From page 7 of Artistry at the Piano / Repertoire 4 by Jon George (1979):

The piano is an excellent "taskmaster". It is patient but firm; it rewards your good efforts with beautiful music, but it also informs you of your errors with simple and immediate honesty. Sooner or later, serious students of the instrument realize that they are not working to master the piano so much as they are working to master themselves with the piano's "assistance". And in this difficult quest for self-mastery they come to realize that effort without enthusiasm can only be called drugery; that without a heartfelt and efficient approach to studying the piano, effort becomes merely a discouraging struggle.

(cf. WhatIsMyLife (20 Apr 1999), SelfImprovement (29 Jul 2002), MotorcycleMaintenance (6 Jun 2003), ...)

TopicArt - TopicLife - 2005-11-08

(correlates: HerodotusOnFreedom, BeYourOwnCause, MotorcycleMaintenance, ...)