History of Piano

I have a new desire, which is to learn and to conquer the piano. This article shall be rather special as I shall be comparing three books about music and hopefully through these, we can discuss the method of piano playing and the history of the piano.

The book that shall be one of the main features of the article is the "Inner Game of Music" by Barry Green and W Timothy Gallwey. This book was given to me as a gift by a musician friend who trained at the Royal Academy of Music and who is now a music teacher. I loved seeing the enthusiasm of the author as it leaped off from the front page and into my spirit. I think that the main message here was to become more aware of your skills as a musician and to have absolute faith within yourself.

I also really enjoyed reading a book called "The Temperament", as I think that music is a wonderful method of expression for the soul. The Temperament was one of the first books on music that I ever read. One of my favourite sayings from this book is quoted from Shakespeare "If the true concord of well-tuned sounds, By unions married, do offend thine ear, They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear." (Sonnet 8, William Shakespeare). I should hope that many more people are aware of the magic that comes with music, as it touches a chord in our hearts and makes our souls grow each time it hears beautiful music. I think, like these words from Shakespeare above, that music can be the apogee of civilisation.

I learned so much about Piano from The Temperament, which is like a crossroads book of the philosophy behind the piano. My favourite chapter of the book is called "Frozen Music". I have Autism so metaphors for me are quite hard to understand, yet I understood this concept of "Frozen music' in a blink of an eye. I shall quote from one of my favourite philosophers John Keats (1796 to 1821): "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter, therefore, ye soft pipes, play on, Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone" I think what John Keats was driving at, is that when one has a melody or a tune in ones head and you are singing it in your head you think that it's more beautiful than what it actually sounds like.

There is a big link, I believe, between having a strong mind and playing piano. With the mind, one has to be able to read the music and not get tired mentally as one plays . This is in part the crux of being a performer and not being nervous in front of crowds. I think that there is a link with being a showman and being a musician. One has to be a performer and not be nervous in front of big crowds. One has to have a strong will mentally to be able to perform live in front of hundreds of people. I have lots of admiration for these performers. I love the idea of being able to be a showman, and to be able to have the character to perform live. I think the aim is to start small so that one gets used to performing. One must remain calm. I think that as one becomes a accustomed to performing it becomes more natural.

I shall also be recommending Stuart Isacoff's book "A Natural History of the Piano" as I learned so much about the origin of the piano and how it became part of human society. If one wants to learn the basics of the piano and music, and their origins, how they started, I cannot recommend this book enough. It also includes the history of music in light of its use within the the Church. It also talks about the philosophy of music and what the philosophers of the day thought about music. It is also a font of interesting facts about music which one can use for dinner parties. That why I like this book so much, because one can use it in social situations and you become interesting simply by means on having learned from the book .

One of my favourite places to listen to good music is at the Proms One year I went 12 days running, and I really feel that helped me into a better listener of music and a greater admirer of all types of music. I think knowing how to listen in conversation is a wonderful skill to have, and one can learn more from others by listening than by talking. Although I have found it very difficult to be able to listen, music and my time at the proms, has helped me to develop this important skill. I also now listen to the radio and to music all of kinds on my Ipod and that helps me harness my listening skills.

One very special memory that I will always have is having dinner in the Royal Albert Hall with my special Grandmother. We then walked towards our box. Thinking back this evening made a lasting impression on me as it was my first Proms and it gave me my love of classical music. My favourite evening of the Proms was when they performed the Battle of Borodino, 1812, as one can tell that Beethoven was going deft and he used all of his energy to make the most out of what would be hailed as one of his most epic pieces of music.

Overall, I have loved piano recitals and I have pianist blood pumping through my veins, as I learned recently that my grandmother through my father's side was a piano player. My music, I hope, shall make me into the best version of myself and each time that I play piano I become more emotionally evolved.