On tuning the piano

Finally, did it.  I didn’t dare say how long it had been since the piano was tuned, lest I be reported for piano abuse, but the nice tuner man soon restored my piano’s beautiful sound.  Thanks, Clinton Curtis, for embarrassing me into getting this done.

I was inspired enough to sit down and try to learn the first new music I’ve tackled in so very long.  Amazing, I can still sight read!  I stumbled through half of the first Goldberg Variation.  Always meant to do it, and now I will.  I was tackling only the very first page, not even the the first variation, but the whatever-comes-before-the first.  OK, so I don’t exactly sound like Glenn Gould, verbally or musically, but I’ll get there. 

Was immediately struck with the fact that you simply cannot multitask and play an instrument.  Maybe when my fingers are less rusty, I will be allowed to let my mind wander momentarily.  But right now, it takes every speck of concentration for me to make the eye-hand coordination work at all.  How amazing that I used to do this all the time — think about the note, its duration, its volume, the choice of finger, and what’s coming next in the measure, and oh, what’s the other hand doing….this feels like I’m stretching a part of my brain that is entirely trained to emit short bursts of energy, not a sustained effort.  Even writing is less taxing, less all-demanding than playing the piano.

I’m feeling a new infatuation with an old love.

Comments

  1. My mom and sister both play the piano. It was something that they both did every day. It made a big different for them when they had the piano tuned after a while. They felt like they were able to better connect with the music that they played and helped them enjoy the experience better. Good luck with your newly tuned piano and writing!