There was a famous sketch from a comedy show many years ago in, which a renowned music conductor challenged the comedian, who was playing the piano and told him he was not playing the right notes for the piece that the rest of the orchestra was playing. The comedian replied stating firmly “I am playing the right notes” before adding humorously, “but not necessarily in the right order!” That is one way of putting it, granted!
It brings to mind a well-known quote by Michael Levine, the author of ‘The Big White Lie’, who once poignantly said that “Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.” In short, it is what we do with what we have been given that determines if we can define ourselves in that specific light.
Consider, firstly, the idea of having a piano as opposed to being a pianist. Anyone can have a piano in their house, even though all it does is catch dust. It remains closed, silent and as such often will be in the way. It might look impressive but it lies dormant.
We could add though that anyone can plonk away on the piano and have notes come out but they are not necessarily the right notes, let alone in the right order, at the right speed. Indeed, we might go further and say that someone may be able to play a couple of simple tunes like ‘chopsticks’ with one finger, but again that person could not really be called a pianist — they are only playing the piano.
For someone to become a pianist, she is going to need to learn all the notes and combinations; she must practise them and practise them again and again. She will need extraordinary patience to repeat the same thing over and over, the same things, the same small things. She will need to develop sensitivity and touch, to have a feel for the music, to what is being played, and to how to play it.
She must have an ear for the music, to feel the music and the mood, to translate all of that through her fingers onto the keys. She will need enormous energy to persevere when things do not go as expected. She must have rhythm and flexibility.
On another note, we may reflect that the act, or art, of becoming a parent is relatively simple, at times accidental, often thoughtless, requiring no real skill. In contrast, the art of being a parent is rarely simple, never accidental or incidental.
Becoming and being are very different.
Source: Standard Education Article
