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12 Great Piano Quotes

Elise — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:14:58 +0000

I have been working pretty hard on my website the past couple days, which is why I didn’t get around to posting. And then yesterday, when I was actually planning to post, a whole bunch of drama went down with some of my friends and I was severely upset for hours. I’m still upset, but I can’t wallow in misery forever. I’m afraid that two of my very good friendships might be gone forever, which is very sad, considering I only have five really close girlfriends.

So, I guess in hopes of lifting my spirits just a little bit, I’ve decided to just post a few music and piano quotes. Some of them are really inspirational, artistic, and funny.

1. “No other acoustic instrument can match the piano’s expressive range, and no electric instrument can match its mystery.” ~ Kenneth Miller

2. “The piano is the social instrument par excellence… drawing-room furniture, a sign of bourgeois prosperity, the most massive of the devices by which the young are tortured in the name of education and the grown-up in the name of entertainment.” ~ Jacques Barzun

3. “The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air.” ~ Kenneth Miller

4. “One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault.” ~ Author Unknown

5. “I’ve never felt anything that moves me as much as my piano. I’m an emotional player. I don’t really like people. I prefer my piano to people. It’s totally reliable and it’s alive. I can hear what it’s saying.” ~ Tori Amos

6. “When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed.” ~ Bill Evans

7. “Film music should have the same relationship to the film drama that somebody’s piano playing in my living room has on the book I am reading.” ~ Igor Stravinsky

8. “To play without passion is inexcusable!” ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

9. “Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.” ~ Frederic Chopin

10. “I sit down to the piano regularly at nine-o’clock in the morning and Mesdames les Muses have learned to be on time for that rendezvous.” ~ Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky

11. “Pianos are such noble instruments – they’re either upright or grand.” ~ Author Unknown

12. “It is wonderful how soon a piano gets into a log-hut on the frontier. You would think they found it under a pine-stump. With it comes a Latin grammar, and one of those tow-head boys has written a hymn on Sunday. Now let colleges, now let senates take heed! for here is one who, opening these fine tastes on the basis of the pioneer’s iron constitution, will gather all their laurels in his strong hands.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I absolutely love the fifth quote. That’s exactly how I feel, especially right now. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

Considering the fact that I am going through some hard times now, I think it’s best to just lose myself in some classical piano music or direct my mind into the sheet music by continuing to work on my project pieces. You should do the same, if you ever find yourself in a bad mood or upset state of mind. Music is something that you can really lose yourself in, and it’s fascinating because it’s unexplainable. It’s just there. It just happens. It’s like a natural grounding and healing mechanism for the human soul.

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The Piano Is My Inspiration

Elise — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:45:54 +0000

“Music is the one incorpeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend” ~ Ludwig Van Beethoven.

This is one of my favourite quotes of all time. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

What a horrible day I had at work today. I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m not going to post anything related to piano lessons today. I think I’m just going to speak my mind.

What is it about playing piano that’s so amazing? When I was little, I had the whole “artist” frame of mind going on. I was a good drawer, piano player, and writer. And I still am (except for drawing, maybe). Then I grew up and decided I loved accounting.

Blech.

What a mistake I made. I tried to convince myself that I was analytical and loved math and crunching numbers. I sort of am, but in a different way… in a musical way. You know, all the math that is related to music, such as note values and timing and speed. How interesting it is that some little dots and signs on a piano score literally represent certain numbers and values in the realm of time and can be analyzed by the human brain and processed through the mind, body, and soul.

Somehow, and for some reason that I no longer understand (other than parental and social pressure), I managed to get a university degree in business. Now I’m just realizing that I’m still an artist and I always have been. I am NOT an accountant. (FYI, I got a D in my intermediate financial accounting class during my third year of university). Of course, it took me four years, thousands of dollars, and a whole lot of growing up to figure that out.

I’m beginning to think that I should go back to a piano teacher and get my grade 8 piano. That is, if I can afford it, and if I can handle it. I have to decide if it’s something that I really want.

As Beethoven also quoted, “I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

I agree with this statement whole-heartedly, and I think that any real pianist would. There is something that happens when I play the piano, but I can’t explain it. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been to a state of pure ecstacy. I don’t even need anyone. I just need my body and my piano.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

What can I say? Life is too short. Don’t spend it doing something that’s merely expected of you (such as, *shiver* accounting). Let your truest desires guide your heart so you can find your real passion in life, whatever that may be. I think that music is probably one of the deepest passions that any human being could have. Cherish it while you have the time.

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In Cottage Country Without My Piano

Elise — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:28:42 +0000

Amazingly, in a land without cable, I’ve managed to get onto someone’s wireless connection. I’m staying at a cottage on the Canadian coast of Lake Huron, around Grand Bend, Ontario. Since I only have one bar of signal strength and it’s fading in and out, I’m going to try and make this very quick.

I’d like to share a quote with you that I found while reading one of my books today:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not.
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan “Press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
–Calvin Coolidge

I was amazed when I read this, and I hope you were too. There is nothing more true than these words when it comes to life. In music, it’s also true. One cannot rely on talent, nor education, to succeed in music.

I can really apply this to my own experiences in studying music. I studied piano professionally for ten years, but my education in music does not translate to my success. I also don’t consider myself very talented in music. I’m not trying to be modest here, I just truly know that have to work very, very hard when it comes to learning how to play a piece on the piano or putting my fingers up to a technical skill in piano. I’m not the kind of gifted musician who begins composing Sonatas at the age of four.

I have achieved everything because I have been doing it for so long. I kept going, ten years professionally training, and five years as a hobby. I’m not “highly educated.” I’m not “super talented.” I’m a regular person, but I have been determined to play the piano ever since I started.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

Go out to the country. Visit a cottage. Go lie on the beach. Listen to the birds and the trees. Do anything that you can to take your mind off of the hustle and bustle of the real world. Then, go home and play your piano. Feel the sounds of the keys manifest through your fingers and hands and up your arms and toward your heart. This is how I always feel after I sit down to play the piano after a long “dry spell.” I hope you are instantly enlightened the way I always am. I absolutely can’t wait for it… when I return home on Friday, back to my city life.

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