Piano Across Time

Twelve years. That’s how long I’ve been listening to music.

Eight years. That’s how long I’ve been playing the piano.

For two-thirds of my life, piano has been part of me. It’s basically an extension of my body now. I’ve learned more songs than I could count, probably multiplied by itself. Recently, my piano teacher thought it would be a good idea for me to learn a piece from each of the major piano eras: Bach for the Baroque era, Mozart for the Classical era, Beethoven and Chopin for the Romantic era, and Debussy for the Modern era.

Personally, my favorite composer is Chopin. I think his music sounds better and is more fun and more difficult to play, but that’s just me.

Through this process, I’ve started to notice that each composer has a distinct style, even though their teachings are all connected. Mozart reportedly studied Bach’s music. Beethoven desperately wanted to study with Mozart but never got the chance. And Debussy’s teacher claimed to have been a pupil of Chopin.

Each composer had techniques that made them unique. On one hand, Bach tended to avoid focusing on a single main melody, weaving multiple melodies together instead. This was very different from Mozart, whose music was driven by a clear main melody with accompaniment. Mozart’s music was also more elegant and playful, rather than serious.

The same could not be said for Beethoven, whose music often carried deep emotion, dramatic dynamic changes, and intense energy. You could almost describe his music as having a “stormy” quality.

Since learning pieces from all these eras, I’ve realized that piano is more than just notes and keys. It is a connection between people that isn’t obstructed by time. Each composer left a lasting impact on music history, yet they were all simply doing what they loved: sitting down at a piano and playing.

Even though these composers were separated by hundreds of years and had very different styles, they created beautiful music on the same instrument, the music so powerful that it’s still played today. And hopefully, I’ll be able to help continue that legacy for a long time to come.