Monday 18 October 2010

I am Middle C

I play the piano. That's part of who I am.

I can't walk past a piano without giving in to the temptation to hit a chord or two.

I've always been like that.

There is something ultimately satisfying about the feel of the keys going down and springing back up, like miniature seesaws. The feel of triggering the hammer to bump the string.

Middle C. It's where it all starts.

The first note you find when your hands are still too small to reach an octave and your legs too short to reach the pedals. When you stood up, your nose was level with the bits of the keys that stick out a little further which older, taller people don't notice.

Middle C, defined by its wavelength, its tone. It can be sustained or dampened with the pedals. It can be part of a delightful melody when played in a particular order. It can be discordant when played against the wrong notes. A gifted composer can transform the discordant sound into something brilliant. It can be part of an orchestra, it can be part of something that evokes strong memories and emotions. But all it is is middle C.

I am middle C.

Who are you?

1 comment:

Bartle said...

I'm a diminished seventh son of a seventh Kevin