Do you play piano?

[David Boyce]

I'm enjoying this interesting thread!

I guess there is more than one definition of "play".  Does "play piano" 
necessarily mean that one must be able to play FROM SIGHT any piece of sheet 
music placed on the music desk?

Does being able to "play piano" include those persons who have a phenomenal 
gift for playing any tune "by ear", including many 'classical' pieces, but 
who cannot play from sight?

Personally, I can't honestly say that I play piano.  It is a huge hole in my 
life.  When I grew up in the 1960s, there wasn't the spare money for 
lessons, there was a dearth of good teachers in the area, and it wasn't 
fashionable anyway.  But I love the piano and piano music so much, I wish I 
could play.  I have no  gift at all for playing "by ear", BUT, I have taught 
myself a variety of pieces by painstakingly picking the notes off the sheet 
music and committing to memory - "finger memory".  Thus, I can rattle off 
Chopin's Waltz in Ab Op 69 # 1, Chopin's Prelude #15, Gershwin's 2nd 
Prelude, Kern's "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", a couple of pages of Rondo 
Grazioso from Beethoven Sonata # 2 (very rusty now), Bach Prelude #1, etc 
etc.  So I can at least rattle out a few things, and customers often seem 
impressed!

I do feel that  if one cannot play any tune AT ALL, some dimension must be 
missing - how can one truly get a "feel" for different pianos, regulation 
etc?  And where is the joy in the piano?  Even the few things I have learned 
to play, afford me a great deal of playing pleasure.

Best wishes,

David.