This month marks my eight-year anniversary of reclaiming my passion for the piano. Now that so many years have elapsed, am I growing tired of studying the piano? Not at all! In fact, I have found that the longer I play the piano, the deeper my commitment grows.
Yet I have detected an unintended consequence of my passion for the piano. Quite simply, I have become a piano nerd. In order to help all of you, my readers, who may also be in danger of morphing into piano nerds, I have developed this handy list of the top 10 warning signs.
10. You own a set of coasters for your living room with classical piano allusions, such as an illustration of the Baroque composer George Frideric Handel with the caption, “Can you Handel it?”
9. When you invite friends to your house or you go to the house of a friend who owns a piano, you find yourself staring longingly at the piano, hoping they might ask you to play.
8. For Mother’s Day, you fantasize that your husband and children will present you with a nine-foot concert grand piano.
7. Your idea of a dream vacation is a week in Vermont during the fall foliage, perfecting your technique at the Sonatas piano camp.
6. You’re a morning person, and you get your best work done in the morning, yet all too many nights you stay up late, the clock slipping past 10:00, then 11:00, then midnight, while you practice the piano.
5. Your favorite YouTube humor video is Igudesmon and Joo, with their hilarious rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp Minor.
4. You sign your children up for piano lessons at age three, hoping they might be exposed to the repertoire and pick up the technique you never learned.
3. When you travel, you carry in your suitcase a large manila envelope with travel copies of all of your piano music.
2. When people talk about time travel, you imagine zipping back to Paris of the 1840s, walking down a tree-lined avenue and into a salon with two pianos, where you take a lesson from Frédéric Chopin on his Nocturne in E-flat Major.
1. The best day of your life, short of your wedding day and the birth of your children, is your recital, when you finally stop worrying about the possibility of wrong notes, and you perform your music with genuine emotion and passion.
Love this post! 11th sign could be: You are just getting married and only thing that goes through your mind when you’re standing at the altar is “I could play better on those organs” :)
Hilarious! Consider yourself an honorary #11.
this post is hilarious because i own some piano socks myself hahaha. Please check out my blog at beginnerpianoadvice.com i mentioned you and this post on my website. we should network!
Good luck with your blog!
10 years ago, my neighbor gave my 12 year old daughter an old baby grand piano. Amazingly, she taught herself how to play it very well and even earned a partial scholarship to a good university for orchestra. Recently I was considering selling it, but started to play it myself. I’ve become an addict to that thing.
Apparently its a rare Homer L Kitt vintage — wanted by collectors but I can’t bring myself to part with it.
I love this blog — so happy to hear from others who understand.
I completely understand your addiction! You’ve come to the right place to find others with the same mindset. And I was so glad to hear that you are enjoying the articles.
Hey Sarah, so I have owned a 1920s Homer L Kitt baby grand for decades and knew nothing about it. Can you/others share any more history about it?
…looks like my playing abilities might not live up to the class of the piano!
Enjoyed this fun and hilarious article – love those piano socks, where did you find them?
I too have piano socks! Loved your article!
Thank you…and great to hear that you have a pair of piano socks!
These all made me laugh- even business networking I take music, oh yes and tucked in the rucksack ( which my husband carries!)on a walk- you just never know! He now introduces me as this is my wife the obsessive pianist!!
What a great introduction! The piano is one of the best obsessions. :-)