once, josh bought me a piano for my birthday. he did an amazing job surprising me with it. the morning it arrived, i had even randomly left the room when it was delivered, and so upon walking back to the living room i suddenly saw a piano where previously there had been nothing.
i was kind of lonely in portland, having left the coast i’d lived on my whole life. having my own piano in my own apartment felt like having an old friend move in with me. i was still new to portland, and freshly transported from urban life, so having a piano in my apartment was an unbelievable treat. i went to work and practiced diligently, and found a sheet music store where i bought a Chopin book, some lesser known Debussy, and later – Erik Satie. i wasn’t very familiar with Satie, but as i recall someone at my workplace had a few songs on our shared server, so i was determined to learn them.
there were two apartments above me, and unbeknownst to me the upstairs tenants enjoyed listening to my piano playing. this was good to know, because i didn’t particularly hit it off with the woman directly above me when i’d first moved in (she thought my Broadcast album was too loud – at 8pm – and stomped on her floor my very first night).
what were these songs – the gymnopedies? i learned 1 and 2 fairly well. they weren’t very technically difficult, i was trying mainly to work on expression and essence, really reading the instructive words on the sheet music. trying to make the melody sing. many friends were Satie fans, and i likened him to be an old-school dream pop fiend. (And Debussy, early shoegazing).
if i had a piano today, would i have the same drive to emote and play with heart?