Piano Performer Magazine 
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Code Word – Ivory Keys
Article by Esther Basha (MGBH)
For centuries, the one of the main components of a piano – its keys – have been made out of elephant tusks. While many were obtained as the legacy from the elephants who passed of natural causes, others were bought from elephant hunters who would cut off tusks from the elephants they hunted leaving them on the ground to suffer a slow and painful death.
And for centuries, seemingly sensitive people (because isn’t music aimed to teach sensitivity?) never thought of how the energy of these keys affects the spiritual quality of sound and souls of those playing the instrument as well as those listening to its music.
One may say that piano is not the only instrument that was made out of animal parts. Shofar, an old instrument in the Bible, was made out of a ram horn. Drums and bagpipes were made out of animal skins. Violin strings are still often made out of horsehair. Even today, some piano manufacturers use hooves, horns, and bones of a variety of animals to made piano keys. And guitar strings are sometimes made out of gut strings of sheep, kangaroo, cattle, and water buffalo (1).
This argument, however, may have little to no validity, as all the above-mentioned animals either died of natural causes or were slaughtered primarily for the purpose of satisfying the man’s primary need – the need to eat, in order to survive. And the byproducts of those animals were used to make music instruments. Elephants, however, have been repeatedly hunted and stripped of their tusks while being alive (2) (another prohibition in the Bible) and left to die in pain, only to satisfy an auxiliary, artificially created need – the need to obtain an essential component for a musical instrument.
Today, in the XXI century America, ivory keys have been outlawed, and elephants have one less thing to worry about. But how did this initiative start?
Interestingly enough, the use of synthetic keys was not spurred by a heartfelt desire to save elephants and relieve them from unnecessary suffering.
There is an old saying – follow the money. And it applies in this situation as well.
During the Great Depression, piano manufacturers were looking to cut costs and decided to use plastic keys instead of ivory (3). Thus, fast-forward till now, today have excellent quality synthetic replacement for ivory.
We have a precious opportunity to teach our audience and students values through piano performance.
However, the question remains: if music develops such qualities as compassion and sensitivity, why has the Christian society at large (whose creed is to promote love and kindness for all) not vigorously objected the use of ivory in pianos?
The answer is rather Kabbalistic. Music, just like many activities, is just a tool. Human beings have free will to use it for Light or for Darkness; for selfless or selfish purposes, which are sometimes intertwined.
I believe, today, in the ultimate age of free choice, we have more opportunities than even to think about these concepts and find reasons to use music for Light. A piano career does not have to be about competition with other performers, but about collaboration for the sake of receiving joy and bringing joy to others. Many musicians claim to receive inspiration from a higher source and play to celebrate and become one with that source.
By the same token, piano teachers can tremendously benefit by sharing their methods and experience with each other instead of falling into the hole of “high brow” attitudes. Yes, piano performance has been notorious for its elitist approach for centuries, but we don’t have to take this attitude to the new millennium.
Instead, we can connect, learn from each other, and help each other. It will come naturally if we choose to replace the mindset of scarcity with that of abundance. Spiritual disciplines teach us that every person is born with resources allocated to him/her. He or she brings sustenance to the world and no one can take it away. What we must do is look with a magnifying glass on what we have and be exceedingly grateful for it. And this is the secret to getting more of what we have. The law of attraction, if you will.
And once that mindset permeates our community, we will be able to feel truly connected and feel tremendous bliss in this oneness. We will start using music as a tool that helps develop sensitivity towards all living creatures on Earth, just like our Creator commanded us. And when we forget and veer off the way, we can play the code word – ivory keys – to remind us.
REFERENCES:
(1) http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/do-musical-instruments-utilize-animal-products/
(2) https://www.thedodo.com/community/Elegirl/the-truth-about-tusks-648225506.html
(3) https://anamazingmachine.wordpress.com/piano-resources/
