pi-a, pi-a, piano

Guess what? I have a piano! Exciting isn't it? I had been trying to make do with practising on our keyboard for quite some time, but was finding it very difficult, firstly, because it doesn't really feel or sound like a piano and secondly, because I was missing a lot of the notes that I needed as it isn't full size. A few weeks ago I came home from a piano lesson feeling a little down and I complained to Seth about how hard it is trying to practise on a keyboard all the time. His response is that I should get a piano! I was pretty excited about it and began my search on ebay for pianos. I missed out on quite a few of the ones which I like, which at first, I was gutted about. Then, Seth and I decided that we should probably measure the width of the stairway going up the stairs to our flat to see if a piano would actually fit. It turns out that it wouldn't. How grateful were we that we were unsuccessful in getting any of the pianos I had bid for?! So we have opted for a digital piano instead, a yamaha clavinova. I love it and it is so nice to be able to properly practise in my own home!

I tend to practise the piano when Caleb is having his morning nap. He sleeps for a couple of hours, I play for a couple of hours. It works quite well for the both of us! However, a couple of days ago, he decided that he didn't want to sleep, so I had him in with me, playing in his bouncy chair as I practised. He doesn't mind me playing at all, in fact, he really loves music so he was more than happy to listen. Even when I am playing loudly, he still doesn't seem to mind. I was pretty surprised that day when I was playing and at a particular part of the piece, he started crying. Not that it's unusual for him to cry in any way, but he actually started crying at that part of the music. (It was a glissando, where you run your finger up the keys). His eyes opened really wide, his little face crumpled up and he sobbed. Obviously, I stopped playing to comfort him and to make sure he was okay. A few days later he was with me once again when I was practising the same piece of music. Now, don't judge me for being a bad parent or anything, but I coudn't help but wonder if it was a one-off that that particular part of the music had made him cry, so I tried it again. And got the same reaction. I then thought, when I played the piece of music again, that when it came to that part, instead of playing it, I would just run my finger along the keys without actually playing it so that there would be no sound at all. I couldn't believe it when Caleb started crying in the run up to the glissando! My boy is a musical genius! He even knew when it was coming, I'm so proud. I think he was really just trying to tell me that I was doing it wrong and he wanted to show me how it should be done.