The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I really love my piano. It’s given myself and my family many years of enjoyment, whilst earning me a decent living. However, to anyone else, there’s nothing special about it: it’s a bog-standard, light wood upright. The same cannot be said of the weird and wonderful piano selection featured in yesterday’s Telegraph.

Scrolling through these, there are only a few I really dislike. Number 16 – the digital piano – is boring and unattractive; I’d much rather have an acoustic one – no matter how old and battered. Worst of all though has to be number 3 – the 16th century cat piano which involved cats’ tails being place under keys with nails in them to make the cats scream. What a sick idea that was! (Fortunately it seems such pianos may never actually have been produced).

Among the most beautiful are the Victorian piano (number 6), the white grand piano (number 20) and the red piano made from radiator tubing (number 23) – although this one is more about art than music. However, my favourite has to be number 4 – the bed piano – with a tilted keyboard so you can play it lying down. If I ever end up infirm and confined to my bed, I definitely want one of these!