If one instrument can be called a bouncing off point for other musical experiences, it is the piano. The piano is a porthole to understanding how music works. It begs to be explored. First of all, it is very easy to make a pleasant sound on the first try; it’s virtually impossible not to. This is not true for most other musical instruments, where learning to make a nice sound requires lots of time, to say nothing of the neighbors’ forbearance.

The piano is a musical map. All of the tonal relationships in Western music are laid out before you in patterns of black and white. I love to ask young children: “Why are there both black and white keys on the piano? Can you think of a reason they aren’t all white or all black?” As you might imagine, there is a range of creative answers to this question.

On the piano it is possible to play a melody or chords, high and low, soft and loud, half steps or whole steps. Through a natural process of exploration and experimentation the student will become familiar with musical logic: tonal relationships, harmony, voicing and theory. This leads to a feeling of musical comfort and confidence.

I can’t remember a time before I sat at the piano, exploring its capabilities and learning about musical relationships. Though I never studied it formally, and went on to study other instruments instead, it is the piano keyboard that I picture in my mind whenever I’m trying to figure out tonal or harmonic relationships.