. My husband bought me a Baldwin console for Mother’s Day when I was 30, and I pulled out my old music and began to tinker. I like to say I play for my own enjoyment (which means not very well), and am content with my slowness – still don’t want an audience. I bought beginning piano books for adults, and taught my husband, who took up his own instruction soon after. I taught the basics to my son and daughter, who both went on to participate in school band – son played clarinet, two brass instruments, and made all-state three years in a row on the contra-bass clarinet. My daughter played flute and oboe – marched in the Macy’s Parade when she was a junior. I taught my granddaughter piano for three years. She now has the spinet I learned on as a child. So, we are a musical family. My daughter married a musician. Encouraged by his parents, my grandson has taken violin and saxophone lessons in school, starting in 3rd grade, but preferred drums. He has an electronic drum set, as well as a regular drum set.
That being said, playing by ear is an amazing Talent! You are blessed! A hotel in one of our favorite vacation spots, Bar Harbor, featured a nightly piano player, who we became friends with. He plays by ear and began at age six. When his father found a teacher for him, learning to read music confused him, so he stopped. If he hears a song, he can play it. I would love to have that talent. Thank you for the story and pictures. I always enjoy seeing your family!
Wow, you ARE a musical family, Betty. I loved reading about your family. And I totally get how recitals stressed you out and made you want to quit lessons. It’s a shame that recitals are required when some students may legitimately just wish to play for their own enjoyment. (And I laughed at you interpreting that phrase as “not very well.” Haha!)
Also, I’m so impressed that you were able to teach music to so many in your family. THAT is a gift in itself! I wouldn’t even know where to begin to teach someone how to play the piano or any other instrument!
I took quite a few years of lessons in grade school and junior high. I wasn’t a pro but I enjoyed playing. But then the piano (my grandmother bought it for me) got ruined in a move when my kids were little, and I went without a piano in the house for over 3 decades. Then my aunt gave me her old upright player piano. My grandkids loved to pump those pedals and play all those old tunes when they were little. Last year, I took a piano class at the college, just to get myself playing again (bucket list item, check). I would love to own an electronic piano (I have a partial sized keyboard but it isn’t the same). The deal with my aunt was, her piano needs to go to a family member for free before I can sell it to anyone else. But if I could I would replace it with an electronic piano.
There is definitely something so sweet about playing with your grandkids and hearing them enjoy your piano! I’m so sorry your first piano was ruined in a move. 🙁
As for an electronic piano, I never thought I would be satisfied with one, but I’m totally won over now! And the fact that it’s in perfect tune after 20 years and never needs tuning is a huge boon! The full keyboard and weighted keys make all the difference and it really does sound and feel like a real acoustic piano.
I absolutely loved your story. I had no idea that this type of electronic piano existed. When I was a kid, I took 6 years of piano lessons. My teacher put me in every recital and competition know to man. Guess what … I hated playing in front of people. Although I have not played since I was a kid, these lessons gave me a lifelong love for classical music.
Then those lessons accomplished a wonderful mission! I can’t believe how many people are saying that having to perform in recitals was so stressful! I wish music teachers would make it optional! (Although, I suppose that one of the values music lessons provide is learning to perform in public.)
I LOVE that you finally got your baby grand! Hearing you play has been such fun too. You’re really good!!! 😉 I’m musical too. Played the clarinet for at least three weeks back middle school. 😂 Ah well…
I’ve always admired people who play an instrument. Specifically the piano and violin. Beautiful! Play on, dear friend!
LOL! Three whole weeks, huh? You crack me up! YOUR instrument is your gorgeous singing voice!! Don’t ever stop using it…and I know your little lion cub loves hearing GramTam sing!
Love hearing the rest of the story!!! I dreamed of playing when I was young, but parents could not afford to pay for lessons. God blessed us with our oldest daughter who is a wonderful pianist –both by ear and reading music. Made sure all three children had lessons but younger two always felt like we were pushing them to be able to play “like Laura”–and that was not the case!!
