The pianoforte,most commonly known as the piano, is an acoustic, stringed instrument that was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the 1700’s in Italy. A piano is made up of strings and hammers and contains 88 keys, of which play a different note. If multiple keys are played at the same time, chords and harmonies can be created. These notes can then be arranged and played in a way that allows for songs and music to be played. Sophomore Omid Akbari started playing the piano from a very young age when he created a unique love for the stringed instrument.

“I started playing piano when I was five back in Moscow. That is when my parents first introduced to me to the piano, but after one year I stopped because I moved here [to America], and when I was 11…I started playing piano back again,”Akbari said. “I have some relatives that played piano and I really enjoy music, so that got me back into playing the piano.”

Looking at a piece may make playing the piano seem easy to learn. However, trying to play with both hands, and having to play the left-hand side differently from the right-hand side, can prove to be incredibly challenging. Many can agree that piano is one of the most difficult instruments to learn, but Akbari’s thoughts say otherwise.

“At the beginning, when I was first learning to play a piano, I can’t really remember it, but I struggled. Most of the time back in Moscow I spent at home, so I just studied notes and scripts and I got used to it. I also had a teacher so that helped,”Akbari said.

The piano led way to many famous musicians such as Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lang Lang and many more. All of these pianists are role models to Akbari.

“[My favorite pieces are ]Hungarian dance Number 5 by composer Johannes Brahms, Clair de lune and the snow is dancing by Claude Debussy and Paganini variations composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. That’s about it, those are my favorites. I use the upright piano, and, though I can’t play them all now, I plan to one day,”Akbari said.

Pianists play piano for many different reasons. Some play for enjoyment, some play to perform and some play to compete. Akbari is a pianist who enjoys all of the options of playing for fun and for preformance. In order to reach that level, playing the piano is also time consuming. Learning to play  piano can take up to two to three hours a day or six to eight hours a week.

“Whenever I find free time, I always practice and try to improve. It isn’t really hard to balance school with piano,”Akbari said. “When playing piano, you can go into competition, but I’ve only went to recitals and not competitions, ones where there are actual judges, but I plan to sometime in the near future.”