It’s hard to sell a piano these days. It’s even harder to contemplate junking one.

I began taking lessons at age 8. I was a terrible student. I rarely practiced and was a lazy music reader, but I had a decent memory and a good ear — and I was blessed with an extraordinarily patient and gifted teacher. My lessons were often tortuous, but I stuck with them for seven years. In the end, it was clear I was never going to do anything but butcher Beethoven, but if you wanted someone to bang out show tunes while everyone gathered around and sang, I was your guy.