But what does it mean? (part 3)

"Vintage Piano"

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Though I didn't grow up in Nashville (or really Tennessee for the matter), I completely understand the drive of the music forces here.  Not only do I have a lot of musician friends, I know that you can see just about any type of show any night of the week here in the city.  Nashville lives and breathes music...country, rock and roll, indie, Gospel, and so much more.  So I did this piece as a little homage to the musician inside all of us. 


Growing up, I played piano like most of did when we were young.  I had a love-hate relationship with those piano playing years because I loved to play...I just hated to practice.  We had an ancient upright piano in our living room that had been passed down to my mother from her father.  The wood was discolored, it constantly had to be re-tuned, and the ivory keys were worn, chipped, and stained from years of dirty hands.  When I wasn't practicing, I loved to play.  I could play by ear (which is not the case anymore since I haven't played in 15 years) and would try to pick up songs that I heard on the radio or at other concerts.  I would buy sheet music that was much more difficult than I could handle, determined to learn it.  That old piano took a beating from my grimy fingers, but we had a bond, music and I.  After I became a teenager, I stopped playing almost completely and forgot so many of the basics.  I would only play alongside friends as we joked around playing "Heart and Soul", which just about anyone knows a variation of.  Because of my lack of interest in playing, the old piano got further and further out of tune, neglected and disowned. My mom and dad eventually got rid of the piano to make space for something else, but I will never forget the years I spent sitting on that bench, barely able to reach the pedals, or make my fingers wide enough to pound out an octave.  Those few years of piano lessons taught me patience and a love for music, even though I'm no musician.  


Whether by vocation, by hobby, or just those of us who love music...this is piece is for you.  May we never forget the old times, the memories, the love, and things that made us who we are today.