the lonely piano
Created | Updated Oct 13, 2009
I went to a nursing home once as
part of a program of
taking a take out lunch in to my then wife-type person.
There was a piano in the activity room. My daughter was with me and she wanted to "play" the piano. I flipped up the cover on the keyboard and she went to town. A nurse came along and said,"Stop making that noise. If you can play the piano, play it, otherwise it's just noise."
One of the inmates, on another visit, said that she wished someone would play the piano who knew how. She said that only occasionally a church group would come by on Wednesday or Sunday evening and sing hims and an accompianist would accompany them and accompiano them on the piany. She said she would rather hear some piano music without the human voices.
It occurred to me that piano lessons might be good therapy for the inmates. It also occurred to me that having a staff pianist might be a good idea for nursing homes. It would lift everyone's spirits and give a struggling musician a job.
Or, they could let an eight year old bang on the piano to remind them how valuable silence could be. When I 'play' the piano, it sounds like Charles Ives with epilepsy (no offense intended).