It’s hard to put the joy of making music on the piano into words, but this difficulty hasn’t stopped many great minds from trying!
When it comes to piano quotes about life, there are so many that can make you recognize the beauty of this elegant instrument.
Have you learned how to play the piano yet? If not, what are you waiting for? There are plenty of places you can take piano lessons online.
It doesn’t matter whether you want to master the art of classic piano or you’d rather groove to funky jazz on a set of keys. The best quotes about piano playing are sure to inspire!
Here’s a video that’s proof of how enjoyable playing piano can be, especially once you master the fundamentals:
To celebrate the beauty of this grand instrument, we put together this collection of wise words and quotes about piano. Which one is your favorite?
What Are Piano Quotes by Famous Composers?
If you’re in a rush, check out our top 5 favorite quotes about piano by famous composers:
- “Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano.” – Frederic Chopin
- “You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you’ve looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.” – Robert Schumann
- “The piano is a monster that screams when you touch its teeth.” – Andre Segovia
- “There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.” – Johann Sebastian Bach
- “I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.” – Chopin
Looking for more? Keep reading to find some of the best piano quotes about life, love, and everything else.
What Are the Sayings for Piano? 25 Inspiring Quotes About Piano
Whether you’re interested in reading fun quotes about piano keys or quotes about piano practices, these witty words are sure to inspire you to take up the art of playing piano.
1. “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” – Wassily Kandinsky
2. “Pianos, unlike people, sing when you give them your every growl. They know how to dive into the pit of your stomach and harmonize with your roars when you’ve split yourself open.
And when they see you, guts shining, brain pulsing, heart right there exposed in a rhythm that beats need need, need need, need need, pianos do not run. And so she plays.” – Francesca Lia Block
3. “When you play, never mind who listens to you.” – Robert Schumann
4. “Everybody told me this ‘girl on the piano thing’ was never going to work.” – Tori Amos
5. “I had never before thought of how awful the relationship must be between the musician and his instrument. He has to fill it, this instrument, with the breath of life, his own. He has to make it do what he wants it to do.
And a piano is just a piano. It’s made out of so much wood and wires and little hammers and big ones, and ivory. While there’s only so much you can do with it, the only way to find this out is to try; to try and make it do everything.” – James Baldwin
6. “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes.” – Thelonious Monk
7. “What has keys but can’t listen to the beauty it unlocks? A piano. ” – Jarod Kintz
8. “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” – Tom Lehrer
9. “Sometimes I feel like a melody doesn’t have anything to do with me, but it’s just something that comes, is accumulated from me playing on the piano, and then this little creature just appears.” – Agnes Obel
10. “One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen.” – Paul McCartney
11. “The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colors in your mind.” – Maria Cristina Mena
12. “Without a piano I don’t know how to stand, don’t know what to do with my hands.” – Norah Jones
13. “I’m an interpreter of stories. When I perform it’s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.” – Nat King Cole
14. “Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano.” – Frederic Chopin
15. “You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you’ve looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.” – Robert Schumann
16. “The piano is a monster that screams when you touch its teeth.” – Andre Segovia
17. “There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.” – Johann Sebastian Bach
18. “I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.” – Chopin
19. “I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea.” – Oscar Peterson
20. “The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air.” – Kenneth Miller
21. “The piano as a medium for expression is a whole world by itself. No other instrument can fill or replace its own say in the world of emotion, sentiment, poetry, imagery and fancy” – Leopold Godowsky
22. “As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from one end of the keyboard to the other without a stop.” ― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
23. “When I had nothing else, I had my mother and the piano. And you know what? They were all I needed.” – Alicia Keys
24. “There are eighty-eight keys on a piano and within that, an entire universe.” ― James Rhodes
25. “The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.” – Ray Charles
Why is Life Like a Piano?
In many of the quotes about piano above, you’ll see that artists and writers say that “life is like a piano.”
Why is that?
These piano quotes about life express a fundamental truth about this instrument that all who have played it before are aware of. As writer Esshan says, “Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.”
So are you ready to create life’s music for yourself? Of course, this is simply a metaphor – but it’s sure to inspire you to learn how to play the piano as soon as you can. Sign up for piano lessons now!
Do you know of any great quotes about piano that we missed? Share your favorite piano quotes in the comments section below!
Photos by knownaa, art_you, Michele Ursino, and Luigi Rosa