What I’ve Learned from My Piano

My piano is out of tune. We’ve had it in our family for 50 years and I’ve never heard it in tune. My own internal melody and sense of tone is distorted because of this.

At the age of 16 I learned to play the guitar and recorded a few songs on a tape recorder. My guitar was tuned to my piano. It was terrible.

“I think you need to tune your instrument,” a friend once told me.

I rose from my seat, drew my fist back, and slammed it into his nose. A few drops of blood squirted out onto the wall behind him. He fell back in his chair and hit his head on the carpeted floor.

“Jesus!” he screamed, holding both hands to his face as blood ran down his arms. He laid there for a few minutes, wheezing, blood bubbling out of his nose.

I am much better at taking criticism now.