Learn to Play the Piano

For me, music has always felt like a language of expression. A way to communicate feelings and emotions that are difficult to put into words.

I started to learn the piano relatively late, at 12 years old. I was always interested in music and had a good ear for it. I could pick up tunes quickly and play them back. By the time I started the piano, I was a member of the school choir and played the recorder. The piano felt like formalising something that was clearly going on.

There was a local music school that offered lessons and the owner offered to teach me. My mother bought me an electric keyboard, mainly so I could use headphones so as not to torture everybody.

ABRSM Music Lessons

I started taking piano lessons and worked towards my first exam. In the UK, if you take music exams, you find yourself studying the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music's syllabus. Whilst learning the instrument, you'll work towards an exam, or a Grade, 1 to 8. In addition, you'll study Music Theory, which between grades 1 to 5 is about learning to read and understand music and how it works (from a western perspective).

If grades 1 to 5 of music theory are learning the alphabet, sentences, and grammar of written music, grades 6 to 8 are like studying essays, poetry, or creative writing. They explore the complex ideas behind music, like how composers create mood, tension, and style.

So like piano students, I started to study music theory alongside the piano. I found music theory necessary and essential; it allowed me to understand music beyond the physical ability to play it. This deeper understanding of how music worked added a new dimension to my playing and appreciation of the piano.

My First Real Piano

While the electric keyboard was a great starting point, nothing compared to the experience of playing on an acoustic piano. The tactile response, the weight of the keys, the pedals which mechanically affect the sound all made it worth upgrading to a real piano.

My mother bought me a reconditioned piano which became part of the furniture. It lacked a headphone port, but I think I was at a stage of playing where it wasn't so bad all the time. The feel of a real piano made a big difference. Suddenly the experience felt real and purposeful. I actually felt like a pianist.

At School (GCSE)

At 14, I took music as a high school subject and put some of my training to good use and at 16 got an A* at GCSE (the highest mark). I also started to teach the piano at the music school where I started to learn, individually and also to small classes of toddlers in a Saturday Morning Music school (it was like herding cats).

I took quite a few ABRSM exams whilst at school and my Grade 5 music theory exam (which is required to take Grade 6 and above), often doing quite well in my exam results. I felt I had an ability and had developed quite a passion for playing music and the piano in particular. For a final school event, I played Clair de lune by Claude Debussy, a particularly technical piece. I vividly remember shaking thoroughly tackling such a chewy piece in front of an audience.

When the choice came to what I wanted to do at college, I knew music was definitely going to be part of that so took it as part of my A-levels (along with Computer Science, English Language and Maths with Statistics).

I also started playing for singing lessons which helped my sight reading abilities no end. What started as a brutal baptism of fire at first, made sight reading a lot easier after a few years.

At College (A-Level)

Playing the piano at college was a world of difference compared to school. There were talented musicians to play with, other students also passionate about music, and a lot to learn. It was the kind of environment that makes you want to push yourself, and aim high.

Music at A-level was the same content as Grades 6 to 8. This meant learning all about the music of Bach and Mozart, and the technical aspects of how they wrote. It also included large orchestral works like The Trout Quintet by Franz Schubert.

Pianists are also commonly called on as accompaniment for singers and other soloists. This pulled me into playing for performances, both alone and with others, which was a great experience for helping to manage nerves.

At my old music school I switched from the owner to a new specialist piano teacher who could take me through to Grade 8. His approach was that musicality came from technical ability and dexterity, and he felt that memorisation of music helped to give greater focus when playing (though it also increased the stress).

At University (Dual Honours Music and Computer Science)

When the time came to choose my next step, I still wanted to do music, but my mother wanted me to include a more sensible career option (her words not mine). So I chose to study at Keele University, as it offered a Dual Honours degree meaning I could study both Music and Computer Science. 

It also provided me with a 2nd piano teacher, who had a very different approach to piano playing. He felt that music ability came from expressive emotion and not technical dexterity. For practical reasons (and I agreed more with the university teacher's approach) I switched to only the university teacher.

So in the first year of university I took my Grade 8 piano exam and passed. I was delighted. When you're learning an instrument Grade 8 always stands as the point at which you'll know you can play. But like most disciplines, when you get to the summit, you realise it just marks the end of the beginning.

Music at Keele focused on a wide range of topics relating to music and its history. There were just as many soloists requiring accompaniment, and performances to fit into a busy schedule.

A piece that will stay with me was requested by a friend who was a cellist, who wanted to do Élégie Op 24 for Cello and Piano by Gabriel Fauré. It's a haunting piece, challenging but fulfilling at the same time.

For my final year I specialised in composition and submitted 3 pieces as part of my final examination. University provided a professional environment to experience, from studio recording, music production suites and formal performances. It was a thrilling time I'll always remember.

After University

Once university was over, I stopped having piano lessons and some what stopped playing formally. As I also had a passion for computer science, I looked for work as a developer and music took a step back. But it always did and does remain close to my heart. 

I still have a piano at home (a Yamaha U1) which I love, and dream of owning a grand piano should I ever have space for one. My musical goal shifted over time to focusing on music composition in terms of digital music production, but that's explained on another goal.

Looking back I think learning the piano taught me the rewards you get by persevering with something. It gave me an example of the feeling of progress life has when you're working towards something large. It's an appreciation that I think underpins most of my other goal setting and hobbies, and I think it's something that profoundly changed the direction of my life.

And though I no longer play formally, the piano and music remains a part of who I am, a reminder of the power of dedication and the joy of lifelong learning.