Playing Piano is like Prayer and Meditation at the Same Time

“Prayer is when you talk to God. Meditation is when you're listening. Playing the piano allows you to do both at the same time.” -Kelsey Grammer

When we saw this quote, it struck us in such a way that we had to wrap our head around it and make sense of it. Here's what we came up with...

"What a neat insight! Let’s break it down:

When we pray, we are literally talking to God asking for something: to protect our loved ones, to help a friend beat that illness, to get that raise at work, to help the world achieve peace, etc…

When we meditate, we are literally listening for the answers we so yearningly seek through the questions we are asking. And, we would go so far as to say that we are also listening for revelations and insights on other things in our lives about topics/subjects/areas of concern.

What Kelsey is suggesting here is that playing a musical instrument, a piano in this particular case allows us to do both simultaneously.

Here’s how we think it plays out:

When we compose and/or perform a song, we are essentially asking questions in a prayerful way in order to make the song the best it can be: What notes/chords should I play/What order should these notes/chords be in/How should I play these notes/chords (soft/loud/fast/slow, etc..)/What lyrics should I put here in order to tell the story I want to tell or express the message I want to convey? In asking these questions, we have to wait and listen for the answers in real-time in order to write and/or perform it in such a way that creates beauty through the song. The only way to do what’s best for the song is to remove our ego from the equation. When we do this, prayer and meditation take over and fill in the rest."

Let us know what your thoughts are on this as we'd love to hear them.

Have a Super Saturday and a Wonderful Weekend!