Playing the Piano Is Not a Task

My personal blog covers a wide range of topics, yet I rarely write about playing the piano. It always feels like something that does not translate well into words. Besides, I am not very good at it, and I do not dare to record videos and embarrass myself.

I have joined several piano communities, both Chinese and international. I have noticed that many piano enthusiasts share a similar experience: they can play quite a few pieces, but none of them can be performed smoothly from start to finish. Almost every piece has certain spots where they get stuck or lose fluency. It is fine for casual self-entertainment, but once they start recording, everything feels unnatural. The moment the camera is on, from fingers to arms, everything becomes stiff.

Thinking about it carefully, there are actually many such experiences worth writing down.

Another interesting feeling is that when I think I should practise the piano, I often find it hard to even move myself to sit on the bench. I do not know where this resistance comes from. Perhaps it is because once I treat practice as a task, I instinctively resist it.

Yet when I am travelling or listening to music while driving, I often feel an impulse to stop and wish there were a piano nearby.

After reflecting on this, I suddenly realised something. Piano lovers do not really love the piano itself. They love music. And music lovers do not just love music. They love emotional resonance. So the next time I feel I should practise seriously, perhaps I should first cultivate the right emotions and mood.

Looking back on my years of practising, sometimes I made rapid progress, and sometimes I stayed stuck. During periods of fast progress, I could even play for two or three hours a day, usually because I was captivated by a particular piece and could not stop.

In fact, I have already passed the beginner stage where I could not play the sheet music I liked. That stage was not very enjoyable. Playing the piano is not a task. Learning the piano is. Music, like emotion, cannot be deliberately arranged.

My reading, writing, and technical work all emphasise logic and structure. Fortunately, I have a piano that allows me to play freely whenever I want. Perhaps intuition is the driving force behind logic.

I am really glad I bought this Bechstein Hoffmann upright piano. Its price seems to have more than doubled since then. Apart from real estate, I cannot think of anything else that has appreciated so much.

Even more fortunately, I often feel an itch in my hands if I do not play, just like I feel an itch in my feet if I do not play sports. I now keep a basketball and a soccer ball in my car. Australia has one of the highest numbers of sports fields per capita in the world, so I can stop anytime and play for a while.

I feel lucky. Even though I am not good at soccer or the piano, I still get plenty of joy from both.