I was talking to another piano player – at least my age – who does a lot of playing a lot for this and that. She mentioned the shoulder and arm pain she had last year. It was so bad she couldn’t play for a half-hour at a time.

Her physiotherapist has her, among other things, lifting weights. She figures as soon as she can get to 10 pounds, her shoulders won’t hurt anymore when she plays the piano.

She was looking for sympathy and camaraderie. She and I are supposed to be on the same page here. “People just don’t have any idea how much force it takes to play the piano.”

Ouch. No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t take any force and it should never be painful. If it is, there’s a technical issue. Something is not being done correctly.

But my advice was not solicited and I’m certain it would have been unwelcome. Sometimes you just have to hold your thoughts and smile sympathetically – being careful not to actually agree.