Push a Key

I first played the piano in middle school. My father brought one home and could play a few bars of Moonlight Sonata. Mesmerized by the instrument, I became a lifelong pianist.

At the time, I was playing trumpet in school bands and already loved to practice. Piano promised a relief from an injury I had sustained to my embouchure while playing in marching band. It did not take anything more than pressing a key down to make a sound on a piano, which was very different from how hard it was to make a sound on the trumpet. There are plenty of things that make the piano a more difficult instrument than the trumpet in its own unique ways, but anyone (even my dad) could potentially push a key down.