Yay for Laura’s talents and your sacrifices for the kids to take lessons. I’m sure the others have found their own talents now. God is good at a wonderful variety of gifts! 🙂
Hi Deb,
How wonderful that you found just the right piano and are enjoying it! We had an old family upright that I used to play just for relaxation. I took lessons as a child but at some point, quit the lessons, only playing when I felt like it, enjoying the option of playing hymns and some popular show tunes. The piano went with me when I married and I even taught some beginner lessons with it. In fact, my middle son credits those lessons with his love for guitar and writing his own songs. But when I moved from Georgia to Florida and downsized from a house to a condo, I gave the piano away to a family whose little girl was taking lessons and loved to play. I remember how difficult it was for four strapping high school boys to get that piano out my door and down the front steps, then roll it on a dolly down the street to its new home! I’ve missed having the piano, but a few years ago, my sweet husband gave me an electronic keyboard. Sadly though, it just doesn’t have the sound of my old piano and doesn’t have all the keys either, so it just sits alone. Sometimes I bring music home from our church choir rehearsals with the intention to work on my part, but I never do. I really wish I could find an affordable piano that would fit in my house and satisfy my desire to play again.
I hope you find a piano that’s just right for you, Marilyn! I do think a full keyboard and weighted keys is the secret to one you’ll play! Downsizing is hard, but it has its good side too, and I’m sure that little girl who got your piano has had many years of enjoyment from it!
I am an 87 year old widow and have been playing the piano since I was 7 years old – took piano class lessons from a spinster piano teacher and we had class during recess in school. Later on I took private lessons until college. Played for church in my teens and duets with my mother as she was church organist. I met my husband in college and he was also a musician -played both the piano and organ since the age of 12. So for many years we played in different churches and many duets. Now I am alone but still play for church and have the. gift of being able to read music easily so I love to try new songs. God has richly blessed me with the love of music – the only time I can truly lose myself is when I am playing the piano. Thank you Lord!!
Oh, what a gift, Sue! And one it sounds like you’ve worked very hard at, and yet I know that when God has gifted you that way, even though it may require work, there is joy in the learning and practicing and progressing. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi, Deb! You are a soul-mate, I’d say.
I still have the old, non-tuned piano my husband bought for my birthday, the month before our first baby arrived. We had no air conditioning, so the doors were open in July, trying to catch a breeze. I saw the Dickey Davidson Music truck pull in the drive and told my friend Marilyn that someone must be needing directions.
“Are you Mrs. Klaassen?” he said.
When I answered, “Yes,” he said, “Well I have a present for you!”
It was a shining new Wurlitzer that just fit in our small living room.
Now, since my husband’s farm accident eight years ago, I still enjoy playing my piano, singing along, and sometimes writing songs. I almost feel it’s a hug from him.
Oh, Grace! What a beautiful story and wonderful memory! Yes, I’d say those “hugs” from your husband are precious gifts from God! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
What a blessing – your piano looks perfect for you! I have been a piano teacher for 44 years and I think you play very well. What a gift to be able to play by ear!! Keep it up!
Thanks so much, Leanne. That means a lot coming from a piano teacher!
What a beautiful piano! And you played it very well. :-). I have a second (or maybe third- or fourth-, who knows?) hand baby grand in the spare room we use for the grandkids. I added a player piano unit a while back just so I could enjoy hearing it because I don’t have much time to practice any more. I took piano for years because I was a music major–I passed my piano proficiency test, but that’s about the end of it. :-). Sure do love it, though. I know your grandkids are going to love sitting and playing/singing with you!
I remember that you were a music major, Angie. How fun to have the player piano with it. I know mine has a demonstration option because the owner played it for me over the phone before I went to look, but I haven’t found that key yet. 🙂 I’ll have to try it!
I play bass guitar and piano by ear.
Ah, I tried to learn to play guitar by ear as a teenager, but I just never could get the fingering right. Thanks for posting!