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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
I mentioned that I got hooked by a song in summer camp -- a song that was based on a theme from a Chopin polonaise. I knew that most of the music at the camp was done by a particular counselor.
So a few years ago, since now it was possible to find people via the internet, I went looking for him, to tell him how he had influenced me and how I still remember a lot of the other music stuff from back then, over 40 years ago. But particularly how that song had motivated me in such a significant way.
I found him, and we spoke by phone. He had gone on to an important career -- not involving music, but humanitarian stuff, which is sort of the same thing.
He was thrilled over how someone remembered, not to mention was so influenced.
I've been playing "self taught" chords for about 10 years and was content with that, reading only the right hand. However, a few months ago my SO played Enya's "Tea House Moon" for me on a CD. It has such a simple but beautiful melody that took me back to a time as a little girl that I wanted so badly to learn to play the piano, which was financially not possible. Hearing that song made me want to not only learn how to play it, but to play all of the beautiful pieces that I dearly love. Yes, I am learning to play "Tea House Moon" Sometime in the next 6-months we will be purchasing a baby grand for my studio. The first piece I want to play and play well on that piano is "Tea House Moon".
I guess this also answers the question to "Which thread made you post for the first time on PianoWorld."
I was missing my brother, who had left for college. I was listening to recordings of pieces he used to play (back then, I didn't pay much attention to classical music at all). I was listening to a Chopin CD by Alexis Weissenberg, with some nocturnes, mazurkas, and waltz's. My brother used to play the Nocturne Op. 55/1 , but I got seriously hooked after I heard the Waltz Op. 70/3. Right away, I learned it, and started playing more and more Chopin...
(couldn't find Weissenberg's recording on youtube)
Originally Posted by John_B
If I had to name a single piece that has lead me back to re-starting the piano after getting on for 40 years it would be the Andante from Schubert's D960 Piano Sonata
Funny coincidence that I discovered the piece only a few days after your post! I should have read this thread sooner :P
He was thrilled over how someone remembered, not to mention was so influenced.
You did the right thing, Mark_C, making an effort to tell him ... I can't bear to picture myself in his shoes, I mean the moment he heard from you about it.
Which reminds me ... we all have a few people that influenced (changed) us in the past, and they probably have no idea about it. Have we let them know that?
To me, this and Chopin's Etude 10-3 (beginning and ending part) represents piano music (perhaps the Andante type, but then Andante is my all time favorite).
There is more than enough material (I hate to call it that ... treasure sounds more like it) for us to work on the first two or three books (don't want them to be big books).
But contributions like above are ALWAYS welcome (needed in fact). And I quickly realised that this thread itself is a great resource for all. Many thanks!
For me it was probably Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90 No. 3. I was quite smitten with it when I first heard it via Michael Nyman's arrangement in Gattaca. Unfortunately I've been too busy and/or lazy to actually start learning piano until recently, so I'm now trying to make up for lots of lost time.
Of course, I've since started listening to a whole slew of terrific pieces by Chopin, Lizst, Debussy, etc., that I hope to (no, that I WILL ) play someday!
It was actually last week. I was watching a Japanese film entitled "Tokyo Sonata." At the end a kid played Debussy's "Clair de Lune." It was such a great introspective film, that I was just in the perfect mindframe to hear this piece. The way the bass notes rumbled, with that beautiful motif over the top. It was just the sound of freedom. All my emotional baggage gently slid off of the cloud I was on.
It has been some time. I owe everyone here an update on the project. Many of your sharing have resulted in a category "This piece inspired me" on the website. ALL of your comments and stories are attached to the pieces related. And the book series is coming out soon (book cover being designed).
I feel that this questionaire is nowhere near being exhausted. So if you have just come across it, please do not hesitate to share your own personal story, even if it overlaps with the others' stories. It says more about the pieces, if they are mentioned again and again.
![[Linked Image]](http://s.ytimg.com/yt/img/creators_corner/Watch_me_on_YouTube/90x15_watchon_grey.png)
) play someday!