Dueling Pianos
One day, Gammy and her older brother, Bob, became very worried about their piano teacher. Usually, their teacher called them to play the instrument one at a time. But on this day, the teacher said, “Children, I want both of you to come forward and sit at the piano together.”
They sat down shoulder to shoulder and looked up at their teacher. “Wouldn’t it be fun for the two of you to learn a duet?” she said.
“What’s a duet?” asked Bob.
“Two people at the piano playing one song. It can be quite beautiful, but it will take teamwork.”
Gammy and Bob looked at each other both thinking, “How will this ever work?”
But the two returned home each determined to practice so as not to let their teacher down. A few days later, their mom called them from their play. Gammy was busy designing a house for her doll using little cardboard boxes for furniture. Bob was dribbling on the driveway basketball court.
“Time to start practicing that duet. Let’s hear how both of your parts sound together.” Mom seemed as excited as their teacher. Gammy and Bob weren’t so sure.
“Plink. Bam! Ouch!” “Move over.”
Not the beautiful music the teacher had promised.
“You missed the beat!”
‘I did not!! You are playing too fast!”
The children’s comments went back and forth like a ball in the game of ping pong. Each blaming the other for the awful sounds.
They weren’t any better when their piano teacher listened at their next lesson.
“Plink. Bam! Watch out!”
“Both of you, please put your hands in your lap, their teacher said. “Bob, what do you like about how your sister plays the piano? “
(Hesitates) “Hmm … she’s really good at playing her notes smoothly, I guess.”
And Gammy said, “Bob always remembers his notes. Sometimes I forget. He’s better than I am at everything!”
“Huh? That’s not true,” Bob said. Neither child would look at the other.
“Let’s try this piece again. Bob, you imagine your fingers are gliding smoothly over the keys and your sister is concentrating on remembering the notes. Okay, Begin!”
This time, the music did sound much better. The more they practiced, the better it sounded. So good, in fact, they were asked to play the piece at the school piano recital.
On the day of the recital, brother and sister sat at their home piano and practiced one last time. It wasn’t perfect but it was very good. Could they perform that well in front of a real audience?
Just before they went on stage that afternoon, the siblings looked at each other. Really closely, smiled, and whispered, “Teamwork.” When they came out on stage, they saw their parents and friends. Other people from their school.
Their piano duet sounded excellent, and they bowed when finished.
After the performance, everyone clapped. “Bravo! That was beautiful,” their teacher said afterwards. “Let’s learn another duet for next year’s recital.”
Bob and Gammy both yelled,” No way!” (Pause) “Well, maybe.”
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