Several years ago, when I was younger, we would go to concerts and at all of these concerts, I would search for the piano on the stage. I didn't know that the classical orchestra didn't need to have a piano. Anyhow, when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I would start examining the other instruments, and almost every time, I would tell my mom that an instrument (the xylophone, for example - an instrument which people always refer to as "practically the piano") is much easier to play than the "other instruments" (although in my head, I would be comparing it to the piano), and she would always tell me that every instrument is hard to play... I would nod, and return to my magical world of the bright, noisy, stuffy concert hall, although in my head, I would always be thinking: that is so not true!
For me, not every instrument is equally hard to play. They all have their secrets and special techniques, true, but to play the violin is different from playing the triangle (note here: I have heard somewhere that the triangle is the hardest instrument to play, I don't know if there's a truth to it, though :D ) . For example, to play the flute, you have to blow into the mouthpiece at a specific angle with a specific portion of the air you blow going in the mouthpiece, and a portion of it going out; and you get out of breath after playing two notes because you blow half of the air out of the flute. To play the clarinet requires less work, in my opinion, having played both of these instruments. Getting to produce a sound on the clarinet is the tough part, only at the beginning. After that, you blow in, of course, there is a special way to place it in your mouth and to blow in it. When you close the hole after the note C, you get a B, and when you open the hole above the note C, you get a D: it's not rocket science.
In my opinion, the hardest instruments to play are firstly, the violin, and then the piano. What makes the violin hard to play is that it doesn't have any frets, so how do you know where to put your finger if you want to get a G? Also, the fact that a poorly played violin is unbearable but a masterfully played one cleanses your soul makes the violin all the more interesting, and for me, hard to achieve perfection on.
The common belief is that "everyone can play the piano". You don't blow in it, sound comes out of it no matter what you do, you even have it on your iPhone! Do I even need to say that I stand strongly against this common belief?
This may sound biased coming from a 12-year piano player, but playing the piano is very, very hard. What most people can't get their minds around to is that playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with your index finger on a piano is not playing the piano. To play the piano, you need music theory, knowledge, insight and skill. What makes the piano such a hard instrument to play is the multitasking it takes to play a single piece. You have to follow the music for the right hand, the music for the left hand, try to match them, keep the tempo, while putting in the nuances and the expressions, and the foot pedals. When the pianoforte wasn't invented yet, people would write music for organs, which had several pedals which provided drones, think of all the work they had to do! And all of this is assuming that you're playing solo. If you're playing a piano concerto, along with all of these duties, you also have to watch the conductor and listen to the orchestra: and I'm not even going to talk about memorizing all the music.
When I think back to the time my parents told me that every instrument has its own difficulties and I nodded, thinking "that is so not true", I realize that I still am the same person I was when I was seven, at least when it comes to these matters. So, do you still, honestly think that playing the glockenspiel is practically the same thing as playing the piano?
Do I detect some synchronicity among posts in various blogs about talent and intelligence???
ReplyDeleteYes, the piano is hard. I started when I was six, but the piano belonged to my much older sister, who took it when she got married. A few instruments later, and I started classical guitar. I think guitar is hard in a different way because the notes are not linear, the two hands have to work very differently, and all the fingers are busy at the same time! In annotated music, there are symbols for: string, fret (position), left hand finger, and right hand finger, and all the fingering can change from one phrase to the next. I love it, but it's hard work to keep learning. I'm working on learning 10th position, where all the cool stuff happens. And no, it's not like the ukele either!