never had the opportunity. I blame my sister. She's older than me and she was the one given a few lessons and she hated it and abandoned ship. So my mother said that's it I'm not wasting any more money you can all go and play sport. Unfortunately we then didn't get to play piano. Actually in the context of making the film I think that was an advantage. I could have gotten bogged down in the academic side of it. It could have come out quite a different film if I'd have been interested in piano playing and the education of it. I actually glaze over when people would start talking about that. I think I ended up concentrating on things that I know best, exploring relationships, exploring the subtleties of these everyday things what they mean in the greater scheme of life. I think that if I had had even a little bit of knowledge I may have explored that side of it which would have ended up quite differently and not had...if I may be so bold to say...the universal appeal that I think it has. Or the heart.
How then did you come to make a film about learning piano?
It started with the fact that my partner plays piano and we were doing a bit of renovation work and I put in isolation which brought out the walls 3 inches. Which meant that the alcove could no longer take the piano. So there was a bit of drama in the house because the piano had to be sold. This was very upsetting. And it got me thinking. I was so keen on doing the Reel Arts scheme, the Arts Council's project opportunity. And it was around the same time that I was having piano woes in my personal
life, and I recalled my mum moving house and wanting to move our piano which had never been played, apart from my sister and her 3 or 4 lessons. She had no notes herself but she insisted on moving the piano for her Aynsley collection to sit on, with the odd family photo. This was all ruminating. And I was also looking for ideas for the Reel Art project and not being that highbrow intellectual I was kind of thinking that documenting the arts was potentially beyond me. Then I said 'wait a minute, what about pianos?' and I started to investigate pianos and the connection that people have to this instrument. I always saw pianos as the king or queen of the instrument world. And then I discovered the grading system and that was a eureka moment. For me I'm always looking for a narrative spine or thread to a film. Here I was presented with a beginner through to grade 8 and coming out an accomplished pianist. This was quite straightforward given that I would probably make a film with lots of different characters. Once I started to
explore even further what was at the heart of all of this was the relationships that teachers and students have. That shared journey. I was talking to some friends who had been with the same teacher for 12 to 14 years. So obviously there are wonderful bonds that develop and familiarity. And that's a really interesting opportunity for someone like me. Because I know that I can delve into that world and find some connections and some stories that go beyond the normal.
In many homes the piano is an essential piece of furniture. It's part of the room.
Having been around the country now and being into houses that actually get pianos played is different. Because I always remembered the piano as something that needed to be dusted down once every month, but in these other houses it was a living object. Things would be thrown on top of it, music books, magazines, things would be pulled down. They'd have little carpets that they'd put over the keys. I was like wow. It was a living object. It was interesting to experience. And then of course moving around the word from keyboards, to pianos, to grand pianos, to little old pianos, to out of tune pianos. It was fascinating. So the piano became a character as well.
To fill a house with music is a beautiful thing, and to have generations of family members doing that is lovely.
Absolutely. It's something that seems to run in families. A tradition and a love of music. It's something that I
CinÉireann / April 2018 39