Still have my Steinway B - now about a dozen years. It is holding up well - though winter is always a challenge. The piano sounds differently in the winter - partly because the hammers have less humidity - partly because I think the acoustics of the room change a bit as well. A couple of years ago, I had the people who originally rebuild it come out and spend a day working on the action and tone.

I also have a digital instrument - a Roland that I enjoy as well since I use it with PIanoteq software - that allows me to practice late at night w/o disturbing the world at large. Right now, the Roland is set up with a Bosendorfer 280VC - nice instrument. While I enjoy the beautiful sounds of the digital instrument, I try and play the real piano as much as is feasible since the digital piano artificially makes me sound better than I really am. Producing a beautiful tone - not that I can - does take some technique and sensitivity to the instrument. The digital piano skips some of those steps - so it is easier to sound better than one really should.

Yeah, it is funny how we need to have our brain in a particular place when we play in public - and the brain doesn't always listen. We overfocus on something we don't need to focus on - and blam, we're in trouble. I remember Arthur Rubinstein talking about playing in public as a student. He got lost at one point - and made up a bit of music to fill in - and then finished. He expected his teacher to criticize him. Instead, his teacher smiled and said something like, " that was wonderful, I don't know that I could have done that better myself." His teacher understood that memory slips are part of playing - and getting past them is part of performing. I also remember attending a recital by a famous pianist. He was performing something I was planning to work on. I had the score in front of me as he was playing. After the concert, I went back stage - and he saw that I had the music. He was sure I must have noticed that he slipped up on something - but I didn't notice anything out of place - just assumed it was as it was meant to be.

I remember my brother giving me a book when I was in 2nd grade - Toby Tyler. I was disappointed when i saw the book as I was hoping for a toy - but then I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Books became friends. I remember reading a study where reading to children is one of the most important things a parent can do for a child. It's good that your teacher got you hooked.