The Piano Staircase

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This makes me happy: The Fun Theory, a Volkswagen initiative that highlighted projects with this m.o.: “fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better”. (Thanks to reader Thee Claw for the tip.)

One such project was the Piano Staircase in Stockholm. The goal was to get more people to take the stairs in the Odenplan metro station. You can see the process and results above.

It is great to see people forsaking a mechanical process to (a) indulge their sense of play, and (b) get some exercise in the process. There is also something fundamentally satisfying about making music, no matter how primitive it is. All day long we are consumers. The closest many of us get to producing something is a hurried meal. Back in the day, more people per capita were probably musicians. Out in the prairie, with recorded music not having been invented yet, one had much incentive to learn the piano.

(See also: Big)

Commercial analogues to the Piano Staircase might be Guitar Hero and Rock Band. But sales are down steeply, and people seem to be tiring of plastic instruments. That’s no surprise. Fake plastic keys only go so far.

If I were on the Piano Staircase, I’d be the annoying guy trying to play metal riffs. The notes would have to be close to each other: Metallica’s “The Shortest Straw”, Megadeth’s “Symphony of Destruction”, Helmet’s “Unsung”.

Either that, or I’d be pushing people down the stairs.